Thursday, November 8, 2007

   Taming the Untamable
Chapter 2: The fortress
“The night is so peaceful, isn’t it Kirara,” Sango sighed as they flew over a forest west of Inuyasha’s forest. The cat youkai simply growled her agreement. “It’s nice not having to fight demons constantly, I mean even demon exterminators need a break every once and a while.” Sango’s thoughts were interrupted by a scream below them. Sango looked down and gasped when she saw the little girl being chased by some rather ugly demons. “I guess I spoke too soon. Come on Kirara, let’s go.” They swooped down to the little girl and Sango quickly picked her up before motioning for Kirara to go back up.

As soon as they were out of the range of the demons Sango took them out with her Hirakotsu. Afterwards she looked down at the trembling girl in harms and realized it was Rin. But what was she doing way out here? And where was Sesshoumaru? “Rin,” she said, trying to comfort the weeping girl, “do you remember me? I am Sango, the demon exterminator that travels with Inuyasha and Kagome.”

The girl sniffled and nodded her head. “Yes, Rin remembers you. Do you know where Lord Sesshoumaru has gone? I snuck away from Jaken to find him but I got lost, then those demons came.”

“I’m sorry Rin; I do not know where he is. But I’m sure he will find us soon enough.” Kirara landed softly on the grass near a small stream, and Sango slid off. As soon as Rin’s feet touched the ground there was a sharp gust of wind signaling the demon lord’s arrival.

“What is the meaning of this wench!?” came the icy voice of the taiyoukai, as he approached them, “Why do you have Rin?”

“Lord Sesshoumaru! Lord Sesshoumaru!” Rin’s happy cries distracted him as she plowed into him and gave him a hug. Pushing her behind him, he turned his attention back to the woman in front of him, staring at her with his usual emotionless expression.

“I was only helping her.” Sango stammered out as she began to back away from him, “She was being chased by some demons and only after I saved her did I realize who it was. I’m Sango.”

“I know who you are,” he spat out, “You travel with my pathetic excuse for a half-brother. I should warn you, you’re in my land now. Inuyasha’s forest is miles back.”

“Then I shall be on my way. Good day Sesshoumaru.”

As she turned to leave, Sango listened as Rin pleaded with the stoic demon. “Please Lord Sesshoumaru; can the pretty lady come to the castle? Rin has no one to talk to there but stupid Jaken and I like her, she is nice to Rin.”

“Very well,” he sighed, “Exterminator, you will come with us to my fortress.” He sniffed the air for a second before she glanced blandly at her, “It would not be wise to stay out in this weather; a storm approaches.”

“Okay, but know that I am only going because Rin wants me to.”

“What other reason would you have to go?”

~later~
“Sango, Rin wants to know what you think of Lord Sesshoumaru.”

‘Give it a rest girl!’ thought Sango as she walked though the trees, ‘I swear, if we don’t get to the castle soon I think I’m going to die!’ They’d been walking for what seemed like hours through the thick forests that surrounded the fortress with a constant stream of questions being asked by Rin the entire time.

‘I wonder,’ Sesshoumaru thought, ‘if Rin would like to fly on that woman’s cat demon the rest of the way to the castle. I think she’d enjoy it, Kirara has got to be faster than Au-un.’ Glancing towards Sango he smirked inwardly, ‘She looks like she’s about to die. Alright, here goes.’ Using his youki, the taiyoukai silently asked the demon to take Rin up in the air.

“Whoa!” Rin squeaked as Kirara rose into the air, “Lord Sesshoumaru, where is she taking me?”

“I’m sending you ahead with the cat demon. You are to go straight to the kitchen when you get to the fortress and eat. Tell Ashimi that I will be there shortly.”

Sango watched nearby, clearly shocked by the whole thing. Since when was Sesshoumaru nice to anyone?! Especially when that person was human! And since when could he talk to Kirara? ‘Oh well, no sense straining my brain over it. I’ll NEVER figure that man out,’ she thought with a sigh.

“Why did you do that?” Sango asked him curiously as soon as Rin was out of earshot.

“Her questions were irritating,” he told her, but in reality he did not know why he had done it. Why should he care that Rin was annoying her? She was a human for cryin’ out loud! He, the lord of all the western lands, was NOT attracted to a human! It was not possible. ‘Still her legs are so smooth and her waist is so slim… NO! I will NOT think about that! But Rin does seem to like her, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind being around Sango all the time. She’d probably accept her as a mother. NO!!!!! Think of something disgusting… Inuyasha in a thong. Oh that’s gross!’

He was glad that the cat demon was not there anymore or else she’d have smelled his arousal.

“Sesshoumaru are you alright? You seem even more distant than I remember, if that’s possible.” The sound of her soft voice brought him out of his thoughts. They were in sight of the fortress now and Sesshoumaru sped up, eager to reach his safe haven. They past through the village that lined the walls of the castle and towards the wrought iron gates that led to it.
“It is no concern of yours human.” ‘Yeah right,’ he thought to himself, ‘Who are you kidding? Of course it concerns her, it about her!!! If I’m not careful I could end up marking her, THEN what am I going to do!?! This is all her fault,’ he decided, ‘If she didn’t smell so damn good I wouldn’t be in this mess!’

As they entered the gates to the fortress Sesshoumaru couldn’t help but think about how relieved he was that the monk’s scent wasn’t mixed with her’s, no matter how gross that was to actually think about. He chanced a glance at her face and was glad he’d decided to do so. Her face was in complete and total awe as she looked up at the immense castle that stood before them.

It was made of a very light gray colored stone and towered above them. Real glass filled the windows and thick drapes could be seen around the edges of them. Japanese maples, sugar maples, and weeping willows filled the yard as well as dogwoods, jonquils, roses, azaleas, honeysuckle, lilies, and tulips. A small waterfall cascaded down into a beautiful, crystal clear lake and benches had been placed in various locations around the yard. The gardeners were spreading the fertilizer Kagome had brought him throughout the flower beds while small children played in the water of the lake nearby.

He smiled, he could tell she liked it and they weren’t even inside yet. He walked up the carpeted steps to the huge oak doors with her following close behind him. The 2 guards posted at the doors practically ran to open the door for them.

‘Wow! This is amazing,’ Sango thought to herself, ‘I knew Sesshoumaru was rich, but I wasn’t expecting this.’ She stopped at the doorway to marvel at the room. ‘I can’t stay here. It’s too nice; I’ll feel out of place.’ The floors were made of marble with vibrant rugs on them. The walls were painted a soft pastel green and gorgeous portraits and paintings hung everywhere. A crystal chandelier hung from the high, dome ceiling and directly under it stood a cherry wood table that had a rose tinted glass vase filled with more beautiful flowers on it. Large windows allowed plenty of sunshine in, giving the room a warm, welcome feeling. Two stairwells rounded up to met each on the second floor and a fountain flowed between them.

Sesshoumaru either must not have noticed that Sango had stopped or just not cared because he continued over to the stairs. In his absence a servant approached Sango, “You there, human. How dare you dirty our house with your presence! And you brought a weapon no less. Do you wish to die so early in life? If so, I’m sure I can arrange it.”

Other servants who’d seen Sango enter with Sesshoumaru watched the stupid servant as he mocked her. They knew what was about to happen, it was just a matter of how many seconds it would take for Sesshoumaru to get here to do it.

A second later the youkai that had been mocking Sango was gasping, trying desperately to breathe as the angry youkai lord held him suspended in the air by his throat. His finger’s started to glow as he spoke, “How dare you speak to her! I hope it was worth losing your life to say that to her.” He tightened his hand preparing to snap the dumb guy’s neck, but was stopped by the smell of Sango’s tears. He dropped the servant and ran to her. ‘I need to get her out of here now!’ he thought as he picked her up and ran from the room. Once outside he jumped up to the balcony of her soon-to-be room.


Her face was buried into his chest and she was sobbing uncontrollably. Her body was trembling, not to mention his shirt was getting very wet, very fast. ‘Okay Sesshoumaru, think! I’m a crying girl, what would cheer me up?’ Deciding there was no way he could make matters worse, he shifted her so that he was only using 1 arm to hold her. He brought his free hand up and gently wiped the tears from her face with his thumb. Sango couldn’t take her eyes off of him, ‘why is he doing this for me?’ she thought as she stared into his golden eyes, ‘And why don’t I want him to stop?’

“Don’t cry,” he said, running his fingers through her hair lightly, “If you do I’ll have to kill the servant.” She smiled slightly, making him release the breath he been holding. A sudden gust of wind made her shiver and snuggle further into his silk Kimono. Smiling, he turned and walked off the balcony and into her room. “That better?” She nodded and he carried her over to the gigantic bed that stood in the center of the room.

“This room is yours for as long as you want.” He said as he tucked her into the luxurious bed, “If you need anything, just walk onto the balcony and call me. I will be able to hear you from my room which is almost right above yours. Your cat, Kirara, is with Rin. Would you like for me to send her up here?” She nodded. “Okay, I’ll get her and I’ll get someone to bring you some food. And don’t worry; I’ll make sure that nothing else happens to you.”

He ran his hand through her hair one final time before turning towards the door, “You should rest now. If you wish to go somewhere, I think there is a map over there next to the door. Oh, and the bathroom is just through those doors to your right.” He pointed to two oak doors across the room, “The water is heated all the time so feel free to use the bath at any time. There are clothes in the closet that you can wear and the towels are in the bathroom cabinet. Now, I will leave you to rest.”

Once he had left Sango observed the room. The bed linens were made of a deep, blue silk that felt like it had been spun from the very clouds themselves. The bedspread was a soft turquoise color and made out of the same material. The pillows and mattress were made of soft feathers. The bed frame was made of maple wood and was smoother than silk to the touch.

The floor was made of the same maple wood, except it was a little redder in tint. The walls were a soft green and silk tapestries flowed down from the ceiling. The doors to the left of the bed that lead to the balcony were made of glass with sheer white curtains hung from the top of the doorway, but they were not attached to the doors themselves so that you could leave the doors open and still close the curtains.

Across from the bed stood the door to the rest of the castle. In between this door and the one that opened up into the balcony was a small couch, with a table next to it for your things. Next to her bed was a marble nightstand with a small oil lamp to see by atop it. To her right was a large window in front of which sat a large reading chair and 2 bookshelves filled with books stood on either side of it. And on the other side of the bathroom doors was her closet.

“I think a nice, long bath is just what I need right now.” She rose and walked over to open the doors.

The bathroom, in her opinion, was nicer than the bedroom itself. The floor and counters were made of marble and a few steps opened out into a small pool. There was a hamper for her clothes, which Sango quickly abandoned and walked into the pool. “Ahhh, I’m in heaven,” she moaned as the warm water relaxed her sore muscles. It had been at least 2 weeks since she’d been to a hot spring. “I wonder if this is what Kagome has in her time. Kami, I could get used to taking baths like this every day.”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
As he shut the doors to Sango’s room, Sesshoumaru couldn’t help but think able how right it felt to have her here. He still couldn’t believe that he’d fallen for a human, but after all, his father had mated a human. ‘Maybe this is his fault,’ he thought silently as he started to walk towards the kitchen.

“My lord,” called Athrun, Sesshoumaru’s close friend and trusted advisor, “we have found Jaken. He was hiding in Inuyasha forest near the Goshinki. What do you want us to do with him?”

“Take him to my office, I will deal with him. Also, Athrun I want you to go to the village that Sango lives in and tell my brother where she is, so he won’t think she’s hurt.”

He bowed lowly, “Yes sir, I shall leave at once.”

“Not necessary, you can wait till tomorrow.”

“Well duh! That’s what I was gonna do anyways.” Athrun watched as the taiyoukai simply glared at him before turning to enter the kitchen. If it had been any other person that had said that to him, they would have been punished, but he’d known Sesshoumaru since they were pups, so he let Athrun’s remarks like that slid.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Walking into the kitchen, Sesshoumaru found Rin eating her lunch. “Rin,” he said solemnly, “where is Ashimi?”

“Rin thinks she is over there in the storeroom looking for more rice. But Rin is not sure.”

He nodded slightly and walked to the storeroom, inside his cook, Ashimi was indeed looking for rice. “Ashimi, I need you to take some food up to my guest.”

The woman got up from where she was knelt on the floor and nodded, “Yes my lord, is she human or demon? I do not wish to send her something she does not normally eat.” Ashimi was the only half demon in the fortress, unless Inuyasha was here, although he rarely was. Sesshoumaru had thought it best to have a half demon cook since Rin was human and would not want the same things to eat as the demons. And if the cook was half demon, she would know how to cook for humans better than almost any demon.

“She is human, but make sure no one takes it to her but you. She has been through enough today, I do not wish for her to get scared if a demon brought her food. “

“Of course my lord.”

As he left the kitchen, Sesshoumaru informed Kirara of Sango’s location and how to get there. “Now to deal with Jaken.” He grumbled as he climbed the stairs to his study.

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