A difficult battle
When Mai and
Sesshomaru reached the camp, Rin greeted then with enthusiasm and Jaken kept
complaining, till Mai silenced him with a steamed bun. The girl was about to
unpack the items she bought, but Sesshomaru already ordered the group to leave.
Mai wanted to protest, but kept her mouth shut, not to anger him anymore today.
She did her best finding something out about Naraku, but that arrogant jerk
behaved like a sadist again. The girl turned to Ah-Un, lifting the heavy bags
and gave the creature her best smile.
“Will you help me
carry those, Ah-Un?” she asked, only to be given a declining roar from the
dragon.
Eventually, Mai
bribed him with carrots to be her mule and she packed on his back everything
she bought. Along the way, Mai, Jaken and Rin were enjoying the taste of food –
the girl bought fruit, dried meat, cheese, rice, sweets, steamed, buns and
dango. The child and the green imp were literally stuffing themselves with it,
Rin was trying some kinds of food the first time in her life. Mai had to watch
them, to keep the pair from eating all the supplies at once. In the meantime
she dressed the kid in a new kimono – a yellow one, which suited her nicely.
The girl noted to herself, that she had to wash the child thoroughly and do
some laundry, when an opportunity presents itself.
However,
Sesshomaru dictated a harsh pace – they stopped rarely and only for a few
minutes. What was worse, they kept going after the sunset. Rin was soundly
asleep on Ah-Un, covered with an old kimono. Jaken was less talkative than
usual and Mai kept tripping in the darkness.
“Jaken, do
something.” Said Mai to her green companion as she staggered and yawned, while
covering her mouth with a sleeve. The short demon sighed and looked at her with
equally weary eyes as hers.
“You do.” He
responded. Mai snorted.
“I’m not
suicidal. You go.” The girl tried to talk Jaken into telling Sesshomaru to take
a break for the night.
The green demon
sighed and spoke up quietly.
“Sesshomaru-sama…Mai
asks when will we stop.” Jaken said. Mai sent him her poisonous glare.
Sesshomaru looked at them coldly over his shoulder.
“Tell her, that
she should blame herself for the wasted time.” He said and turned his gaze back
in the direction, where he was walking. Mai hissed with irritation. He was blaming
her! If not her, he wouldn’t know where to go at all! What an idiot! The girl
stayed quiet, not feeling up to another quarrel with the demon, knowing that it
would end with him grabbing her throat or something like that anyway. She
cursed under her nose and focused on walking without tripping.
The sky was
already becoming brighter in the east, when Sesshomaru finally stopped and
decided, that it was time to rest.
“Two hours.” He
said shortly and walked over to Ah-Un. Mai opened her mouth in disbelief. Only
two hours? How sadistic could he be?
The demon
approached sleeping Rin and surprised Mai noticed, that he gently patted the
child’s head. He scooped the kid with his only arm and gently lifted from the
dragon’s back. He laid her under the tree and sat beside the sleeping kid. Rin
mumbled something in her slumber and snuggled into the fur, Sesshomaru was
carrying over his shoulder. However, the demon showed no sign of irritation.
Mai thought, that there must be a bond between him and the little girl. She
wondered sometimes how came, that he was dragging the child with him all the
time, even though he stated, that he hated humans.
Too tired to
contemplate, Mai helped Jaken free Ah-Un from the packages and prepared herself
for sleep. She laid one of her old kimonos on the ground and used other one to
cover herself with. She didn’t know, when she fell asleep.
Mai moaned, as
she felt swaying. She stretched her arm slowly and yawned. Then, she opened her
eyes and looked around, blinking. She realized, that she was laying on Ah-Un’s
saddle.
“Good morning,
Ah-Un.” She said sleepily and yawned once again.
Wait, what was
she doing on the dragon? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in
the forest…
“You’re awake,
Mai!” The girl heard Rin’s happy voice.
The child was
skipping beside Ah-Un, carrying a bouquet of flowers in her little hand. Mai
pulled herself to the sitting position and wrapped herself in the kimono, she
was covered with
.
“Hi, Rin. What
time is it?” she asked the kid. Rin laughed.
“It’s already
past noon, sleepy head!” she exclaimed, parodying the face, that Mai always
made, when she was scolding the kid. “You were sleeping so sound, that
Sesshomaru-sama put you on Ah-Un.”
“Oh.” Mai was
surprised. She would rather expect the silver-haired demon to kick her, like he
did the last time or do something equally violent instead of letting her sleep.
The girl looked around. Sesshomaru was leading their group, as he always did,
and Jaken was staggering in front of the dragon, holding the reins.
“Jaken?” asked
Mai. As the green demon turned back, she saw, that he was barely alive from the
lack of sleep. God, what problem Sesshomaru has? Does he want all of us to die
of exhaustion? She jumped of the creature’s back and took the reins from Jaken.
“Jaken, it’s your
turn to sleep.” She said firmly. The green imp didn’t even show a bit of will
to argue. He climbed instantly onto the dragon and was snoring after a while.
Mai reached to their packages and took out a few carrots.
“You’re screwed,
Ah-Un.” She said to the creature. Both heads nodded in agreement. “Here, have
some carrots.”
Mai fed the
dragon and Rin, tried to brush the girl’s hair, what was quite difficult,
because Sesshomaru wasn’t slowing down. The girl encouraged the child to sing a
song, then played with her in a memory game. Soon, the kid got tired and Mai
lifted her and placed next to Jaken, on Ah-Un’s back, wrapping her tightly in
the kimono. The child tried to argue, but Mai knew better.
“Rin, you’ll get
cold! The wind is chilly!” Mai stated, putting the cloth around the little
girl, making sure her bare feet were covered as well.
“But Mai…”
whimpered Rin.
“Rin.” The older
girl suddenly heard Sesshomaru’s deep voice, as the demon looked at them.
“Listen to what Mai says.”
The kid nodded obediently
and put the kimono on her head as well. Mai muttered “thanks” to the tall demon
and turned her attention back to Rin, who curled herself in the ball and closed
her eyes. The older girl hummed a lullaby for a while, until the child fell
asleep.
The sun was low
over the horizon, the sky began to take the color of blood. Mai was walking in
silence for some time, but got bored quickly, as Ah-Un wasn’t very
entertaining, especially on the second day of marching without break. She
looked at Sesshomaru’s back and sighed. She ran to the demon.
“Sesshomaru?” she
started.
“What is it,
woman?” the demon asked. Mai snorted. So he’s back to
calling me “woman”?
“When will we
make a break?”
“Later.” He
answered in a tone, that indicated the conversation was over. Irritated Mai
furrowed her brows and said nothing. She turned to him to ask him something,
but she saw a tense look on his face, as he abruptly looked in the western
direction. She wanted to question him, what was wrong, but she didn’t have
time.
Sesshomaru
whirled around, drawing Tokijin.
“AH-UN!” he
yelled suddenly. The dragon jumped and leapt into the sky, obeying its master.
Jaken and Rin woke up and clutched onto the saddle. Then Mai lost her breath,
as Sesshomaru grabbed her in the waist and jumped forward in the last moment to
avoid a great beam of energy, that hit the ground in the place, where they were
standing just a moment ago. When Sesshomaru landed, he ordered the girl to get
behind him. Mai peeked from behind his back at the attacker and gasped in
shock.
This one was way
bigger than the previous one. The opponent was a huge dragon, his scales were
grayish and – what worried Mai the most – his claws and teeth were enormous. To
her surprise, the creature spoke in deep, eerie voice.
“What do we have
here? Isn’t it the son of man, who sealed my brother?” the dragon spoke.
“Sesshomaru it is?”
“Hn.” Sesshomaru
only snorted, not willing to answer his opponent.
“And your little
hanyou brother finished my honorable relative, from what I’ve heard.” The
creature said. Sesshomaru hissed with anger, as thought the dragon just pulled
some string.
“I have never
considered Inuyasha my brother.” Sesshomaru spoke, lifting his sword. The enemy
laughed. Mai gasped in surprise, as she learned, that the silver-haired demon
had a brother.
“Too bad. Now
I’ll take your life to avenge my brother Ryuukotsei!” the huge youkai growled
and prepared himself for attack.
Sesshomaru was
faster. He already leaped forward, leaving Mai. He attempted to slash the
dragon’s flesh with Tokijin, but the scales were so hard, that he didn’t even
manage to scratch him. He advanced at his opponent once again, but the effect
was the same. The dragon swirled with his long tail like with a whip, targeting
Sesshomaru. The dog demon avoided the attacks, as he moved with his unnatural
speed. Mai noticed, that the dragon’s goal was to keep Sesshomaru at distance.
The silver-haired youkai fought fervently, jumping around his opponent, looking
for weak points, without avail. The dragon’s mouth glowed, as he accumulated
the energy for attack. The dog demon calmly raised his sword and Mai noticed
the blue glow, as the demonic energy swirled around the blade. The dragon
spitted with energy beam.
“SOURYUUHA!”
Sesshomaru cried and Mai was blinded by the clash of the two energy attacks.
There was an explosion, that shook the ground. The girl checked, if Rin was
safe. Luckily, Ah-Un glided so high, that Mai could barely see the two-headed
creature. When she turned her attention back to the battle, she noticed, that
Sesshomaru managed only to change the trajectory of the dragon’s lightning
beam. The opponent laughed.
“You can’t even
scratch my body, Sesshomaru. You will end, like the Inu no Taisho did!” the
enemy taunted Sesshomaru. Not good – thought Mai. – He’s
trying to make Sesshomaru loose his focus.
“He’s trying to
anger you, Sesshomaru! Don’t let him!” she shouted to the silver haired demon.
The enormous
dragon turned his attention to Mai. The girl made a step back and looked
around, not being able to decide in which way should she run.
“A human woman,
Sesshomaru? Well, like father like son.” The enemy mocked the dog demon.
Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, enraged. The dragon accumulated the energy again.
Sesshomaru lifted his sword, ready to deflect the attack, but when the opponent
was about to hit the dog youkai, he abruptly changed direction and the beam
flew straight at Mai.
The girl gasped,
not being able to shout. She watched in terror, as the great energy ball was
approaching and she knew, that she’ll be dead in a second.
Sesshomaru darted
towards her, throwing Tokijin away and unsheathing his other sword. He got to
Mai in the last moment. He landed between her and the danger, rising the sword,
as the wave of energy hit. The girl clutched Sesshomaru’s back and saw the
flash of green light. After a moment everything stopped. Mai with relief
noticed, that she was still alive. The dog demon fell to his knees, panting
heavily, as he supported himself with a sword.
“So you managed
to protect yourself and the woman with the sword’s barrier? Impressive.” Said
the huge dragon, as he started gathering energy again. “But you will die
anyway.”
“Mai,” Sesshomaru
spoke. “get on my back and hold well.”
“What?” the girl
asked, confused, but decided to obey him. She climbed on his back and entwined
her arms and legs around him, trying not to limit his moves.
Sesshomaru leaped
into air, avoiding another attack. He sheathed his sword and retrieved Tokijin.
The opponent kept mocking the dog demon and sending lightning beams towards
him, but Sesshomaru didn’t risk to attack the dragon and only avoided the
attacks.
Mai was gripping
the demon desperately, scared of falling. She frantically searched for the
enemy’s weak point. Sesshomaru couldn’t pierce the hard scales and Souryuuha
was no good either. There must be something more… Mai kept observing the
opponent and then she realized it – he wasn’t completely covered in scales!
There was a chance.
“Sesshomaru,” she
whispered. “Target his eyes. They aren’t protected with scales.”
Sesshomaru
without any warning leapt up, avoiding dragon’s tail and beam attack. Mai
shrieked, scared by sudden movement. With surprising speed the dog demon found
himself by the enemy’s head and pierced the left eye, burying Tokijin to the
hilt in the flesh and then pulled the sword out. Sesshomaru jumped back, as the
dragon cried in agony and fell to the ground, making everything shake.
“He’s dead?” Mai
asked, as Sesshomaru floated in the air.
“Yes.” The demon
answered.
Ah-Un approached
them, with Jaken and Rin on the back. The both of them were relieved, that
Sesshomaru and Mai were alive.
“Follow me.” Said
the dog demon and he glided southwards, Ah-Un flew after him. Mai yelped and
strengthened her grip.
.
Neither of them
noticed a figure clad in a white baboon pelt, who was observing the whole
situation. He chuckled, as his eyes followed the dog demon and his companions.
“That woman may
prove useful in the future.” He said to himself and disappeared.
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