Hokai had returned to Wicker Hollow victorious and elated. He had single-handedly tracked down the last village that Naraku had aggravated as a lesser demon, before his dreams of power were realised by merging with a human. Hokai had banded together a group of warrior spiders and set out to obtain information on Naraku's killers. Apparently this task was as easy as spinning a web, the tale of Naraku's downfall was legendary among humans and demons. As were the characters that had brought about that downfall.
The villagers he had tortured provided a bounty of detailed information for Hokai, they knew the names and physical descriptions of Naraku's killers as well as their strengths and weaknesses. It was purely a happy coincidence that two of his enemies had come rushing to the villagers rescue. Hokai knew from his obtained information that he had disposed of one of the weakest of his brother's foes, a mere adolescent boy. Still, it was a reasonable place to start his killing spree and he was determined to orchestrate another massacre soon. The boy's death would only cement his cause further in the eyes of the Wicker clan, Hokai was sure of it.
Tonight a council would be held at midnight in the hugest cavern, at his behest, to decide whether or not revenge would be pursued. His ten days were regretfully over and he had be forced to throw himself onto the glib graces of the Weaver once again.
He hated this abhorrent level of servitude that he had to rely on.
The clan would be allowed a say in the proceeding of the council, but the final judgement lay with Kumonosu. The Wicker clan were a blood thirsty bunch however, and revenge would suit their palate well. Little did they know that revenge had little to do with Hokai's motivation, he had grander and more complex plans in store. Plans that needed freedom and autonomy away from Kumonosu's beady, watchful eyes.
Hokai settled in the middle of the biggest cave, where the debate would take place. Eight legged demons lined the cave walls eagerly awaiting for the discussion to start. The whole clan were edged against the slimy walls to see what would occur, clambered together in a scene that would have been a humans nightmare. Many of the spiders felt envious when they heard Hokai had slaughtered an entire village without repercussions, the excitement and violence of the event had riled them up into a frenzy. They wanted to join the fight against mankind and Hokai sensed this triumphantly.
Kumonosu crept forward imperiously, twenty feet above Hokai in the cave, showing his stature in their community by looking down on them all. The spiders below Kumonosu jostled for a better position, wondering what the Weaver would say. Kumonosu's face was blank and inscrutable and even Hokai could not judge how he felt about what had transpired.
"Spinner Hokai, it seems your vendetta has been a success, do tell us about it," Kumonosu said silkily, his front legs dangling in a relaxed state against the cave rock. Hokai listened closely to the Weavers tone, but could discern nothing.
"Weaver Kumonosu, The assigned spiders and I ambushed a village for information. It was the village Naraku was last seen tormenting fifty five years ago when he was looking for a human to manipulate. It was not difficult to gather what I needed on my brother's murderers. The main killer that the villagers described to me is called Inuyasha, a half demon. Inuyasha has a group of humans that follow him, one of the humans is an odd looking priestess, the other a demon slayer, the third a monk. A demon was also involved in Naraku's death called Sesshomaru, he seems to be a leader in the West of Japan and Inuyasha's brother. A wolf demon was also mentioned to me but his involvement seems to have been wholly unsuccessful. The only other murderer was an undead priestess but she was dealt with years ago by Naraku. I have already slaughtered the slayer's brother when they…conveniently dropped by," Hokai explained to the avidly listening spiders, some of his audience snickered gleefully at his words. Kumonosu was not among them.
"This has indeed been a successful endeavour Hokai, but unfortunately your time is up. You have other duties to attend to here in the Hollow. You have wounded the slayer by killing her kin, let us hope this will be revenge enough for you," Kumonosu ordered. The spider underlings murmured at his words in disappointment. Hokai had expected the Weaver to ramble on about his other "duties" and was two steps ahead of him.
"I have already completed most of my duties upon returning and my underling Yami is willing to complete the rest whilst I am hunting down Naraku's killers," At Hokai's words a smaller spider with a granite grey body scuttled forward so Kumonosu could see him. The whispering increased tenfold at Hokai's impertinence. Hokai's gruesome body stilled, waiting to see the Weavers reaction. Kumonosu glared at Hokai with eight hard glittering eyes.
"It seems you have thought of every angle Hokai, except one. You wish to exact revenge on the ones responsible for your brother's death, which is a reasonable enough wish. But I know of this, Sesshomaru, that you speak of and he is not a foe to be taken on lightly. Naraku's climb for power was, for the most part achieved, but we are merely a clan of middle class demons. Even with the full force of the Wicker clan, we would have no hope of killing a demon like Sesshomaru. And Sesshomaru is Inuyasha's brother you say? So surely the brother has inherited some of his brother's power? Your list of realistic victims is growing thin Hokai," Kumonosu said in a slow methodical voice, his words sparring with Hokai's request.
"Then I will not involve the dog-demon and avoid his brother when possible. But the three humans we are more than capable of eviscerating. I beg you for fifty soldier spiders to take with me to complete this task. We will use stealth and cunning to skirt around Inuyasha, and still show the humans we are a force to be feared," Hokai compromised quickly, he had not expected Kumonosu to recognise Sesshomaru's name. The Wicker clan began to rub their legs together and click in agreement at Hokai's appeal, Kumonosu looked at his subjects in alarm. Fifty was a large segment of their forces and Kumonosu was unwilling to give that amount over, but the blood lust of the clan was on Hokai's side. Either Kumonosu would make a blatant decision against the clan, or give Hokai the chance he needed…
"Very well Hokai, I will lend you fifty soldier spiders in order to kill the three humans, but the humans ONLY. Do not make me regret this decision," Kumonosu hissed lightly, before slipping up the webbed wall and out of sight. Wicker spiders clambered up to Hokai, wanting to be one of the fifty allowed to wreak havoc on the human world instead of sticking to their usual skulking in the darkness. Hokai began his selection, choosing the largest spiders, spiders with the deadliest poison, those that were malleable to his will and would follow orders without too much thought. Then, once his fifty spiders were accounted for, he split the army into two forces. Questions were asked about this, but he defected these with an irritated click of his pincers.
Only one side would be attacking Inuyasha's village, the other half had a more subtle, difficult task…
The beldam Kaede looked awful in Sesshomaru's opinion as he entered her home. She was crouched precariously over her cooking fire, coughing and wheezing as if some invisible goblin was throttling her. She was watched carefully by Kagome and Rin, concern evident in both girls' eyes.
When Rin saw Sesshomaru she gave a great shriek of delight and hugged his waist happily. She seemed taller than when he had last seen her, he was used to her hugging his shins. Sesshomaru stroked the young girl's dark hair as he scrutinised Kagome. After a year of marriage, the wide-eyed priestess was now pregnant, but her bump was not quite showing yet through her kimono. Inuyasha must have had his hands full indeed to let this detail of life slip from conversation.
"Lord Sesshomaru, you're here! Did you get my letter? Did you think my spelling was good? I've been practising every day so I could write to you…I suppose you've heard about what happened to Kohaku. I've… never felt so sad," The young girl said in a rush, tears welling in her eyes. Rin was sporting a new lime green silk Kimono with an emerald green sash, one of the most recent ones Sesshomaru had gifted to her. He was pleased to see that Rin was looking well cared for and content.
"We could hear Sango shouting at Ye from here Sesshomaru, did ye say something to upset her?" Kaede rasped, clutching her chest in pain as she spoke. When Kaede attempted to stir the broth she was making, Sesshomaru noticed her hand was shaking with the effort. She looked older and more fragile than he had ever seen her.
"No, it was merely a mistake on her part. Perhaps if she listened instead of shouting she would communicate better with others," Sesshomaru snarled at Kaede. Kagome smiled at his tone and kindly took over the stirring duties from Kaede, her other hand curled protectively over her non-existent bump.
"Ye must not antagonise Sango, her temperament is understandable after such a tragic accident. Kohaku was a fine boy with a sweet nature, ye must remember Sango is going through a great deal of heartache," Kaede lectured Sesshomaru pompously despite her illness. Ignoring this comment entirely, Sesshomaru retrieved Rin's letter from his robes and showed it to Kaede.
"I am not here to argue about the oddities of human behaviour, I am here to speak with you about this premature marriage plan you have concocted behind my back," Sesshomaru told Kaede, letting a small amount of anger bleed into his voice. Kaede took the letter, looking confused. Once she had read the letter she let out a cackle and passed the letter to Kagome. Kagome's eyes scanned the page and she smiled.
"Is that letter the reason ye have travelled all this way? Rin and I spoke of marriage in jest Sesshomaru, Rin is much too young to be married yet! This letter is the whims of an imaginative child!" Kaede said with a mirthful grin as she struggled not to laugh again. Kagome gave Sesshomaru and endearing look, her brown eyes twinkling.
"Oh big brother, you are more like Inuyasha than I thought! It's sweet that you came all this way to stop a phantom wedding, but I think you may have taken Rin's letter too literally," Kagome said looking highly amused as Sesshomaru glared at her. Rin watched the exchange sheepishly.
"Desist from calling me that woman," Sesshomaru snapped, making Kagome's smile stiffen into a frown. Kaede took the reins of the conversation once again.
"Pay no mind to our teasing Sesshomaru, ye have reminded me that it is good to laugh in times of grief, lest we be overcome by our sorrow. I may seem like a bossy old woman to you, but I would never make arrangements for Rin's future without input from ye," Kaede reassured Sesshomaru. Far from making Sesshomaru feel more at ease, he felt angry at himself for taking a child's letter so seriously. Rin had only recently turned thirteen, and had a tendency to daydream.
He could not figure out humans and their wealth of emotions. One moment they were happy, then sad and then angry. Sesshomaru struggled to understand their ways of communicating and because of this he was a constant outsider. He did not care about that of course, but it made talking with humans difficult. One thing was for certain, this little incident proved how ill equipped he was to care for Rin as she grew up. Rin was a teenager now. How could he navigate the world of a human teenager, when he could barely steer through encounters with the adults?
Sesshomaru ignored the two women arrogantly and talked quietly with Rin for some time. He could tell Rin had been affected badly by Kohaku's death, but she tried to keep up a cheerful disposition. If only he could meet her needs as a human girl, then she could accompany him to the Western castle. But with his war with Tsumetai and the lack of humans, he knew Inuyasha and Kaede would quite rightly protest.
'Wretched busybodies, they cannot make Rin's decisions forever. One day she will return to my side as my ward, no matter what they say.'
A faint breeze stirred around Sesshomaru, skidding in from the hut door and pulling the dog demon out of his reverie. The scent of Lavender attracted him insistently, despite the source being at least a hundred miles away near one of the many battle grounds where they had fought Naraku. It was a scent so far away and so slight, Sesshomaru doubted even Inuyasha would pick up the trail.
It must be a spectre of some sort Sesshomaru summarised. The scent made him think of the band of seven, those rage filled humans who had dared to attack him and his under Naraku's direction. Sesshomaru ignored the questions the two women were directing at him and wandered outside, musing.
Compelled by curiosity, Sesshomaru mounted his cloud without a word of farewell and headed towards the scent of the lavender spectre. He sped along quickly, prepared to confront whatever spirit he came up against. After travelling for a few tedious hours, Sesshomaru reached his destination.
The long grass whipped at his calves and a restless wind circulated around his pewter hair as he analysed his surroundings. At first he could see nothing, until he noticed a marble white figure, half hidden in the greenery. Could this be the source of the lavender and the graveyard soil? He nudged the shape with his booted foot until he was greeted with a pallid face, framed with raven hair that flowed like a dark waterfall. Chocolate brown doe eyes stared at him unblinkingly, set in one of the most beautiful faces he had ever seen.
It was the priestess Kikyo, Inuyasha's former ally.
Sesshomaru frowned in confusion, he was sure Naraku had killed the holy woman, so how did she end up here? Then he remembered Kohaku's untimely death with a jolt, and a possible explanation began to form. Inuyasha had told him that Kikyo had gifted her last speck of life to Kohaku, so the boy could exist without the aid of the Shikon jewel shard. Now that he was dead, whatever spell Kikyo had cast had been broken or reversed.
Sesshomaru lightly prodded Kikyo a second time, but she still did not respond. The priestess was naked and her body seemed bizarrely rigid, like a stone statue. Sesshomaru knelt down and pressed his right claw to Kikyo's white cheek. Her skin felt smooth and hard like a piece of delicate china.
'Spectres, they are all the same. Walking about the earth in fleshless bodies.'
Kikyo's lovely eyes showed no reaction to the dog demon's presence. Sesshomaru remembered when the priestess had saved Rin's life, even though the woman could barely walk at the time. Her holy arrow had purified the band of seven member, Doctor Suikotsu.
Sesshomaru had turned to walk away from the luckless spectre when he stopped to ponder…
Kikyo had spiritual powers that were fatal to demons like himself and Tsumetai, could Kikyo purify the icy bastard? Kagome could also do this task, but she was with child and her loud ways put a strain on Sesshomaru's patience. Kagome and Kikyo even seemed to look similar, though Kikyo had a delicateness to her features that Kagome could never obtain.
Sesshomaru had only met the priestess Kikyo once and at that time she had ignored him completely, deciding instead to check that Rin was unharmed. Sesshomaru preferred that. No irritating jokes, no uneasy small talk that humans seemed to love so much.
Sesshomaru retraced his steps and placed Kikyo in his arms, one hand behind her back and the other underneath her legs. It was like carrying an unyielding lump of quartz.
Before he could change his mind, Sesshomaru took off into the sky and headed for his castle in the west.