Chronicles of the West

Sorry it took so long. I hope you all had a great Christmas. Enjoy and please review.


Chapter Fifteen


They arrived at the tallest peak in less than a week. They had yet to see an entrance as they traveled the winding path to the top. At the peak however they found a large round boulder that seemed out of place. It took all of the strength of the demons combined to roll it from it's resting place. Hidden beneath it was a small dark shaft, leading into the heart of the mountain.

"Looks like this is it" Kurama said and they agreed. Shippo eyed the darkness before flinging a ball of foxfire into it. The green flames swirled in a sphere as it fell down into the depths. "Hmm, looks deep. Ryu get your rope" he said. Minutes later, the red fox had the rope looped around himself and his two traveling companions were lowering him into the chasm.

Shippo disliked going first, but he was the smallest besides Silvana and he certainly wouldn't send her in first. His eyes adjusted to the gloom and he peered around. "No way you can just drop in here" he called up to them. His eyes took in the many shelves of stone. "This mountain is hollow" he told them, "There are caves all along the walls. I guess we look for the bottom one"

Ryu nodded at Toga, "That matches the riddle so far". Kurama agreed, "Though it's not much of a riddle at this point. The first two clues have been pretty clear". Ryu knew and he didn't like it. Shippo glanced down, they were running out of rope and the bottom was still unseen. "Ryu, I'm gonna have to transform, no way is the rope gonna make it to the bottom".

There was a slackening in the rope and then a popping sound. The pink orb that was Shippo floated into sight, "Come on Kurama, I'll take you down and you can set your vines to work". The silver fox nodded and climbed atop the younger. Silvana watched him get smaller and smaller until he vanished into the darkness. Peering into that unfathomable darkness, she mused aloud. "It's a good thing you made her stay behind"

Toga nodded, 'You are right, but this darkness is nothing to her. She lives in that darkness every day' he thought to himself. Ryu's ears pitched forward to listen to the sounds of the cavern. There was unlikely to be anything there that Shippo and Kurama couldn't handle, but he was on guard even so.

It seemed to take an eternity before the slithering shifting sound of growing tangles of vines reached the surface. Ryu glanced at Silvana, "Do you want to come with me?" he asked. She shifted slightly, she did, but she would do this on her own. The hanyou, oddly enough made her feel safe in a sense that even Toga had not managed, she'd be damned if she gave into that childish feeling.

Looking into clear gold eyes she shrugged, "I'll manage". He nodded, and slipped over the edge of the stone, clawed hands finding purchase in the thick vines of the spirit fox. He heard Silvana above him and a lecherous thought occurred to him in the deepening darkness. If only he looked up. He did not, however, keeping his eyes trained downwards and his ears tuned to the sounds of the cavern around them.

Hours later, they knelt at what appeared to be the bottom of the well-like shaft. So deep now that sunlight no longer penetrated to reach them. Shippo's fox fire flared to life again and they were able to see caves and dark indentations like cubbyholes along the inside of the mountain.

"Find the bottom one huh?" Shippo asked casting his emerald gaze about, "Easier said than done". The others followed his gaze to find three caves of similar size at the bottom of the wall. Which one led to the next clue of the riddle? Unable to tell any difference between them, they decided to investigate them all.

"We should split up, it will be faster that way" Toga said and they were in agreement. Three caves, six demons. "Shippo and I will take the far left" Kurama offered. Silvana motioned to the center, "I'll take that one". Ryu nodded, "I'll go with her". Toga glanced over at Ippiku, "Looks like we get the last one". The ice imp nodded, his little throat working. Toga lifted a brow at him, "Nervous?" he asked. Ippiku went stiff as a board, "Not at all my lord". The demon lord chuckled, "Don't venture too far" he reminded them all.

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Aislin sat in the great hall, near the long windows. She could feel the warm sunlight on her face as it streamed in. Kaisin was not far away, her escort and friend. One of Silvana's finest warriors. Toga had picked him to see to the mortal in his absence. The fox was brutal in combat and yet held a soft heart inside. Often freeing small animals from human traps and the like. He'd taken an instant liking the small human.

"Kaisin?" Aislin called softly. The fox paused in sharpening his blade and looked up before answering, "Yes my lady?". Aislin blushed slightly and the honorific, "How long will they be gone, do you think?". The question was inevitable but the tenderhearted fox had little liking for it. "I am not certain lady" he admitted, "I was told little of the journey or where it would lead them. However Toga and his companions are intelligent and strong. They will return as quickly as they can".

Aislin sighed, time passed differently for humans than it did for demons, she knew that much. Toga might very well return when she was old and gray. Kaisin read her doubts, and moved to her side, looping a long arm around her shoulders. "You do wrong to doubt him Lady Aislin" he chided her gently. She was ashamed of her doubts and fears and yet remained helpless to them. Kaisin had taken the liberty of settling her in Toga's rooms. His scent lingered there and he knew on some level that would calm her.

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"Lady Taisha!" Haru called from the balcony, her words fell unheard or perhaps unheeded. Madu had been in attendance for nearly a week now and the leige lady had managed to spare all of a mere five minutes time for him. Citing patrols and duties far too weighty to be cast aside.

The handsome young wolf had gladly offered his help to her, but the dog princess was not to be swayed. He admired her for her strength and conviction. She would make the perfect mate for him, if only he could get her to hold still long enough to broach the subject.

Haru let her shoulders slump slightly in defeat and made her way into the hall where said wolf waited. "My lord, I regret to say that I was too late and she has departed to patrol once more" the bear managed to say it all with a straight face. Madu nodded, his brown hair swaying in it’s high ponytail.

"With so many patrols, this region must teem with unrest" he stated. Haru kept her expression neutral. That was the furthest thing from the truth and Madu most likely knew that. Any who dared to encroach on Taisha's borders were dealt with swiftly and not always delicately. She took after her father in that respect. Her power and temper as widely known as his power and coolness.

"She does not wish to spend time with me" Madu blurted out. Haru eyed him carefully, while she was close to the lady, speaking out of turn was still not acceptable. "My lord if I may" she ventured, blue green eyes lifted to her in permission, "Lady Taisha does not mind your company, it is just that she knows what you seek".

Madu folded his arms across his chest, looking every inch his arrogant father's son, "A mate" he stated simply. Haru nodded, "Yes a mate. She does not wish to be one… not yet" she said baldly. The wolf's brows furrowed, "But that is the duty of females" he pointed out. Haru bit her acid response back, "Not in the house of the west" she said firmly.

She turned and left him to ponder her words and he did just that. For a handful of moments. Clearly she needed convincing. With that hopeful thought he raced from the fortress and into the woods. Following the delicious scent that was his intended lady.

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"Inuyasha!" Kagome snapped and the once hanyou glared at his wife, "What?" he demanded. She looked pointedly at the mess of her newest kimono he'd made. He shrugged, flicking the remnants of silk from his claws, a wicked gleam in his eye. Kagome stamped her foot angrily, the last of the abused garment sliding to the floor.

Inuyasha prowled in a circle around his naked mate and growled appreciatively. Kagome knew that look well, it was the look that promised hours of satisfaction. Not that she minded, no not at all. However, Inuyasha had shredded her clothing in the broad daylight of the gardens.

"Someone is going to see" she told him, blushing furiously at the thought. Velvety ears swiveled atop his head, "I don't hear anyone, don't smell anyone" he told her in a low voice. Kagome's eye twitched, "Inuyasha…. If you don't get me to our rooms now… I can promise you'll be sleeping on the floor" she said evenly.

Golden eyes snapped upwards from the heaving expanse of her breasts. With a pout he took off his outer haori, "Aww 'Gome you're no fun". She let his wrap his arms around her and felt his muscles tense to spring upward. "Just wait.. I'll show you what fun I can be" she purred into his ear.

When they were airborne and out of sight, the foliage nearby shimmered and then receded. Sesshoumaru grinned down at his wife, who was currently pinned beneath him and connected in a most intimate way. He lifted his hand from her mouth and she giggled, "Whew, I'm so glad they didn't know we were here. Thank the powers that be for your ability to throw up a barrier and mask our scents" she whispered to him.

The great dog demon nipped her throat lightly and she moaned, pulling him closer. "Think I should tease Kagome about being bare in the gardens? No? Thought not. Did I ever tell you my love that Inuyasha has shitty timing?" he asked. She laughed then and he drew her closer against his body , throwing up the barrier as he began to move.

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Shippo growled softly in the darkness, "No use Kurama, this passageway is too narrow. This can't be it". The silver fox nodded, and knelt beside the younger kitsune. Reaching into his hair, he drew out a seed and place it on the ground. Settling his hand over it, he whispered almost lovingly, "Grow".

A small vine sprouted and wriggled it's way through the rocky soil before it could go no further. The cave narrowed and ended in a stone wall. "Dead end" Kurama confirmed. Shippo nodded and they began to move backwards to get free of the enclosing space.

"Shippo do you smell that?" Kurama asked suddenly. The younger kitsune stiffened, "Whatever it is, it's not me" he huffed. Kurama chuckled, "I never implied that it was, it smells like…..water". Shippo sniffed, "Yeah it does, but mountains like this always smell damp". Kurama had to agree with him there, "Still not over that tainted berry incident?" he asked calmly. He could almost feel the heat from Shippo's blush. "That was not funny" he groused.

Kurama snickered, "It was Shippo. Sadly we thought that the effects would not last as long as they did. A few times we expected but all night, well that was just as bad for us as it was for you". Shippo growled slightly louder. "Damn pranksters. I will get you back for that one". Kurama's light laughter really irritated him.

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Ryu and Silvana walked slowly, he'd made her walk behind him. She'd muttered and complained about his highhanded methods. That was until the hanyou had turned and pinned her to the stone wall behind her, his body pressing tightly against hers. "You like my highhanded methods woman" he told her. They could barely see each other, little more than two glowing pairs of eyes in the gloom.

"I should have gone with Toga" she muttered. Ryu snorted, "Yeah, because he would have let you go first, Not a chance. Admit it, you like being in the dark with me". Her little gasp of indignation was enough to make him smile. He slowly placed one foot in front of the other and then he heard the rasp of gravel under an unsure foot. She hit his back, pitching them both forward.

"Damn it woman" he muttered as he expected to feel the ground rise up to meet them, but that didn't happen, he felt a lip in the stone and then they sailed into blackness. Ryu twisted to try and wrap himself around her, offer her some sort of barrier for whatever lay at the end of this dark fall.

Silvana felt her heart leap in panic, they were falling to the gods only knew where. She focused her energies as she felt his turn. Her claws dug into him tightly and she held him tightly. The flash of light that resulted was most impressive. The air around them became thicker, heavier and then… it held their weight.

Ryu looked quickly up at the female who had a death grip on him. Her white hair stood out around her and she seemed to glow like the pearl they'd given up. Her blue eyes were silver with the energy coursing though her. Airy looking wings stood out on either side of her. Ryu adjusted his grip on her to pull her into him, and her claws released him. Slowly, she set them down.

"Woman you can fly?" he asked her. She leaned against him, her energy all but exhausted, "No…can't" she told him. He supported her weight easily enough. "Silvana?" he asked, concern creeping into his voice. He knelt on the rocky ground, keeping her against him. She lifted a hand to his cheek, "Fine. Just tired" she assured him.

His eyes darted around, in the fading light of her power. "Well I guess this is the bottom cave" he told her, pointing to the corner. She nodded, "We have to tell them. Just let me rest and I'll get us out of here". He growled at her, "Not a chance". He sniffed the air but nothing lived near this area. The ground beneath them was littered with bones. And he looked up in the swiftly vanishing light, that fall was pretty impressive.

He saw that the walls were smooth, like river stones, not much chance of climbing out. He sighed and looked up to where the entrance was. Taking a deep breath, he called for his friends. "Kurama? Shippo!".