"How are we supposed to get into the city like this? We're way outnumbered!" Sanraku said under his breath, taking the lead in defense.
"Actually, you did quite well, pleasant talking dog," Pheasant complimented, taking his leisure time in approaching them.
Once he formed a wall of reiki power to border Sozosora, the Green Pheasant simply looked from right to left for some sort of clue. They were in the right place for the next vision, but something was stopping them from proceeding forward. That only happened when a key item couldn't be found in the mortal realm or was out of order through the visions. Both scenarios were going to be a problem with the evil talking dog being as uncooperative as he pleased. There had to be something more to this oath - something that he was missing beyond entry into the holy city. Meioshi hadn't found a clue of use either to steer them in the right direction. The Green Pheasant already discussed that the pieces of the holy shield were scattered about, yet the vision of the evil talking dog's parents led them to the location of one of the pieces. He looked up at the sky to analyze the beacon of light. It seemed to be calling out to the heavens but not the other pieces like he thought it would have. Something was wrong, or perhaps... is it possible for the next piece to be among the heavens like Chen-bi once was? Wait!
This oath is more involved than what was revealed to me... the Green Pheasant thought, narrowing his eyes. Lady Meioshi must have the final piece, and our piece must be the third. This holy shield holds a direct line to the heavens. That's the connection! Even if the evil talking dog finds one of the pieces, we'd still be missing two of them. One of them is hidden! We'll have to return to the gazebo. There must be a different item to find first.
"You seem to have confirmed my suspicions," the Green Pheasant said softly. "Azumamaro isn't the one stopping us from proceeding. The trapped souls are. We can't step inside for a different reason."
"If we're not being stopped by Azumamaro, why are his goons here?" Sanraku asked.
"Unfortunately, they're acting as a sort of vanguard," the Green Pheasant replied. "They're only meant to distract a passerby. If they kill one, then he either gets fed or adds to his decoy number."
"What of the next vision you were supposed to witness?" Kirameku Ha questioned, sheathing his sword once he felt he could do no more.
"We won't be able to see anything like this, but that's an even messier problem," the Green Pheasant said with a concerned hum. "The evil talking dog... might be able to see it."
"It appears great conflict is within your path, young Reijiro," Naonobu informed, sifting through the holy beads. "Naturally, a great teacher would advise you to avoid it or offer a more efficient way to combat it, but this conflict stands between you and what many confuse with destiny."
Reijiro was seated at the end of the alcove where the poisoned water was dripping out from above into a drained pool. Naonobu covered the pool in mitsuba leaves before dousing the broken strings of holy beads in them. It didn't take long to purify the water, actually; in fact, Reijiro could honestly say that the task was quite the spectacle. The leaves rose of their own accord and broke into pieces where the stems bordered the individual leaf. Once they did, a small whirlpool formed and the akashita poison was consumed by the shattered beads to form one singular orb that a group of priestesses took into their circle to place the orb into a bowl. The resulting cursed orb became a cowbell! What concerned the ladies, however, was something about the string that had connected the orb and bowl together. It sounded like they said there was another string on the inside of it. He wasn't sure what they meant, but, to a beast of prophecy, Reijiro could only surmise that a secondary string must've meant something quite important. He wasn't the most spiritual person in the world.
Reijiro was quiet but attentive at the kudan youkai's words. He noticed that quite a few of the holy bovines were looking at him with some interest. As if they could see something beyond Reijiro's natural form. Others were looking at Lord Sesshomaru, no doubt, but he didn't feel uneasy about this as much as he thought he would. He felt more awkward with them looking at him than anything. What were they seeing? When he found Sanraku praying at the Akabeko Temple, he noticed some of the holy people were looking at him back then, too. He knew very little about the holy people. They had to be respected, however, so he silenced his temper and focused solely on Key Instructor Naonobu. He left the matter as something only a holy person could see.
"You mentioned to us when we first met that you joined the army to serve a single man," Naonobu said, swirling the waters below with his hoof. "Has this changed?"
"No. The only thing that's changed is staying in the army to do so. I'm thinking it's time I look into freelance work. Maybe just be a bodyguard to him if he even exists," Reijiro answered honestly.
"Then, I advise you to commit to this," Naonobu said, turning to Reijiro. The dark inu forgot how big the kudan youkai were for a moment. Naonobu's head was huge up close! The key instructor continued, "You have met the man you want to serve recently. I'm assuming you didn't know this."
"What?" Reijiro questioned with shock evident in his features and a light blush creeping on his cheeks. "When? Wh-where?"
"You will meet him personally again very soon," Naonobu replied, puffing his chest out with pride at the dark inu's response. His next words, however, made him lock eyes with Reijiro and creep up to him about an inch or so. His size more evident and his tone more serious. "This encounter, however, can only be accomplished if you don't go to Fort Sutabei after this mess is sorted out with Lord Sesshomaru. Let this unfortunate circumstance be the evidence you need to decide on your freelance work. Take this time away from the House of Inu and spend it well with your brother instead. Once you learn the truth, your path will open to more fulfilling work, and you can decide how you wish to approach your new life. There is some good news in all of this, however. That snippy, little ass back there is the key to your good fortune. There is a princess you will save at Fort Sutabei. Your reward is with her. She is not there yet, and you mustn't go until she is."
"What's this got to do with anything now, though?" Reijiro asked.
"Everything is connected to train the ruler of the west. Your part in it is crucial," Naonobu said proudly and light stomping of his hoof on the ground. "You'll find that we know a great deal of how your pup politics work. The union between us and the House of Inu was quite beneficial. I'll accept my opinions were wrong at the time to give Lord Toga - heaven rest his soul - his proper credit. I daresay I have only one concern with this mess and its connection to you, young Reijiro. You weren't supposed to be here for another two years. Did Lord Sesshomaru come into contact with someone prior to his interactions with you?"
"Huh?" Reijiro questioned. "He's met with all kinds of people before me, I would imagine. I'm just a country boy. Most inu have lived in seclusion, especially those of little means. I'm not the dude's babysitter or even his friend. I just so happened to be with him to confront - ! "
"Confront?" Naonobu probed.
"We're leaving."
Reijiro and Naonobu turned to Sesshomaru and Shishido looking at them with differing expressions, of course. Sesshomaru didn't wait for very long before heading over to the entrance of the tunnel. Reijiro rushed to stand up, but he stopped and furrowed his brow. He turned to Naonobu and said, "There was a girl we met up with. And... an old man we're with now. An oni and a pheasant are protecting them."
With that, Reijiro hustled to follow Sesshomaru out of the tunnel and they left. Shishido turned to Naonobu and said, "Key instructor, pluck a bloom from the pot of False goat's beard. Place it in your waters and sift the beads. It is fine if it wilted or dead. I simply need to see something."
"Very well, grand monk," Naonobu said with a nod. He did as told and watched the pattern of the flower. Shishido walked next to him, though, and waited patiently as the flower sunk into the waters and dispersed into multiple clusters of blooms that spread out and emerged to the surface. The grand monk's eyes twinkled before he let out a gentle smile. Confused by this response, Naonobu asked, "You see something different from me, grand monk?"
"What did you see?" Shishido asked, keeping his eyes on the flower clusters and watching them move across the water.
"Young Reijiro has visited us far earlier than predicted. Fort Sutabei is too dangerous for him right now. Your little snipper seems to be a slightly changed man."
"Is this all you saw?" Shishido asked, seeing the beads finally shift from broken sides to the colored sides. "He is afraid."
"Afraid?" Naonobu questioned, looking at his mentor. "Who is?"
"Sesshomaru... one of my most promising students of this new generation. He sensed her death approaching some time ago. He said, 'Stay out of it!' Right before he turned and left my side. It wasn't directed at me. The girl that young Reijiro mentioned has been protecting him. I took notice to a small string of beads on his obijime. He recognized them. I didn't see what the message on it was, but that was the most emotional I had ever seen him. Hidden beneath that mask of snippiness... was fear. It must be quite scary... to know you're going to lose a friend. Isn't it, Naonobu?"
Author's Footnotes: I ain' gon lie. This chapter was harder to write than I thought. Not too sure about it but let me know what you think. This story arc is arguably one of the least satisfying arcs I've written by far. I have little to no confidence in it. :/ You probably forgot that Sesshomaru was supposed to face a political trial, didn't you? XD Mind you, he still is. You just can't tell with the subplot. :/ I'll figure it out in the re-editing phase. I don't know. There aren't many episodes left. I will see you all in the Commentary Corner in Chapter 120.