~Year Three~
~I’m Changing~
~Jaken~ Grudgingly I’ll admit that I miss Rin, and even those mongrels that came with Lord Sesshomaru’s mate.
Lord Sesshomaru has turned to resuming his traveling and has brought the Ryu-Inu guardian Swift. Milord refuses to say what he is searching for, though his movements are not as random as they had been before Kazuko had come in the picture. I’ve noticed he purposely travels near the northern border and doesn’t stray too far from it during his travels.
His silence is no longer the usual indifferent one that he had before. It is now an absolute silence. I cannot recall milord having used his voice in the two years. His only forms of communication are his glares; his sword for anyone idiotic enough to disturb his travels, and nods for those that speak to him.
To my surprise, Lord Sesshomaru has made a trip to Inuyasha’s village this year. Lady Rin was happy to see him, and I, though I shall never admit it aloud, was relieved to see her. Rin has grown so much that she is barely recognizable as the child that Lord Sesshomaru brought back to life all those years ago. I believe she is twelve now and I heard a few whispers throughout the village of families who see her as a suitable mate, or ‘wife’ as the humans call it, for their sons. Most of this talk stopped as soon as Lord Sesshomaru came around, since most of the humans have heard of the possessiveness of dog demons, and are unsure of milord’s direct relationship with Rin.
Rin has asked when she may return to live back at the western castle, obviously unaware of the plans already made for her to live permanently here with the humans. During the spring we had found out Izu’s plans to have Rin stay among the humans for good. He finally asked for Lord Sesshomaru’s approval, which he received with a brief nod from milord.
Though milord never directly asked, the priestess Kagome told us that they haven’t heard any more news about Kazuko. They only have the letters the young fox demon sends to Rin to go off of. Apparently the fox does not have access to anymore news than the rest of us on Kazuko’s whereabouts and/or activities.
News of Naraku and Toro has been equally scarce. From the sounds of it, Naraku and Toro are more occupied with building up the east from within. I don’t think milord, nor Inuyasha’s group, thinks this to be true, but there is not much that can be done for now.
The guardian is as quiet as milord, only talking when excusing himself for activities such as hunting. Swift has seemed tense since Lady Kazuko left, and while most of it seems to have vanished, he still does not seem entirely comfortable. It is almost as if he is carrying an unseen burden, perhaps a secret. If this secret could endanger milord, I will get it out of him one way or another.
~Shippo~ I’ve hit what Kagome once called ‘a growth spurt’, and have shed my fox like feet for more human appearing ones. It was the last of my changings, as demons call them; all that is left is for me to grow into a bigger and more powerful body. Unlike humans and most other demons, fox demons are born with a mixture of fox and human-like features. As we grow we shed the more obvious demon features until we have a full human-like form, just like other demons do.
It is a little different and I’ve had to rework my basic foot patterns so that I could get used to my new feet. Thus my fighting techniques have also had to be reworked and though it feels like I’m now falling behind, Lord Di says I’m right on track with where I should be. Kagome will be surprised when she sees me. I’ve gotten up to a full two feet finally, as opposed to my one and a half foot height I had been when I’d traveled when Inuyasha and his group.
Rin writes that Sesshomaru came through the village to visit. While I wrote back and told her how happy for her I am for that, it sends suspicion through me. It’s not like Sesshomaru to go out of his way to visit a human village that isn’t even under his rule, even if Rin is there. Rin seems determined that this means she will soon be able to return to the western castle, and I feel bad knowing that she is getting her hopes up for nothing.
Lord Di has found a set of daggers that had been my father’s when he had still lived the life of a northern warrior, before he settled down with my mother. The northern lord has given them to me. At first I was conflicted as what to do. The daggers I had were of the Ryu-Inu clan, which I now feel is my own clan, and they were given to me by Ryo who has become fatherly, if not like an older brother to me. Yet these daggers of my father are all I have of him.
Thankfully Lord Di suggested that I use one of each as my main weapons and use the other two as backups. It worked out well, I now use one of the Ryu-Inu daggers in my left hand and one of my father’s daggers in my left. I keep the other two tied under my arms within my clothes, so that they are not visible. The daggers look pretty cool together. The Ryu-Inu ones are red with black outlines and my fathers are blue with white outlines.
Dagger is looking better when he comes to visit. He’s said that Kazuko is doing extremely well and that there is truly a hope that she will be able to finish her training in full by the end of the decade. It’s the most he’s said about her training since we’ve arrived and I am relieved. If Dagger feels bold enough to say such things aloud, then her training must really be going well.
Ryo and Katina seem to be doing well. Word is that they are earning the respect of the Ryu-Okami, which is good if we’re really going to go to war with Toro and Naraku. Lord Di insist that he has no intentions of entering the war on either side, but I’m hoping that if needed he can be persuaded otherwise. We can expect that if Lord Di refuses to aid, then we can also expect that the Ryu-Okami will also refuse aid. From the rumors, Naraku’s numbers are too great for just us to handle alone, even with Sesshomaru’s army, so we’ll need any help we can get.
~Ryo~ I’ve finally gotten my blades to a point where I can get them to full power. It only last a few seconds and takes an extreme amount of energy, but it’s an improvement. At least I know in case of a life-threatening situation for Katina or myself I can push myself just to save her.
I’m honing my elemental abilities well. My lighting and fire strikes are coming along well, though they’re not as good as Kazuko’s, but they are useful. I’ve fallen into a pattern of not really using my elemental abilities while I fight unless my opponent manages to unarm me. It’s a style I learned from the Ryu-Okami. As they’ve told me, we are undistinguishable from normal youkai until we use our elements. So if we can lure our opponents into a false sense of security and allow them to think I am a simple dog demon, then I have a great surprise in store for them.
I can feel myself getting stronger with my techniques in fighting. Now I can take on one fully trained opponent or two slightly trained ones. I still haven’t gotten to the point where I can beat them, but I can hold my ground long enough for help to come. I’ve really been working hard with Oak and the two of us make a really dangerous team. With the two of us fighting we can take on three fully trained opponents and have even won once.
Like an oak tree, Oak is really sturdy and it is hard to get him down in a fight. He’s also a lot more methodical and insightful than I had thought he would be, and I’ve found out that this is largely in part to the fact that he is Sage’s son. Sometimes I forget that at one time the guardians were a regular pack that was granted great strength, size, ability and practical immortality. How they got it I don’t know, but I sure would like to find out one day.
Katina is really coming along with her healings. She can now repair torn skin over torn muscle or broken bone, though she cannot fully repair the internal stuff yet. Once my training sessions are done, she is more than happy to use me for her to practice healing the wounds that I sustain, though thankfully none of them have been too severe, just a few scrapes and cuts.
We’ve heard of Sesshomaru’s visit the village Kazuko’s friends reside in. The Ryu-Okami say they’ve also picked up traces of the western lord near the borders, though the scent trails never crossed. Normally I’m sure they would ward away any that strayed so close to their borders, but it is easy to see why they choose to allow the behavior. Sesshomaru apparently only comes around about once a month and never stays longer than a day or so.
Masaru’s reports are much of the same: no real news on Naraku other than the urge to cut our training short and strike the first blow, Masaru’s displeasure at not knowing why Swift is traveling with Sesshomaru, and rants about some demon sword smith named Totosai. The only thing I ever wonder is, if the guardians have no hands how are they writing these reports?
~Shadow~ Totosai is still not done with the weapons he has been commissioned to make.
Thorn has taken my place in the group with Moon and Claw to talk to the sword smith. As with the previous times, Totosai reported that he hadn’t even started on either weapon. The old demon sword smith is toying with those whose patience is running thinner by the second. If the weapons are not done soon I fear that the old weapon smith won’t be around much longer to make any weapons.
Masaru had himself a bit of a mess after he found out. He took out a few of the huts, and is currently working on building them back up. Sage, always the calm one, has reminded us that as long as the weapons are ready for Lady Kazuko upon her return we have nothing to get worked up about. That is easier said than done.
Sage, along with Cloud and Ripple, has also gone to work with retrieving all writing having to do with the Ryu-Inu clan’s rituals and ceremonies, as Lady Kazuko had requested. He seems very fascinated to go through them, and reads each as he gets them. A few are scrolls he wrote himself that had been lost after the massacre.
No one knows why Kazuko would want such old scrolls, but we’re guessing she just wants to know about her clan. Though I’ve heard a few wonder why she doesn’t simply ask us, we have been around since the clan started. Plus she has only requested scrolls on rituals and ceremonies, none about the history of the clan. She must be planning something, but we cannot know what until she returns.
We’ve caught the spy whose presence we had been sensing for a few months now. He refused to give us any information on who he worked for, and he had been in the western lands for so long that it covered his homeland scent. We thought to kill him, but upon discussion we decided it would be best to keep him and think of other ways to get information out of him. We do have seven more years until Kazuko, Ryo, Katina and Shippo return.
Masaru originally thought to have the spy sent to the western castle and held there to be questioned by Sesshomaru. But Sage pointed out that we did not know the full ability of the spy and to put him in the heart of the castle, especially while Sesshomaru was absent, would not be a wise move.
So we have encased the spy in ice and earth and will deal with him accordingly until either Sesshomaru or Kazuko returns. If he still hasn’t spoken by then, we will turn him over to them. For his sake I hope he has enough brains to talk now. I’ve never seen Sesshomaru extract information from anyone, but from what rumor has spread it is something that I would wish on even my worst enemies.
~Kagura~ Naraku and that bull, Toro, are both idiots.
Naraku intends to kill Toro once they have taken down the west and Inuyasha’s group. Yet I know that Toro isn’t as dumb as he looks. I’ve heard the stories of how he tricked his father and killed him.
It’s quite the tale really.
For a few decades it had been well known that there was resistance to Toro’s father. The exact ones involved remains a mystery to this day, most too afraid to speak out since seeing what action had been taken against the clan that was leading the resistance. It was said that it was the Ryu-Inu clan that led the plan to overthrow Toro’s father, or so Toro had told his father.
In truth the Ryu-Inu clan simply wanted to help those who wished to escape the east flee safely, they had never intended for a fight.
They had always been known as a clan that stood for justice and peace, and Toro used it against them. The Ryu-Inu held powers that stood above most all others, yet they never once used it for destruction.
The birth of the Shogakko provided a convenient excuse for the east to lay waste to the clan; they never really wanted the child. She was simply to be a spoil of victory. They launched their attack early because the east did not want to go to war with the west, knowing it would cause much more bloodshed than they wanted.
Apparently the previous eastern lord had gotten too comfortable in his power once he’d taken out the Ryu-Inu clan. Toro’s father thought that now that all had seen his strength no one would dare oppose him. The only problem came from the eastern lord’s lack of suspicion in his own castle.
Toro killed his father while challenging him to a ‘friendly’ duel. Only a few know that Toro had every intention to kill his father during that match. Others thought that the eastern lord’s death had been a tragic accident that had been unintended. Thus Toro has been able to maintain his honor by not being seen as a murderer, but he’s able to keep a grip of fear over his own subjects.
As for the lady of the lands, she disappeared shortly after her mate’s death. Rumor is that Toro slew his own mother as well, but that particular tale has not been confirmed.
I can only hope that the bull and the half demon are evenly matched in wit and that they will destroy each other.
I have no problem fighting to kill the one who Sesshomaru has taken on as a mate, but I will not raise an attack against the western lord.
~Sango~ Miroku has asked me to wed him.
Over the past year and so we have been in a courting state, or ‘dating’ as Kagome has often referred to it as. He asked me to be his bride on the night of the first snow of winter. We are to be wed on the first day of spring.
There is a lot of planning to do and Kagome insist that our wedding be a grand occasion. I believe her enthusiasm comes from her knowing it will be nearly impossible to get Inuyasha to follow human traditions and have a wedding ceremony, especially since he is still refusing to recognize the ‘living’ woman who loves him.
When I ask Kagome about what she intends to do, she always says she is willing to wait on Inuyasha. Once I broached the subject of how we were now twenty and that most women were married by now. I even dared to bring up the one she says pursues her back in her own time, the one called Hojo.
While I think Kagome and Inuyasha go so well together, I feel that the half-demon may just not be able to see it in time. I would hate to see Kagome waste away her life to wait on one who seems unwilling to love her back. She told me that in her time some women stay unwedded until they are in their thirties and forties. Her time surely is a wonder.
The announcement of the wedding has provided a distraction for Rin. She had been even more down since Sesshomaru had come by the visit. She became very upset when she had asked to return to the western castle and was greeted with silence from Sesshomaru and she awoke to find him gone the following morning. Rin does not seem to understand the danger in her returning to the castle, but we have no choice but to keep her here for her own safety.
Thankfully Kagome has given her tasks to do to help prepare for the wedding. So now, between her training and helping Kagome, she does not have much time to think about the castle, or at least she doesn’t speak of it as often as she had before.
I will admit I was surprised and pleased that he monk was able to suppress his perverted ways. They are not entirely gone, as he still stares at all maidens that pass him by; but he no longer rushes to them as he once did. I can say that I am no longer unsure of my feelings for him; I am truly in love with Miroku.
Miroku has brought up the thought of children, and I have skillfully avoided that conversation repeatedly. Wedding is one thing, but to bring a child into this chaos with Naraku still lurking around would be a danger I’m not sure I’m willing to risk. Yet I understand that if I am to have children I would have to start thinking about it soon.
I wish we could invite the Ryu-Inus and Shippo, but I’m sure their training is too important for them to leave. We have settled with sending them notice of the engagement.
~Kazuko~ When I had first closed my eyes a dense fog had appeared, descended and surrounded me. Then I became aware of the ground beneath me disappearing bit by bit until there was nothing left below me, yet I did not fall.
‘I think I liked the water better, at least I was aware of my surroundings there.’ I thought as I floated in nothingness. I couldn’t feel anything below me or around me. I was simply suspended in the sky without an idea of anything. I didn’t know which way was up or down, east or west. I just continued to try and float my way to something, anything. Everywhere I looked all I could see was white and grey. I’m pretty sure I’m in a cloud or somewhere up high.
‘Koru said this was the element of freedom and guidance. Yet I have no idea where I am. Yea, some guide.’ I thought with an eye roll.
I had been floating there for who knows how long, and had yet to see anything. I was technically surrounded by the element, since wind was made of air and I was apparently surrounded by air. I had yet to see the usually copy of myself and honestly I wasn’t too disappointed with that.
‘I’m starting to get annoying.’ I thought as I went over the previous encounters with my copies and shook my head.
‘I wonder what would happen if I went to sleep here. It’s not as if Koru would know plus, it’s not like I’m doing anything here.’ I thought as I looked around through the nothingness I was currently in.
‘If I just took a quick one or two week nap, I could still have most of the year to figure out wind mastery.’ I mused, the idea sounding better and better each time I repeated it to myself. Koru had said that demons can last a year with only one night of sleep. He was right, but that didn’t mean we have to. I could still feel the weariness weighting me down. I could still function at full strength, but I still wanted a good month’s sleep.
I looked around as if to make sure no one could see me slacking off.
‘Yea there are other people just watching in the shadows.’ I joked myself. I brought my arms up under my head and adjusted myself the best I could in this floating position. Thankfully my body was floating on a pretty level plain so I felt comfortable enough. With a heavy sigh I closed my eyes and let myself drift off.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” I heard just as I closed my eyes. Just when I had felt myself starting to truly relax and release, I felt a huge gust of wind begin to form as if I were standing beside a tornado. I also felt a warm embrace almost as if I were being hugged by someone.
I snapped my eyes open only to see nothing but the white and grey surrounding, and as soon as I opened my eyes the wind stopped and the embrace was gone. ‘
What the hell?’ I thought as I looked around, still unable to find any trace of where that voice had come from.
“Maybe Koru was wrong and demons
can get mental fatigue from lack of sleep.” I thought out loud with an inward groan and decided to try and lull myself back to sleep again.
Again once I closed my eyes the winds started up, the embrace was back and that voice returned.
“Why do you choose to ignore your training? Time is short and not to be wasted sleeping.” The voice said, and though I couldn’t see the owner of the voice I knew I recognized it.
This time I tried to ignore the voice and get some sleep, if only briefly. The winds picked up.
Again I snapped my eyes open only for the wind to stop and for no one to be seen.
“So it’s finally happening. I’m going insane.” I mumbled as I tried to decide what course of action I should do. “Maybe I should try and wake myself up, make Koru let me sleep and then I can try this again.” I decided. “Now… how would I wake myself up?” I pondered and figured that every time I’ve woken up from the training I had closed my eyes, though normally a dragon did something to help me. “I can try to bring myself back and just try and ignore the wind and voice and the surprisingly comforting embrace.”
For the third time I closed my eyes and again the wind picked up around me.
“Trying to escape will not work here.” The voice commented.
“Shut up.” I muttered in the direction I heard the voice come from and was tempted to try and huddle myself into the warm embrace.
“Why do you keep trying then? You know you’ll only fail in the end.” The voice continued.
“Nice try, but that’s not going to work. I’ve come to terms with my emotions and doubts and I have learned to control them.” I said with a small smirk of satisfaction that I finally had something over the voice.
“You’ve learned how to hold them in.” The voice said and I felt a sharp pain cut through my right arm from shoulder to elbow. The feel of the cut was similar to the Dance of the Wind Kagura used the only difference being that the attack felt as if I had been hit from within my own body instead of from an external force. As I raised my left arm to feel for the cut, I could feel nothing on the outside, but I felt a twinge of pain from within my arm as I passed my hand over it. “True you’ve stopped them from damaging you on the outside, but now they can just tear you apart from the inside.” The voice remarked
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I grumbled.
‘So I learned how to control my emotions for nothing?!’ I thought sourly.
‘Let me get my hands on that fire dragon after this. We’re really going to have a nice long chat!’ “You place blame on all but know that there is only yourself to blame.” The voice said and I really wished I could see the owner of the voice so I could level them with a good glare.
“Why can’t you just tell me what I’m supposed to learn here so that I can get out of here? You’re me right? So why would you choose to not help yourself?” I questioned, assuming the voice was mine and simply was being distorted by the wind and also I was beginning to grow weary of the unhelpful copies.
“I am not you.” The voice said and I gave a confused look, or the best I could with my eyes closed. “Turn around and open your eyes.”
“Nice try, but every time I open my eyes you disappear.” I snorted and again felt a slash hit me in the left shoulder blade from within. “Son of a bitch!” I growled from the pain.
“Though the wind also disappears and I’m willing to take the tradeoff.’ “Open them.” The voice said, a bit more forcefully.
‘Fine, not like I have anything to lose anyway.’ I thought as I managed to get myself turned around and opened my eyes. My eyes opened wider than expected as I took in everything around me.
No longer was I floating in a white and grey nothingness. But I was now in the middle of a huge tornado. The dark grey winds swirled around me, whipping my hair around. Despite that, it wasn’t the change of scenery that had caused me to be as surprised and speechless as I was now. No, instead it was the figure that had been embracing me.
“Sesshomaru?” I questioned quietly and got the smallest of a nod. “What are you doing here?” I questioned.
He didn’t answer. Instead a blade of wind cut across my stomach, again the pain coming from within my body.
‘It’s not the real him.´ I thought, and even though I knew this, all I wanted was to stay in this copy’s arms and forget about my training. Somehow I thought that if I could just keep holding him, it would make the copy real.
‘I hadn’t realized until now how much I’ve missed him. I’ve been so busy training.’ I thought guiltily.
Thankfully, or maybe not, I didn’t have long to wallow in my guilt as I felt another slash down my left thigh. I resisted the urge to clutch the new, unseen, wound, because I knew better. The moment my hand made contact with the area a dicing pain would follow. Instead I huddled against the copy as if this fake Sesshomaru could make the wind stop.
It seemed that the more I tried to get away from the wind and closer to Sesshomaru, the more times I was struck. Yet I didn’t, or rather couldn’t let go. Copy or not, this could be the only time I got to see and feel Sesshomaru’s embrace during this decade of training.
I tried to tell myself that regardless if I let go or not, I couldn’t locate where the attacks were coming from so I couldn’t defend myself any better than I was now.
It was a lie and I knew it.
‘Just let me have this feeling for a few more minutes and then I’ll get back to my training.’ I pleaded in my mind to the wind dragon I knew had to be watching.
Again I wasn’t aware of how much time passed as I reveled in the embrace, though the sharp slashes cut into the comfort.
“Ok, I’m ready.” I said more to myself than anyone else. The Sesshomaru copy looked down at me with the slightest of looks that said ‘About time’.
With a tremendous amount of will power I pulled away from the demon lord’s copy, or tried to. As soon as I began to pull, the wind bit sharper into me, almost as if it didn’t want me to leave the embrace.
‘Seriously, this is how it’s going to be?’ I mentally screamed as I continued to pull against the wind and the embrace that had tightened significantly around my waist.
“Stay.” Sesshomaru’s voice was sharp and nothing close to the usual tone.
“You’re not real.” I responded while still pulling away.
“I stand before you.” He returned.
“It still doesn’t make you real.” I answered.
“Your love for me is.” He countered and it caused me to pause briefly.
“My love for Sesshomaru is real. You are not him and I have no feelings for a copy.” I said, making sure to pick my words carefully. “And right now love, or no love, I have an obligation to fulfill and I can’t let anyone get in the way.” I finished in a growl as I gave one last jerk against the copy and the wind.
As soon as I made it out of the embrace, the wind abruptly stopped and I felt myself falling. I looked up as I fell to see the faintest of smiles on the copy’s face before it disappeared with the tornado.
‘Great now I’m going to fall to my death.’ I thought as I saw a green spec, I assumed to be the ground, growing larger and larger as I fell.
Just before I hit the ground I felt a huge, upward gust of wind that stifled my fall. I floated just above the surface of the grassy field before I dropped lightly onto the ground.
“Well done Shogakko Kazuko.” I turned to see a white dragon with silver tints standing behind me.
“Thanks.” I muttered awaiting the dragon to reveal the lesson I was supposed to learn.
“You learned that you cannot be deceived by what your eyes perceive. The element of wind comes from the air. Air cannot be seen only felt. It is only when it becomes worked up that it has a visible representation. The element of wind is also about freedom and letting go. You learned to control your emotions in your fire mastery, but you must now learn to let them go. Emotions can prove a weakness in the field of battle…” I cut the dragon off before it could continue.
“You sound like Sesshomaru.” I huffed. “So are you telling me that I’m to become this emotionless killer in order to be a true Shogakko? If you are, I can tell you now that I will not.”
The dragon actually chuckled instead of being offended that I had interrupted him. “As I was saying, it can prove to be a weakness on the field of battle, but it can also be your biggest strength. But you must know when to let go of your emotions, when they are causing more harm than help.”
The dragon stepped forward to awaken me and again I stopped him.
“Is there any chance you can give me a heads up about the earth mastery? It’s the only one I have left.” I asked not expecting a positive answer.
“There is a pattern to this training.” He said and placed his snout on my head. I closed my eyes and again felt he familiar pull of my consciousness leaving the mastery planes and re-entering my body.
“How can there be a pattern when I’m just choosing these at random.” I grumbled as I stood up and stretched. I briefly studied the silver dragon that had now appeared around my left calf. The head rested on the top of my foot and the body wrapped around to my knee.
“What took you so long? It’s already spring, you’ve been out for more than a year.” Koru asked with a hint of true concern, though most of his tone was laced in amusement as if he knew exactly what had caused my delay.
“I’m hungry.” I responded not wanting to give him any satisfaction of knowing why I was out of it for so long.
He motioned to the food laid out before me. Again we entered the ritual of me eating while he and Dagger filled me in on the need-to-know things going on. I was ecstatic to hear that Sango and Miroku had finally gotten married and asked Dagger to pass along a message to them for me.
Once I finished eating I didn’t waste any time in trying to sleep. I was out before I even swallowed the last bite. The time flew by as fast as always and soon I was waking to Dagger prodding my side with his nose.
“Last one.” Koru said in the most serious tone I had ever heard him use.
“Yea, last one.” I said and walked over to the pile of boulders and took a seat on the last one. “Let’s get this over with.” I said before closing my eyes.
