What's A Dragon to Do?

Chapter 10

Ah and Un slept through the night, and they awoke shortly before dawn and left the cave. They had to return to the castle to make sure everything was fine. They flew into the garden and landed before the stable. There were many guards about but none bothered to stop him. They returned to their stall and ate the hay that had been left for them. As they ate a couple of guards entered the stables and were talking amongst themselves.

"Lord Sesshoumaru should have been back by now."

"Master Jaken said that he had urgent business and would return shortly."

"The Lord would know if something happened at his castle. I do not want to be around when he finds out about the ningen child's death."

"I find it strange that we found no trace of the villain who did it. I found no scent of any attacker. If there were a as many as Jaken said we should have at least smelled one of them."

"I think the whole story Jaken told us very disturbing. When Lord Sesshoumaru returns I will report my findings to him."

"Jaken will not allow that to happen and you know it. He is starting to take control of our Lords castle. He has already dismissed most of the guards that were on duty last night. If Lord Sesshoumaru doesn't return shortly it's hard to tell what the imp will do."

Ah and Un waited till the soldiers left then left the stables and returned to Sesshoumaru He had to tell his lord what had happened.

They entered the cave after making sure that they were not followed. Ah stayed and guarded the cave while Un went to talk to their lord.

Un entered the orb and found his lord sitting under a tree with the ningen female on his lap. The children were asleep beside them. He bowed to Sesshoumaru, "My Lord I have news from your castle. We heard a couple of your captains talking. It seems Jaken has dismissed most of your loyal guards. It appears he is trying to take over your lands." Sesshoumaru stiffened and growled at the news.

"He would not dare. Release this Sesshoumaru immediately."

"We can't release you my Lord. The spell containing you will not allow us to at this time, but if I may speak my Lord? Perhaps you could send your brother to your palace in your stead to deal with the imp. He is in your lands and could be there shortly." Un waited for his lord to erupt in anger.

Sesshoumaru growled at the dragon image before him. His castle was being taken over by an ambitious imp and they refused to release him. And now they want him to send his brother to deal with the imp. Like Inuyasha would do that. But he had no other choice.

"Give me a scroll. I just hope that the pup knows how to read." He took a scroll, pen, and ink from the dragon and wrote a note to his brother giving him directions to his castle and what he was to do until he returned.

I guess I am about to find out what he is made of. He let his brother know that Kagome and Shippou were with him and that they were safe but unable to return to them at the time and as soon as it was possible he would insure that the girl and kit were returned to him. He also asked that they give the woman's pack to his dragon so Kagome could have her supplies.

Then he wrote another for Inuyasha to show to his guards so that they would not question his orders. After he finished the letter he removed his crest from a hidden pocket in his hakama and marked the scroll so that everyone would know that he had indeed written it and handed it to Un.

"Take this to Inuyasha immediately."

Un took the scrolls and left the orb and they flew off to find their lords brother.
----

Sango looked around the camp again. Nothing changed since the last time she looked. She hated sitting around when her friend was missing. Anything could be happening to her at the moment.

"Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru has had a day to find us. If he were going to come he would have done so by now. We have to go look for him or Kagome. I don't want to sit around any more." Inuyasha jumped down from his perch in a tree.

"Fine break camp we leave to find my brother and Kagome. Hopefully we find Kagome first." He waited till Sango gathered all their supplies and then they returned to where Kagome had gotten attacked. Maybe he could find some new information.

Miroku looked around the charred ground. A powerful being had done this. He just hoped that Kagome was well. How she survived a strike like that he didn't know but he had eternal hope that his friend was still alive.

"Who would take Kagome and Shippou? Inuyasha do you think that Sesshoumaru might have done it, that could be the reason he has not shown up yet."

"Sesshoumaru has no reason to attack Kagome. To him they are allies. He would not harm and ally without due cause." He sniffed the air and looked to the skies. "That scent belongs to my brothers pet dragon."

The gang looked up and saw the dragon flying above them. They watched it fly to the clearing they had just departed. They ran to meet the dragon and hopefully Sesshoumaru would be close behind. Inuyasha landed in the clearing at the same time as the dragon and looked around. His brother was nowhere in sight. He couldn't pick up his scent either. He glared at the dragon.

"Where is Sesshoumaru?"

Ah and Un walked over to the hanyou and dropped the scrolls his lord had written at his feet. And since the hanyou was prone to sudden outburst of anger he quickly backed away.

Inuyasha picked up the first scroll and opened it and read over his brothers writing. Where is he at that he can't return to his castle to protect it and why is Kagome and Shippou with him. He looked at the dragon then back to the scroll.

"Where is Sesshoumaru at? And how did he end up with Kagome." Inuyasha was yelling at the dragon. Like he expected it to answer him or something. Ah turned his head and to look at Un and found him almost smiling. "What do you find so funny?" Un just shook his head then turned back to the hanyou.

"Does he really expect us to talk to him or is he really a baka?" Ah watched the hanyou pace around his friends while they tried to calm him down.

"He's a baka." Ah was getting tired of listening to the pups rants and raised his head and bellowed to let the hanyou know that they were still there.

Inuyasha had all but forgotten the dragon and what he was suppose to do when it let out a bellow that shook the trees. He had to cover his ears to stop the sound from damaging his hearing. When the sound stopped he walked to Sango and took Kagome's pack and tied it to the dragon's saddle. Then he walked to the dragon heads and brought his sword and pointed it at them.

"You must have a way to talk to Sesshoumaru, Well tell him this he had better have Kagome and Shippou back at his palace by the end of the week or I will come looking for him." Damn Sesshoumaru. Now that Kagome was with him they couldn't look for the remaining jewel shards. Leave it to his brother to ruin his plans again.

He stood back and watched the dragon take off again. He handed the scroll to Miroku and waited till he read it and related to Sango what it said. Miroku looked up from the scroll and to Inuyasha.

"Your brother must be in real trouble for him to ask you to go to rule the palace until he returns. Are you going to do it?"

"How can I refuse his request? In all of our years this is the first time that he has requested my help. How can I turn him down? Besides this will probably be the closest chance I'll ever have of being ruler of the Western Lands. But he had better return soon and bring Kagome and Shippou with him." He waited till everyone was ready to travel again and then took off for his brother's palace. According to his brothers directions they should be there before nightfall.

They ran most of the morning. Inuyasha stopped around noon to allow Kirara a chance to rest and he caught some fish for everyone to eat. After they were fed they took off again and just before nightfall the palace came into view. Inuyasha had never thought he would see it again. Let alone have his brother ask him to deal with an imp that tried to kill his human ward and seemed to be trying to take over the palace. He landed before the gates to the palace and confronted the guards on duty.

"I am Prince Inuyasha and Lord Sesshoumaru has sent me to watch over his lands until his return. Open the gates or I will ensure that you do not live to see the sun set." He glared at the guards and watched as the argued amongst themselves. He had had enough and walked to the gates and they opened before he even got close to them. He walked through them and turned to make sure Sango and Miroku were following him. He could hear the noisy imp ordering servants and guards around. He followed his nose till he found the disgusting imp.

"Jaken, Lord Sesshoumaru asked me to come and handle his affairs until he is able to return." Jaken stared at the hanyou before him. His lord would never ask Inuyasha to take care of his affairs. He had to be lying.

"My Lord would not ask a ruffian like you to take care of his affairs. GUARDS!!!"

Inuyasha drew his sword and looked to Sango and Miroku. They were prepared to fight beside him if necessary. He put his sword to the imp's throat

"Do you question my word or that of my brother Lord Sesshoumaru?" Jaken stared up at the hanyou and his ningen companions.

"I would never question my Lord but you on the other hand, I do."

Inuyasha watched the chamber quickly fill up with Sesshoumaru's soldiers. He looked around the room and found a soldier that was dressed in full battle armor. Considering that all the other guards were looking to him for directions Inuyasha guessed him to be Sesshoumaru's main general. He handed him the scroll that Sesshoumaru sent him and watched as he read it over and looked down at the imp still being held by his sword. Kitaro read the scroll and then glared at the imp.

"Our Lord has asked Prince Inuyasha to handle his affairs until he returns. I am Kitaro, my prince. I am in your service." He bowed down to Inuyasha and motioned for the rest of the soldiers to do the same.

Inuyasha watched as the rest of the soldiers bowed to him. He continued to hold his sword at the imp's throat. He waited till all the guards finally rose before he spoke.

"Find a servant to ready rooms for myself and my friends then when they are prepared escort them to their rooms. Until then see that they get something to eat. They are to have anything they need placed at their disposal." He saw a guard bow and leave the room to return shortly followed by what he assumed was a servant and watched his friends being led off. He then looked down at the imp that hadn't moved since he placed his sword to his throat.

"Now what to do with you. Your stench is making me sick. And I don't think you are going to be needing this." Inuyasha reached over and plucked the staff of two heads from the imp and handed it to a guard that was standing next to him.

"Make sure that gets locked up in Sesshoumaru's armory." He then motioned to a couple of soldiers that were close to the imp. "Take the imp to the dungeon. Maybe a night in there will teach him not to question his lord or myself. Make sure that while he is there he receives a bath. I am surprised my brother allows anyone who stinks so much in his palace anyway."

He turned to the General. "Kitaro I would like to talk with you in the study." He motioned for the general to lead the way. As he walked out of the room he could hear the imp screaming at the soldiers that were dragging him away and could hear the chuckles coming from the guards. He didn't see that most of the guards had followed the imp. Just to insure that he got a bath or two and maybe perhaps three or four.