A/N: I realized that a lot of what was holding me back and making me so grumpy with this story is...I know what happens. I guess it's a very curious emotion to experience, to both love and loathe what you know you wrote, to be so narcissistic as to consider it artful, but to also be so self-deprecating as to despise that you even thought of such vile things to begin with...I dunno. It's strange. I'm not sure how many other writers experience this. I'll try to get more regular with the updating again. The continuity of using the basic formatting for general understanding of who is thinking what still has to be edited for all the rest of these chapters and then all the rest of the stories in the series. I'm considering taking all of them at the end of posting each individually and compiling it into one with a few of these little snippets of things I wrote that may or not fit "between seasons" or between stories so to speak. Well, that's more of a later on thing. Anyways, the motivation to scrape through and read all the things I wrote in this particular story, so that I can make sure it's ready for an audience to read without getting lost in the thought-portions, has been causing a lot of mental delay for me. Along with life in general. Sorry about that. Thanks for hanging in there with me!
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The Mage felt Sick. Oh did he feel Sick. His stomach roiled as he cringed, fighting off a wave of nausea. Oh, that was too much shochu. He really should have held back...he wasn't used to finding anything this strong to drink from any regular source and oooohhhh...
The rest of the Ninja Guard felt it too, and their uncomfortable shifting and squirming postures gave away their nausea and cramps.
Sesshoumaru was comfortably leaning on his Mokomoko-sama, which had now grown to probably about five times it's size, but through his own techniques of folding it cleverly upon itself, it really only looked about twice it's former size, and he was sure the Mage hadn't bothered to notice this really, for he seemed to be struggling with an upset stomach.
He couldn't help but chuckle as one of the Ninjas couldn't take it anymore and bolted behind a tree to empty his gut.
"Oh, how funny, dog," the Mage scowled at him, but grimaced and shut his mouth as the words began to bring the taste of bile to his mouth.
"You're just not used to the shochu they make in the village here. I have a high tolerance. They had to make something strong enough to get me drunk when we played drinking games, you know. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"You tease me, but you forget your place," the Mage snarled weakly, then again bit back on talking more.
"I forget not my place," Sesshoumaru said quietly, "but I forget not my tolerance either. You drank at least three times what I did."
"Hah. More, I think. You had but two skeins."
"Four times, then," Sesshoumaru agreed graciously, and the Mage snorted and fell silent, unwilling to argue more through gritted teeth.
.
"Say, about what we were saying earlier," Hachi began, his devious tanuki mind working around a possible solution, "what if, barring the problem of His barrier for a moment, what if, Shiori...you put a barrier around Him, that He couldn't break? Could he still control his barriers through that?"
"Well," Shiori said thoughtfully, "if I had some of his blood, I could make it a lot stronger...I don't know if I could really Stop him from having Any control over his barriers, but I can tie his use of magic to the barrier I put around him if I want to, if I have blood."
"And that's where Shouga and I will come in," Myouga said happily, "we'll both get close to him while he's distracted by the monkeys, and Chokyuukai taking over his guards, and while Shouga attempts to control his mind and magic, I'll suck out his blood and bring some back to you so you can cast a blood-magic barrier around him!"
"Oh, now that's clever," Lady Mud Nose admitted, "oh, very clever. Yes, Zusaku will be put in the same position we are, if we do this with his own mage. It may not force the Mage to Undo his spell, but it will make things much harder for him if we can put him under the same kind of threat. Can you create the same kind of barrier around him that he has created around my son?" she asked Shiori.
"I'm sure I can if I have a bit of his blood," the girl nodded, "after all, I was able to repel the Backlash Wave over a decade ago with the barriers I summoned then. To copy his style of barrier would be nothing special."
"Good. Now I've been thinking," Lady Mud Nose murmured, "this jug carries scents which I myself have never before smelled, and though I have only the faintest idea of the fact that it's a poison, it hasn't yet revealed it's specific purpose to me yet. Nor have Bokuseno's fruits and flowers, though I see Toutousai has put Kaenhanma to work on the branch," she mused, "so at least that will be revealed in swift time."
"Well, if we've got a plan for disrupting their plan," Jaken grinned, "let's get to it, shall we? I rather like the idea of watching what you can all do to make a fool of this uppity bird mage," he chuckled.
"Agreed," Lady Mud Nose smirked, "Boar, Monkeys, Batgirl, Fleas, it's your circus now. Do you need to rehearse?"
"Rehearse? Nonsense, I was born for glory," Chokyuukai smiled, winking at her daringly, "Son Goku will become very upset with the way the birds stare at him, and this will offend me, you see? And I will have to defend him from this glaring offense. And he will summon his own Monkey Guardians," he gestured at Gon, Bun, and Ken, who chuckled agreeably, "who will of course go after the apparent leader of the youkai who offended Son Goku. And then, you see, the fleas will leap from the monkeys to the mage, while I use my tiaras on the ninjas, and then when the mage begins to thwart their trickery, the monkeys will disperse and call on me for help, and carry the fleas back to the Batgirl. For I will put his own men in his way to protect us if necessary, and thus my own magic will indeed be greater than his, for I am the Great Wild Boar Chokyuukai!"
"Marvelous," Kagome clapped her hands at him, "Bravo! Now get going, it's brilliant, let's not ruin it by overthinking!"
"Agreed," the three monkeys smiled, and the two fleas jumped on their backs, and Chokyuukai marched boldly ahead of them a ways, and Shiori went to take a post a little ways away out of sight...
.
Nothing could have prepared Sesshoumaru for what happened next.
Yet somehow, Shippou's trickster spirit sensed mischief afoot, and he opened just one eye in time to notice a familiar boar walking up the road in the distance.
Resisting the urge to laugh, Shippou realized who this boar was. And some part of his instinct told him that this once-unworthy opponent had somehow, miraculously, become a helpful friend. For what other coincidence could bring Chokyuukai this way? Surely it was no mistake.
Wisely though, Shippou let his one open eye stay only half-open, and made no other obvious motions to signal that he was awake. Sesshoumaru had noticed he woke up, but seeing the kitsune's stillness, and the slight bright gleam of mischief in his one eye before he closed it just halfway again so as not to be seen...he knew something was up alright, the fox recognized this pig.
But he could never, ever, ever, Ever have imagined just what kind of tomfoolery he was about to witness.
At first Chokyuukai just marched heavily and boldly along the road, Son Goku the monkey and Sha Gojyo the kappa trailing on either side. But Sha Gojyo strayed very far to the right, and as if indulging a pet, Chokyuukai let out a bawdy boar laugh.
"Bwaahh, you must thirst, go then and run to the stream," Chokyuukai waved, and as the kappa ran, he bonked into the outside of the illusion of nothing cast over the barrier and ninjas.
Sesshoumaru snorted in amusement as the illusion wavered; the Mage scowled and gestured with one hand, dispelling it.
"Sha Gojyo! An ambush!" Chokyuukai readied his naginata, and the two sprites quickly retreated to his side and took laughable attack poses.
"Nothing of the sort, your pet turtle ran into my illusion on the way to the stream," the Mage muttered, feeling ghastly sickly.
"Turtle! TURTLE?! You know not of whom you speak! I am Chokyuukai, Descendant of Cho Hakkai, the boar of the Journeys of Tang Sanzang! This is my traveling companion Great Sha Gojyo, Descendant of Sa Gojo!"
"Never heard of him," the Mage groaned, and Chokyuukai put on a greater air of offense.
"What?! You have never heard of my kappa companion? And I suppose next you mean to tell me you know nothing of Son Goku, Descendant of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King of China?!" he huffed imperiously.
"Not a whisper," the Mage huffed, annoyed, "and if you don't quit bothering me, nobody else will ever hear of you either."
"A threat! HAH! Even the powers of my weaker companions could deal with you, I see no threat," Chokyuukai narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Son Goku! Display your great might!"
"Sen Goku Goku Go Tsu Bu Tsu Bu Tsu Bushi O Togi Togi Togi Mugi Toi De Doki Doki!" Son Goku shrieked, and Gon, Bun, and Ken took their cue.
In the massive combined transformation of a great three-eyed Monkey Beast, they leaped out from behind the shrubs nearby and sprung out at the Mage, who, though slightly startled, was not intimidated.
But in focusing on the giant monkey, he missed the tiny fleas that leapt onto him as he gestured with one talon and threw a fireball.
"How dare you!" Chokyuukai cried, tossing his rings into the air with a devilish smile as the monkeys dispersed their illusion and split back into three monkeys, screeching like wild primate banshees now, "you'll regret scorching Son Goku's minions!"
And twelve tiaras settled swiftly on twelve Ninjas heads, and twelve Ninjas suddenly began to swoon, and gasp, and walk slowly and with lust in their faces.
"Master...Chokyuukai," they all began to murmur, lovestruck.
Sesshoumaru couldn't help it anymore. He began to chuckle despite himself, and the Mage took one moment to glare at him.
"Amused, dog?"
Sesshoumaru flashed him a grin, for no answer was needed. Of course he was amused. The Mage rolled his eyes and looked back at his men, who were now helplessly under the boar's spell and trying to cuddle up to him, but which Chokyuukai kept at bay with his commanding magics.
"If you choose not to release my men..." he paused, his eyes narrowing, and he slapped his own cheek suddenly, then snarled and slapped his other cheek, then snarled even more and slapped his arm...
"Then you'll beat yourself to submission? Well, that works for me," Chokyuukai mocked, amused.
Sesshoumaru started to giggle even more, watching the Mage do a dance he was all too familiar with, the Dance of the Fleas.
"Dratted biting insects!" the Mage frothed, but suddenly, his arm jerked and spasmed to the side, and he gasped, "damned parasites!" and he began to frantically spread his feathers and shake himself, ensorcelled men forgotten as a slight panic rose in him, feeling the tingle of the magic of Shouga trying to overtake his sensibilities...
"We've got a plan, trust us," Myouga whispered as he leaped onto Un's head just long enough to wink and hop away, and Sesshoumaru smiled.
Hopping over to one of the monkeys, carrying the Mage's blood in his first gut-pouch where he could easily regurgitate it without mixing it with his own blood, Myouga signalled that he was finished, and Shouga bit hard into the Mage, flooding him with her jyaki.
"Damned...parasites!" the Mage roared, flaring out his wings and his own jyaki.
"Well now, it seems my time is running short," Chokyuukai laughed darkly, summoning his twisters, "should we ever meet again, perhaps you will think twice about insulting the names of Chokyuukai, Son Goku, and Sha Gojyo!" he called into the wind behind him as the twisters swiftly carried away not only him, his followers, the monkeys, and the flea, but also the captured dozen ninjas.
Sesshoumaru could no longer contain himself. He burst into a fit of laughter, and the frustrated, outraged Mage roared and set his own feathers aflame, which sent Shouga skittering away in protest; but she found a puddle to put out the fire and hopped off to the side to make her way back to the youkai camp, their main task accomplished.
"It's not FUNNY!" the Mage roared, and Sesshoumaru just couldn't help it, he laughed even harder now, and Shippou, pretending to have just woken up in time to see the second half, started to chuckle along with him. Because of course, why wouldn't they?
"A stupid fat PIG," the Mage raised his voice in fury, "making off with a dozen highly trained Ninjas, and I have to sit here and babysit you and your stupid brother's stupid sword, while some PIG gets away with twelve of our guard under his spell! UN-FUCKING-BELIEVEABLE!"
"Oh, if he doesn't believe you, I'll tell him the whole story. I saw everything," Sesshoumaru said with false reassurance.
"Oh, you just find this So Fucking Funny, don't you?" the Mage glared, and suddenly, a wicked smile hit his own lips, "you want to see what real humor is, Sesshoumaru?"
And before Sesshoumaru could react to his sudden manic shift, the Mage placed his hand on the barrier, and Shippou screamed.
"Wait, wait, I-"
"Shut up, dog," the Mage snarled, his eyes glowing with furious red fire, pupils narrowing as he focused more, "You want to laugh at me, dog? Hah! Hah! Hahahaha! So FUNNY, isn't it, Sesshoumaru? Comedic! Entertaining! Hilarious, am I right? Well let's see who's laughing most now, when I plunge your precious kitsune into the depths of Hell!"
"I, I didn't-"
"I told you," the Mage snarled, turning his gaze to settle coldly right on Sesshoumaru's golden eyes, "to Shut Up."
Sesshoumaru bit back his words with all the self control he could muster for the next three minutes until he could no longer bear to hear Shippou screaming any longer, and cracking, finally, he let out a low whine of defeat from his chest and pleaded with the Mage.
"Please stop," he whispered, and the Mage smiled a cruel smile as his claws grazed the barrier more tightly.
"And why should I, dog?"
"I...tell me what you want," Sesshoumaru almost whimpered, and Shippou shrieked even louder as the Mage focused with a deeper scowl.
"I want you to suffer for what I will suffer when Zusaku punishes me for losing those twelve ninjas," the Mage cackled, and Shippou started to thrash about and cry and scream and writhe in agony, and Sesshoumaru felt tears spring to his own eyes.
"Then make Me suffer, not him," Sesshoumaru said hoarsely, but the Mage's grin grew more cruel as he brought out his other hand.
"Oh, but this Is the best way to make You suffer, Sesshoumaru. I watched how you doted on this fox, tending his wounds, feeding him broth and sips of water as if you were a simpering nursemaid. You can't bear his pain, can you? Your own would be easier to withstand. That's one very intriguing thing about you, ever since you changed, you became weak to your emotions. You became vulnerable to manipulations, like any sad pitiful human creature. And now, you can do nothing, Sesshoumaru, NOTHING while I run my claws along his very soul! How does that Feel, dog? How does it Feel when you must stay still and silent and do NOTHING when the fates Screw with your day?!"
Red energy flowed now straight from the barrier to Shippou and back again, and the kitsune began to thrash so violently that he had begun to reopen wounds and would soon break again the bones that were fresh set; and with no other alternative, Sesshoumaru gently restrained the kitsune's wild thrashing so he wouldn't hurt himself worse, and heart breaking, he was forced to hold tight while Shippou was forced to endure over half an hour of this torture. All Sesshoumaru could do was whisper, heart spilling from his eyes and between his lips...
"Shippou, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Shippou, I promise I'll make it all better one day, I swear it, I'm sorry..."
The Mage's fury would have probably continued, but then he felt a new sensation hit him, and a tingle began at the base of his spine and crawled up towards his neck swiftly, and a gasp left his lips as his claws were repelled from his own barrier, and a bright purple barrier formed around him out of nowhere.
"WWHHAAAATT?!" he squawked in outrage, a comb of feathers rising from the crown of his head, eyes growing wide, "Who...how..."
Shiori smiled, and Jinchuu, the seven-tailed fox with the grey pearl, took his cue from her. They were not going to reveal that She was the one controlling the barrier around him, but rather, Jinchuu would assume the role of the one who cast the barrier instead, as a safety.
"Well well, you thought you could pick on one of my students," Jinchuu chuckled darkly as he emerged from a thick grey smoke, his form now coalescing from the cloud, first his seven tails, then the rest of his anthropomorphic form became visible, "tell me, bird, can you cast off My Barrier, hmm?"
The Mage scowled and narrowed his eyes, now fully focused on the seven-tailed fox before him, and made a sound and logical deduction.
"It was you who sent the boar ahead, and your parasites drew my blood for your barrier," he hissed, and Jinchuu smiled and puffed up a bit.
"Well, you're almost as smart as you look. But that's not saying much," he chuckled condescendingly.
"Unfortunately for you," the Mage smiled as he drew upon his reserves of jyaki, "this barrier of yours won't stop me from interacting with my own barriers. You see, you made this barrier with my blood, and since my blood flows inside and out of this energy," he chuckled darkly, and raising both hands, he drew his claws slowly along his palms, opening a wide gash in either one, before pressing them to the inside of the barrier, "there's nothing your barrier can do to stop me from using your own blood magic against you!"
And with a sadistic grin, the Mage flared his jyaki, and brilliant red energy gathered at his bloody palms, and then shot from the purple barrier to the red one, and Shippou started screaming again, and Sesshoumaru was now cradling him, as if he were a child to be held in one's arms, and crying, whispering to him, the flicker of hope he'd had during the brief pause vanishing as the Mage unleashed his rage.
"You would be wise to cease your torment," Jinchuu warned, flicking all seven tails, "lest I grow truly wroth with you, bird."
"I will not," the bird scowled, increasing his focus as Shippou let out a shrill cry of immense pain, "until he is dead!"
"Your lack of dignity knows no floor, and sinks into the mud below the worms," Jinchuu hissed, his eyes beginning to glow with his own rage as he spoke, "release your hold on my student, or I shall kill you forthwith!"
"If you kill me, the barrier will never be broken until they are both dead," the Mage laughed, "can you not see how it drains him to sustain itself? You will never break my barrier, fox. You can do nothing but watch me tear apart his very soul!"
Jinchuu scowled and spoke again, more softly.
"If you release my student from your barrier, I will release you from mine."
"Keep the barrier," the Mage laughed daringly, "it will protect me from your harm, and does nothing to stop me from harming him! I may be injured by this magic, but he will die long before I will!" the bird laughed, and with a deep frown, Jinchuu made an angry gesture, and the barrier around the Mage vanished, and the seven-tailed fox pounced at the phoenix with a fury.
"I wouldn't if I were you!" the Mage laughed, narrowly dodging the brunt of the blow, but still getting grazed by a set of angry claws, "if you kill me, the barrier will never fall, and if you anger me," he chuckled and ran his claws along his barrier, and Shippou screamed again.
Jinchuu held his gaze intently for a long few minutes, then drew himself up to stand as tall and imposing as he could.
"Then what about a trade?"
"My Lord is the Phoenix Lord Zusaku of the Southern Lands. He has charged me to keep these two imprisoned. There is nothing you can trade to me that would be of a greater value than they," the Mage scoffed at him. "Perhaps when this is all over, you should teach your Student how to choose friends that won't get him killed...if he survives," he added as a dark, mocking afterthought.
"You have not seen the last of me, bird. Mark my words," Jinchuu vowed darkly, and in a cloud of thick grey smoke, he vanished, and going back to where Shiori was hidden, he gestured for her to get on his back as they made their way, unnoticed, back to the camp, their second half of the mission unexpectedly a failure.
"Now, where was I?" the Mage turned his gaze darkly towards his own barrier and the two inside, "Ah, yes, I was just in the middle-"
"Please, I learned my lesson," Sesshoumaru whispered, and now his whole body trembled with grief, his eyes wet with tears, "please leave him alone. I won't breathe a word of this to Zusaku, I swear it, he'll never know. I'll, I'll tell him, that you fought a whole army, that the others have gone to draw off large forces, I'll say whatever you want me to, just please...please stop hurting Shippou," he sobbed, and the Mage grinned at him fiendishly as he heard the dog pleading.
"Lord Zusaku was right. Begging does suit you, dog," the Mage chuckled darkly, but with a new untold malice in his eyes, he brought up one hand to show Sesshoumaru the gash he'd drawn in it, "do you know why I had to do this, dog? That barrier your fox's teacher put around me was meant to drain my own energy away from my body and into the blood stolen from me, into the whirls of it's own energy. By cutting my own hands open, I exposed my own blood in greater portion than what was used to create the barrier magic to begin with, and was able to manipulate the flow of the magic to reduce the negative effect. Do you know what it feels like to use my own blood against the magic of another, to turn my own blood against itself?"
Sesshoumaru felt a low whine in his chest as he saw the glint of madness, much like Zusaku's own, rise into the Mage's eyes.
Un, what do we do?
Anything we do would make it worse, Ah.
Can we not attack?
Not to any positive effect.
Can we not defend?
Not against this kind of attack.
So we must merely bear this vile discourse?
As our Lord must, and we shall be brave with him.
I do not want to be this kind of brave. It fills me with feelings of cowardice.
Brother, I feel the same, but there is nothing we can do right now to stop him.
We could bite him.
That would only anger him.
We could strike him.
That too would only anger him.
We could blast him with lightning.
That too would only anger him.
We...
We cannot.
Ah-Un was growling low now, body tense, two eyes glaring hard at the Mage, two eyes looking softly at Sesshoumaru and Shippou.
"It feels," the Mage hissed, "like a cold knife coursing through the veins, like ice running through all the muscles. It feels awful," he snarled, and with an emphatic slap, he smeared both bloody hands upon his own barrier, and with a wretched grin, "much as I imagine the fox will feel when I do this!"
And Shippou screamed and screamed even more, and the Mage began to laugh, and Sesshoumaru cried, no longer bothering to suppress his tears as he tried to soothe the fox while the torture continued, trying to hold the kitsune steady while his own body shook...
.
"The blood magic barrier didn't prevent him from using his own powers to affect the barrier around those two," Jinchuu huffed, "he slit his own hands and used his own blood to disrupt the intended effect. It was a good thought, but not good enough to work. Now he tortures Shippou to punish Sesshoumaru for mocking his suffering," the black fox said with a dark edge to his voice, "and unfortunately I cannot stop that."
"He was willing to hurt himself to hurt Shippou, and if he isn't stopped by the disruption in his own blood, there's nothing else that kind of barrier can do to him," Shiori said sadly, her face falling, "I am sorry that I have failed you all."
"You have not failed," Lady Mud Nose shook her head firmly, "you have told us something important, revealed to us a secret in fact."
"Oh? What's that?" Kai, the six-tailed fox, perked up his ears curiously at her words.
"His own barriers are still connected to him. But if they will not fall when he dies, if he does not fear failure in letting down his Lord in a moment of weakness, then they are tied, not to his blood or his jyaki, but his Ash."
"Oh, of course!" Shiori huffed, "why didn't I see that before?"
"Because, dear Batgirl, a phoenix is a rare foe, and a tricky one at that," Lady Mud Nose said gently, "but now we know in which way the barrier was bound to carry on after his death, we will find a way to remove it from the root."
"Are we all sure that this is even a good idea?" Inuyasha frowned, still uncomfortable from the feeling he'd gotten after leaving the village when Rikichi had evacuated the people to their safety cave. "I mean, this barrier...he can tap into it directly to screw with it, and he's pretty mad already, right? But, the way things are going, we definitely outnumber and overpower Zusaku by now, especially since Chokyuukai now commands the ninjas. It's just the two of them, the Mage and Zusaku. Shouldn't we just...wait for him to come back and get rid of him after that?"
"Inuyasha, if we let him achieve his goal in the Nether, his return may be too late to get rid of him. We must free my son, my son and Your brother, before we are forced to reopen the Meidou for him to return," Lady Mud Nose huffed fiercely.
Inuyasha's ears flicked low and flat, but something was Really Bothering him now, and with a low voice, but firmly, he opposed.
"I really think we should reconsider. Nothing we've tried is working on that barrier, and that Mage is starting to lose his shit. What if the next thing we try pushes him over the edge?"
"Your idea is to do Nothing, then?" she sneered, "Shall we sit and twiddle our thumbs?"
"That's what I've been doing this whole time," Kouga muttered to Hachi off to the side.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Souten agreed.
Of course they were heard by none other than their small cluster, and the forefront dogs went on without them.
"I didn't say we do Nothing," Inuyasha snapped back, "I said we should stop trying to crack the stupid barrier before we get Shippou killed."
"If he were the only one it killed, this would be simple," Lady Mud Nose snarled back.
"Oh, so you don't even Care about Shippou, is that it, you selfish old bitch?!"
"I Never Said I Didn't Care," she seethed back in a mocking voice, "just like You Never Said we should Do Nothing. But if he were the only one who had to die to break the barrier, I'd do it, Inuyasha, I would. I'd kill him to save my son, you hear me?! I can Care without being Blinded by my emotions, something a Mutt like you clearly can't do!"
"A Mutt like Me?" Inuyasha breathed, and a strange, unexpected smile drew across his face, and his ears flicked up high, and he turned and left.
Stunned, the rest of the room fell eerily silent, and most didn't want to risk looking at Lady Moon-Dog, so instead looked at the door and at each other.
"Are you going to...follow him, Kagome?" Sango asked softly after a minute.
"No, not this time," Kagome shook her head slowly, "he wouldn't want to be around me right now. I think he needs to be alone. Something has been bothering him ever since he came back and told us the village moved into the cave on the backside of the right mountain."
Shaking her head from her momentary shock, Souten was the first one brave enough to address Lady Moon Dog of the whole group.
"You know, Lady, that wasn't very nice. He's just as worried as you are, probably even more, because you really Don't act like you care about Shippou at all," the Thunder Girl huffed, "and I get it, okay? You're not close to him or whatever. But your son is, right? Sesshoumaru was willing to sacrifice himself to spare Shippou's life. What you said about killing Shippou if that was all it took...You'd throw away Your Son's Sacrifice if you killed Shippou to free him. You think he'd be happy about that, Lady Moon Dog?"
"Sesshoumaru is a fool, and should have never put himself in such a vulnerable position to begin with," Lady Moon Dog huffed, her ire still too elevated to fully grasp Sense right now, but her face softening, "but I suppose my words sounded harsher than I thought."
"Yeah, whatever Lady," Kouga scowled at her and cross his arms, "so don't apologize to him or any of us, and blow it off, we all get it, we all do it. But settle your fucking hackles and take it out on the enemy next time, would you? Man, this day is already sour. Nothing is done and I'm tired of it. I'm gonna round up the pack for a hunt, anybody who wants to join us can feel free," he huffed, and the room began to disperse in almost a flood of release as he led most of them outside.
Lady Mud Nose was left almost entirely alone within the span of just two minutes, feeling an unsettling sensation rise in her chest as the others, disapproving of her remarks, even if understanding, now left to give her some Thinking Space.
"Shall we go for a walk, m'Lady?" Jaken asked quietly, the only one who really understood why Inuyasha had left when she called him a Mutt.
"Little Jaken, you need not be loyal to me only because-"
"That's not it," Jaken shook his head, and she nodded at him, and they left quietly, going the opposite way of most of the others.
After a long wandering walk, and a long silence, she finally started to speak.
"He is my Son, Jaken. I know he is Inuyasha's brother, but he is My Son."
"It is a given that you would be emotional about your own son," Jaken agreed softly.
"The fox is dearly loved by Sesshoumaru, and of course I am fond of the kitsune too, but it's just not...it's not the Same."
"Surely nobody thinks it is."
"So why do I feel," she whispered now, confiding in him her most upsetting question, "so bad for saying it, if it was true?"
"Because it wasn't a lie," Jaken said, and that profound answer led her to prompt another question within her own mind.
"Then why would Inuyasha walk away rather than try to understand?"
"Oh, m'Lady," Jaken said very gently, "he didn't Fail to understand. On the contrary, he walked away Because he understood. All too well, in fact. He learned, from his brother, who learned from his Mother, that some arguments are not worth having. When you made your remark, he knew in that moment you wouldn't hear past your own motherly love."
Lady Mud Nose blinked, and it hit her, and she felt a wave of a different emotion overcome her...
"Oh, I am a fool. I am indeed the one who is blinded by emotion. Perhaps...perhaps Inuyasha is right, and we should desist from attempting to destroy that barrier. Shippou's life...would indeed be a hefty price to pay, wouldn't it?" she whispered.
Jaken nodded sagely at her, then glanced to the side at the hanyou who sat off in the distance, just barely visible at the soft rise of a small knoll, looking up at the sky.
"I think you both could use each other's help right now, m'Lady."
"This is why my son keeps you around," Lady Mud Nose sniffed, and at that Jaken actually laughed.
"Not at all, m'Lady, he never listens to me," the imp rolled his eyes and chuckled, "but he's young yet, and at least it makes my life interesting."
She gave a soft smile and nodded at him, then without further parting words, she lifted herself into the air for a brief stint, leaping gracefully to swiftly fly to the hill and land near Inuyasha...
Jaken watched from across the expanse of overgrown field between them, as Lady Mud Nose stood at first, about a dozen feet away, hesitant. But then Inuyasha looked over at her, and with a tilt of his head and a flick of his ears, she moved closer and sat next to him daintily...
.
Kirara paused for a long moment, looking up the shortcut path that led back to the village, then back at the long road that led to the same, which went miles around the curve and passed where Sesshoumaru and Shippou were being held under the barrier.
She thought she'd seen something, a flash, perhaps, but not...not like a Something, more like a Some...What? A Some...When?
All she knew was that she had seen, distinctly, a fire, but not one that was actually burning in the woods or anything, just a flash of fire imagery as it passed through her mind very strongly. And she didn't like how that made her feel, which was even stranger, because she was a firecat, and usually had no aversion to being around any kind of flames really.
But not knowing what to make of it, and chalking it up to stress and unease in general, she shook her head and let her eyes wander to where Inuyasha and Lady Mud Nose sat, talking, hopefully to figure out how to really work together and set their turbulent emotions aside to find some kind of solution to the problem they all had...
.
%-I feel...Saya, I feel Murder.%
"What?" Saya asked, blinking at the hilt of the blade within his sheath. When everyone else left, they kept forgetting these two were actual live entities and often left them behind; so it was now, they were on the table in the middle of an empty room after the dog family argument. Bakusaiga and Tenseiga were here also, but Bakusaiga had not yet found it's voice, and Thanh Long sought, unbeknownst to the mortals, a way to thwart Zusaku from the ways of Heaven. He could not reach the Nether himself, with Tetsusaiga bound at the Mage's side, and had not wanted Sou'unga and Saya to divulge his excursion, for his hopes were slim. Swordbound and tethered to return if summoned, nevertheless he was out his own way now and was not speaking to them presently.
%-I should say, I feel that there is murderous intent.%
"Do you mean," Saya's voice dropped to a whisper, "there is an assassin among us?"
%-I don't think so.%
"So then what is it that you feel?"
%-I'm not sure yet. It's hard to tell. As if something is hindering my sight.%
"But how do you Feel Murder?" Saya whispered, a frown on his visage with that question.
%-I sense it the same way you sense anything else. I cannot really explain it. I just know it, as you know another feels Love, or Fear, so too is this.%
"I guess I should have expected an answer like that," Saya mumbled, not surprised, but neither did he doubt it was genuine, "well, what does this mean? Just that someone is thinking of it in passing, or-"
%-I sense the resolve to murder begin to form in a heart, I don't Exactly read minds. Reading hearts is close though. Very close.%
"That's much worse. I mean not you, the murder," Saya's voice was very low now, and he grew a bit fearful, "Sou'unga, what if-"
%-If any try to strike down our attempt to free Shippou, I will kill them. Fear not, Saya, only let me fly loose when I tug at you, if it becomes necessary. I will not slay the innocent.%
"Well, I suppose I shall, if it comes to that. I just hope it doesn't," Saya whispered, and they fell silent and somber now...
.
"Listen," Inuyasha flicked his ears, "and I mean, just Listen, okay? I get it, I don't need you to explain that because you're his Mother, and you don't need me to explain that because Shippou is like a brother to me too, we get it, we both get it, we fucking hate it and we both don't know what to do and we're fucking Mad, right? So like, I called you an old bitch-and you Are-and you called me a Mutt-and, well, I am. So we'll be even there, and we'll leave that kind of thing to the side for a minute, and I'll tell you something. I have this feeling, it's been growing ever since the humans felt it too, just a really bad...really bad feeling. And it gets worse every time we try to make some kind of plan to break that stupid barrier. I didn't grow up in a fancy castle with guards to teach me and protect me and parents that could show me how to fight and fend for myself. I got hunted by humans who hated me, and youkai who wanted to eat me, pretty much my whole damn life, okay, and I made it this long by Listening when I had those feelings. So when you called me a Mutt, well, yeah. That's what makes me sure I'm right, you old bitch," he huffed at her, but his face was not angry and his tone was not rude, but rather now his face was both determined and kind with understanding, and his voice was soft with both resolve and just a hint of humor.
"Honesty. I admire that," she agreed, and here paused for a moment to collect herself, "I am...having some trouble keeping my own emotions in check, if I'm to be honest. He is...he is your Brother, but he is My Son, Inuyasha, and-"
Lady Mud Nose was shocked when Inuyasha didn't let her get any further before reaching over with both arms to hug her. He was about the same height and it was unexpected and sideways and just slightly awkard...
But, she surprised both herself and him when she didn't even try to protest, instead just adjusting herself slightly to be a little less of an awkward angle and let him hug her tight, and for a few minutes they just quietly sat there, neither daring to cry, but both feeling that pain in each other's chests.
As they drew away, Lady Mud Nose whispered sincere words of love to Inuyasha.
"I'll kill you if you tell anyone I let you do that, Mutt."
"Shut up, crazy old bitch, or I'll put more stripes on your face with my Hijinkessou."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Kirara and Jaken were the only two who hadn't wandered elsewhere to give the dogs space, and therefore the only two who saw that hug. But they wouldn't tell anyone about it.
Kagura spotted them not long after, and walking over in her human form, she paused and looked at their body language, and smiled softly.
"We're all worried. I'm glad you two made up swiftly. Do we know what we're doing now?"
"Well, we know what we're Not doing," Lady Mud Nose huffed, and with a slight, surprising, acquiescent nod towards Inuyasha, "we shall not continue to attempt to break that barrier, for as he pointed out, we must Trust when a bad feeling is upon us. And I too, admittedly, have been having a bad feeling, which I attributed merely to my motherly instincts. However, I think it's best if we begin to look at another approach, wherein we attempt to disrupt, perhaps, Zusaku himself. If we can manage to do that, we'll have an advantage."
"How shall we do that?"
"Well, let's gather up the rest again and see if we can pivot on this new idea, shall we?"
"That sounds more like it," Inuyasha agreed, and they headed back, garnering the attention of the others who figured to take the hint and draw back to their council assembly, hoping they could concoct a new plan...
.
.
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Okay I'm sorry but the extra editing is really really frustrating but I know if I don't do it then certain things like thought-speak between Ah and Un will be hard to follow, so thank you for your patience and bear with me, there's more on the way (this one has like 20 chapters total maybe then there's at least 5 more full "seasons" stories to do...boy do I set myself up for a lot of hard work! Ugh.)