The ground suddenly felt much softer as the group traveled through the forest. Mist was in clusters as it rose above the treetops. Though Meioshi couldn't see anything, she could feel tickling sensations on her legs that either made her lightly giggle or disturbed her enough to swat at the feeling. When she reached out to lean on a tree to adjust her walking boots, she jumped back as she was descending to the ground quickly. The tree... felt lightweight and thin. It was like she touched a feather!

"Oh, we're here!" Omezo said.

The sound of a fishing hawk sounded in the distance before quaking started. Shifting occurred and before long, a serpent eagle rose from the forest bed and lifted it on his back. It spread its wings to stretch over the oni town beneath it then closed its wings to climb on a mountain perch. The castle just beyond the forest was surrounded by trees but was erect on the back of a stone serpent eagle.

"Come," Kiyonobu ordered. "She is expecting us. We need merely enter the tunnel on the eagle's neck."

Everyone nodded and obeyed the guardian oni. In a flash of bright light, they were met with a throne surrounded by trees and open space. A woman with deep green hair like pine needles and a cloak made of osprey feathers walked into the throne room. She was alarmingly beautiful, the perfect trap for a lonely male or soft-hearted woman. Walking passed her throne, the woman strutted closer to the group. She bowed before Kiyonobu, pat Omezo on his head to earn a giggle, measured Yasuhide and Kirameku Ha up before nodding in acknowledgement, looked at Homugi and Hasumi with a pout of curiosity, and then to the person in question. She took a lock of Meioshi's hair and sniffed it, taking in the fragrance, caressed her cheek to feel the softness of her skin, and walked around her to analyze the curves hiding underneath her doctor's garb.

"This mortal skin is beautiful," the woman finally said with the voice of a morning dove.

"Who are you?" Meioshi asked, furrowing her brow.

"I am Shizukesa, little oni," the woman said with a proud smile. "Fear not, I've no reason to fight you. Where did you obtain such an injury?"

"Ah, there's nothing you can do about this, I'm afraid. Family thing," Meioshi replied. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Commander Shizukesa. Normally, I would prepare something for meetings, but I believe you and Lord Kiyonobu wanted to see King Shanwang."

"You know where he is?" she asked, unmoved by the information.

"Yes. It won't take long to get there..."

Though he wanted to join Meioshi and Kirameku Ha on their journey, Sesshomaru found the village of Heiwa to be true to its name. Walking towards Meioshi's farmlands with Jaken and Ah-Un behind him, the western lord was curious about this festival arriving. He took notice to the aroma of the village changing. More autumn dishes were filling his nose with scents of herbs and squash and heavier meats. The smell of wood and paint and scented fabrics wafted through the air as well. Speaking of which, the chirping of a familiar nuisance approached him.

"Oh, gods, it's you I was sensing," the Green Pheasant started, making Sesshomaru take in a deep breath. He had run out of good fortune, it seemed. "Well, there must be some reason you're here. What is it?"

"Back away, ya feathery bastard! I'll throw a fireball at you and your eg - ! You've birds with you?" Jaken questioned, making Sesshomaru turn around. Sure enough, there were baby birds and the two floating eggs behind the male bird.

A female pheasant scuttled behind him and greeted them politely. "Good morning! You must be Lord Sesshomaru and Lord Jaken. My husband spoke of you."

"Who are you, fair lady?" Jaken questioned, lowering Nintojo from his prior threat of roasting the brown pheasant's husband.

"I am simply known as Madame Pheasant, or Madame for short," she replied, opening her wings to bow and display her colors.

Beautiful bird... Sesshomaru thought.

"A pleasure to meet you all," Madame replied. "What are you doing here, lords of the west?"

"I am not solving another of your ridiculous puzzles," Sesshomaru replied, facing forward to say so.

"There are none to solve, evil talking dog. We're on vacation," the Green Pheasant said, scratching at the ground for something of interest. "Lady Meioshi has quite a feast to prepare for in the coming days. I figured I would assist."

"What is the meaning of this festival approaching?" Sesshomaru asked, earning the male bird's attention.

Madame nuzzled against her husband's neck before running over to a patch of wheat and susuki grass lining against a fence. Sesshomaru didn't realize just how much farming land Meioshi owned until he watched the birds harvest little bits. Ah-Un leaned on a tree to scratch his back. When a fruit fell down, Un ate it gingerly and spat out the seeds a distance away. He remembered Meioshi not liking them breaking her orchard fence last time. Spitting the seeds out seemed safer. Jaken watched the chicks following their mother to the patches. There was a basket already there for them to gather things in. The chicks worked together to roll fruits or fall vegetables into the basket as well. After a while, they started playing hide and seek or some other game in the tall grasses.

"Henka no Koshin Festival is a celebration of this village's birth," the Green Pheasant answered, flapping his wings to get some lingering dust off them. He perched himself on a decorative rock and continued, "You and imp-key mentioned coming here to do battle with Lady Meioshi when we first met at the Blood Oath's Circle. It's rather ironic, in my opinion. If you know anything about this place's origins, you probably know that this village was no more than a refugee camp. Those looking to escape enslavement, poverty, or war filtered into this one place that was once a dense forest filled with animals most only see in their nightmares. You could barely see a fragment of sunlight during the day those years ago. In the nights, it was hideously dark, and demons would lurk about for food. Only those willing to risk their lives to enter this kind of place for safety would come here. Once enough people inhabited the camp, they started cultivating the land. Among those people were many firsts, but of importance was the first emperor, the first general of the royal army, and the first hell traveler."

"You mean Meioshi's ancestor, Unmei?" Jaken questioned, fully invested in the conversation now.

The Green Pheasant nodded and continued, "Unmei and his family left their village in the east to come here for a new life. When he entered the lands of Heiwa, which back then started by that very cliff overlooking Meioshi's home, he spotted an inu flying overhead and regarded it as a symbol of the change to come in his life. I can't imagine that inu being the evil talking dog that he saw; otherwise, I would've recognized you immediately. But, it was an inu nonetheless. That's why I find it ironic. Unmei caught sight of an inu when he first came here to Heiwa, and Meioshi confronted you, a younger inu potentially, at the same place. Some would call that a coincidence, but I say it's irony."

"My lord did discover a map that his father had of this place. Do you think the Great General is who Unmei saw?" Jaken asked, putting a finger to his beak.

"Frankly? No," the Green Pheasant answered, earning Sesshomaru's attention. He still had his father's map on his person. There was no way to mistake the handwriting or the sketching. "How widespread is his father's name? I'd say he's pretty recognizable, correct? Unmei would've known that inu was the evil talking dog's father and named him accordingly. He didn't. How his father obtained a map of this place is the bigger mystery, I'm afraid. However, in light of being in a celebratory mood myself, I would implore you to attend the festival. The House of Inu - no matter who it was that visited Heiwa at the time - did play a part in the hell traveler's origin story. Twould be an honor for you to represent the youkai who inspired Unmei to protect his pack."

"What about you, pheasant? Will you attend?" Jaken asked.

"Of course! I gave the hell travelers' their armor to enter the Netherworld in the first place. I even remember the day I met each one down to the hour!" the Green Pheasant said, puffing his chest out with pride.

"What was it like meeting the witch for the first time?" Jaken asked out of curiosity.

"She was a very adventurous girl. Moreso than now," the pheasant replied, turning to an old piece of fencing. "She was insatiable with her curiosity. Always eager to play and learn new things beyond the domestics. She was a handful! That wood post there is where she used to pray to the gods and make offerings for different things. The first prayer I had seen her make was for an adventure bag. Never heard of such a thing! But, sure enough, her family made one together. Everything you could think to put in it was in it. Snacks were in a little box that fit in a pocket, painting and drawing tools in another, tools, all kinds of things! That museum that the children love visiting got its start when she was their age. She drew diagrams of animals and organs if one was in the process of being eaten. Her grandmothers didn't find it to be lady-like for a girl to be involved with dead things, so they put her in school to learn domestic skills. She was very good in many of them, especially sewing. She made a jacket for me once. One teacher, however, sat down with Meioshi to understand her. She hated ikebana class and misbehaved from time to time out of spite. Too boring! That teacher showed her how sewing could be used to close wounds and how plants could be used to heal them. Meioshi took to that instantly, and she worked her hardest to prove that all domestics could be used medically. Her adventures became school lectures, and her drawings became scholastic journals. Once she got her grandmothers' approval to continue learning medicine, the rest became history. She's a doctor today because someone gave her a chance. I watched her during that time."

"That's a big difference. She went from a bag to slippers," Jaken grumbled.

What kind of... friend would you have been... if I met you sooner? Sesshomaru thought.

"Has the funeral reached its conclusion?" another familiar, deep voice asked. It was Hikozaemon II!

"Elder!" Jaken exclaimed, hurriedly bowing in respect.