184A/N: Seven people to thank: xxdarienchibaloverxx, Taraah36, GoldenRose88, Puppylove7, ILoveInuyasha4Eva, ScarletCamellia, and Esha Napoleon. And thank you to those of you who've put this or I on your lists. This includes ananova's C2. I've been remiss in thanking those that put my stories in their communities. And I apologize for not getting this out sooner. It just wasn't coming to me.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Inuyasha characters, manga, anime, movies, etc. They belong by copyright laws to Rumiko Takahashi.
The Nekomata Guardian
Ch. 4
Azami woke in the early morning hours. She was surprised that Sesshoumaru was not by her side. Lately he had been taking to staying with her at least until she roused enough to hear him. "Sesshou?"
"You should rest." Turning, she propped herself on her elbow to look at him. He was leaning against the wall, gazing out the small window.
"I woke and you weren't next to me." He made no reply, knowing that he always stayed with her. "Are you worried about who the stranger is?"
"I cannot sense her. I do not like being made a fool. If this creature tries to hurt you, I will kill her."
"So you've said. Sesshou, Lady Kirara doesn't seem to think that she's a threat, does she?"
"No but she is not ready to trust her either. Inuyasha and I shall go scouting this morning. You are to stay near the fire cat."
"Yes, my love. Now, if you don't mind…" Azami rose and made her way quickly to the bucket Kagome had provided her.
Sesshoumaru barely refrained from wrinkling his nose in disgust at the smell of her sickness but he joined her and held her hair back. After she had wiped her mouth and rinsed, he gently laid her back onto their futon. "Go back to sleep."
"I seem to be quite tired."
"It is the pregnancy. You will be fine." Brushing the hair away from her face, he kissed her forehead and left the room to go join his brother who was waiting. The younger Taisho said nothing about the conversation he'd overhead.
"Let's go find some intruders." They left behind a vigilant nekomata, still tired from the night before but unwilling to allow her precious kittens to go unprotected. Once Miroku woke for the day she would doze. Hopefully by then Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha would have found the stranger. She was starting to get the feeling that the odd person was not alone.
Kellan washed in the river as quickly as she could, wanting to be prepared to return to the clearing that had housed the two families. Her servants and others in the group she'd brought with her were anxious to find Sheridan and return home. They didn't like being in a foreign land that knew nothing of them and did not respect them. There were other supernatural creatures here that took precedent and be they good or evil, the humans feared them. It was also impossible to tell how well they could defend themselves against such creatures. The Fae derived their powers from nature and so far they couldn't determine the source of the others' powers.
"We are ready, Your Majesty."
"Then let us return. Has the interpreter been able to learn the language?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good. I wish to question that family. They are set apart from the rest of the village. There is something odd or special about them. If anyone has seen my great-granddaughter, it is they."
While Kellan and the other Fae made their way back to the clearing on a circular route, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha followed the queen's footsteps to the river from the other direction. When they got to the campsite, the dog demons stiffened as they counted the number of different impressions they found in the earth. "There are a lot of them." Inuyasha frowned when he saw the direction the people had taken. "Looks like they're headed for the clearing."
"Kuso." Since Inuyasha's thoughts were the same, there was no sense in uttering the curse twice. They raced back, making it in time to see Miroku appear from his house.
"Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, what's wrong?"
"There's more than one and they're headed this way. Get the girls up." On alert, the dog demons searched the clearing, straining their already acute senses. Kirara was dozing, at her limit as far as energy reserves went.
The three female warriors stumbled outside in various states of dress, a sickly pall over their faces. "Sesshoumaru?"
"Go back inside. Keep the children safe. Do not come out until I tell you."
"Of course, nii-san." Azami was the only one who hesitated and had to be pulled along by Kagome. "Everything will be all right, nee-san."
"Y-yes, I know."
Sesshoumaru snarled, not liking the trace of fear in his mate's voice. Being pupped had put her in an emotional wringer and she was not herself first thing in the morning. Nor at any other time of the day for that matter. "Lady Kirara. Where are those intruders?" he had the sudden need to kill something.
"Mew…" she said tiredly. The visitors were nowhere near the clearing as she had put out a false trail during the night, knowing they would trace the one being that held the most potential power. It would be some time before the stranger she had met came to the realization that they'd been deceived.
"Sleep, my good friend, and we shall keep watch." Miroku sank down beside the nekomata and petted the cream coat. He received a purr in acknowledgement. "Kirara has been out here two nights in a row. She must have diverted their attention away from here for the moment so that she could rest. Why is that she is the only one who can sense these people?"
"She's an elder. Her ability to sense strange energies is better than ours because she's older than the rest of us. The longer a youkai lives, the more sensitive to nature she or he becomes. If something different disturbs their surroundings, demon elders will know about it. Bokuseno is a perfect example. He's an ancient tree demon." Sesshoumaru let a small frown furrow his brow momentarily.
"He's the one our scabbards are made out of, isn't he?" Inuyasha asked. He had never met the magnolia tree demon.
"Indeed. Only his power could seal the powers of Tetsusaiga, Tenseiga, and Bakusaiga away." Even with his new sword, Sesshoumaru was nowhere near strong enough to defeat the demon tree. It was a good thing that the youkai was benign.
"I see. I never thought that Kirara was that old."
"I told you, she sees us as her kittens. She's taken it upon herself to be our guardian, whether we need one or not. Although at the moment I'm saying we do. I have my suspicions that she fought with Midoriko too. That would put her way passed Sesshoumaru's decrepit age of four hundred plus."
"Decrepit?" his brother said, insulted at the mere suggestion.
"Sorry, private joke," Inuyasha snickered, thinking of the conversation he'd once had with Eri. Or was it Yuka? He shook his head, not remembering which school girl had been interested in his brother before she found out he was not only too old for her but also taken.
"Hn," the demon lord said, not interested in his brother's musings. "If she has thrown them off the trail, we must find them first. If I can help it, I do not want them around Azami. We confront them and demand to know what they want with my mate."
"Sure, I'll take to the trees; see if I can't smell any disturbance from there. Miroku, stay here in case Kirara needs help. Sesshoumaru, can you search from the air? Maybe their disguise can be seen through from a different angle. Or else you can see the path they take by the movement of the trees and bushes."
Slightly impressed with Inuyasha's planning, the demon lord merely nodded. This once he would not make an issue of his little brother ordering him around. "Let's go."
"Right." Miroku watched the dog demons leave, one by air, and the other by land.
"I hope this works, Kirara." The nekomata didn't answer. She was sound asleep, her own dreams revolving around the kittens she protected.
The monk continued to be on guard, wondering if age and power were the only things that made an elder an elder. Perhaps he would save that question for when he saw the Lady Mother again. A noise behind him had him whirling, staff at the ready. "Sango."
"I needed to use the facilities, such as they are. Miroku, are we safe?"
"I do not believe they mean us harm physically, my dear," he tried to reassure. She always became concerned for her safety when pregnant. "Let us get you back inside quickly. There's no telling when the strangers will appear."
"All right."
Kellan glared at the two scouters in the front, wanting to know how they could have been fooled so easily by a false trail. By the time they backtracked to the clearing it was near midday and she was desperate to find out about her little one. The two silver-white haired brothers had tried tracking them so returning to the families had been difficult without giving away their positions.
Now they stood at the edge of the woods, watching as the women came out into the open for the first time that day. The taller brother had come sometime yesterday Kellan knew and was not a being to be trifled with. She gasped as an auburn haired lady went up to him and placed her hand on his long sleeve. The sense of another faerie's energy spoke to her and she stepped forward without thinking.
Kirara, still dozing, woke with a growl already coming out of her throat. She jumped up, running to place herself in between the pack and the strangers. Transforming, she watched with large ruby eyes as the woman who she'd met before came out of hiding. Without her protective shielding, every demon and human got a good look at her. Golden hair trailed down her back in thick locks while purple eyes became fixed on Azami.
Kirara didn't pay any attention to the whispers behind her, not daring to take her attention off of the intruder. "Merow!" she warned, noticing the slightly dazed look entering the woman's eyes.
Kellan paid the suddenly large saber tooth no mind as she reached out and uttered a name unfamiliar to everyone. "Sheridan…" Again the nekomata warned the stranger to keep her distance, feeling the distress of those behind her but the woman simply repeated the name.
"Sheridan…my little one."