Growing Pains by MontiK

Chie-Baa-San

Chapter 7
Chie-baa-san

Leisurely, Sesshoumaru flew through the skies on his cloud to his next destination. Over the course of the previous three days he'd gone about taking care of various, tedious errands. His mother needed to be notified as to why he suddenly dropped off the face of the earth for two weeks. While he didn't visit her often he always at least replied to her missives, so he needed to excuse his negligence in not doing so as of late. She demanded he stay for a time and the most hastily he was able to flee her sky castle was just that morning. 

Surprisingly all of his mother's lands and holdings were still in order, so he thankfully had nothing to attend to in that department. Since youkai lived so long youkai politics often moved painfully slow, a threat of invasion may not be carried out until twenty years after it was made and treaties and contracts often took just as long. So, there was never an abundance things to be tended to in that sense. 

Next to be tended to was his clothing. After being wrapped in what he thought were incredibly pretentious and non-practical silks in excessive layers at his mother's palace for a few days he was back in his, albeit comfortable, but too small traveling clothes. He was off to a youkai seamstress he knew since the days of his first growth to acquire new ones. 

This old woman was particularly aged, so aged she could even be grandmother to his father. Her name had even been forgotten, lost to the ages, known only to her and shared with few to no beings. Most simply called her 'Chie', which simply meant 'wise'. Sesshoumaru remembered his own father calling her 'Chie-sama', while he bowed to the old woman. She herself had instructed young Sesshoumaru on his first visit to call her 'O-baa-san' or Grandmother. Not wanting to be treated as a child, though he was one, he'd declined and respectfully answered he would prefer to call her 'Chie-sama' as his father did. She grew so upset then Sesshoumaru feared his father's wrath so he acquiesced and called her 'Chie-baa-san'. He never called her anything besides that since. 

There was some dispute as to Chie-baa-san's power. Some beings thought she had little or none to speak of, others thought she was so old she must have power aplenty but was just past the age of caring about battles or war so she simply never used it. Sesshoumaru himself knew she was incredibly skilled with the needle and clairvoyant to some extent. Though he never saw a display of power from her in his eight hundred years of life he knew knowledge was power, thus he would never attempt to stand against someone's who's very name was 'wise'. 

Spotting the small old hut nestled in a small valley where he knew she lived Sesshoumaru gently touched down and the lush grass. He could see Chie-baa-san, standing out in her burnt orange colored kimono, slowly meandering through the wooden maze of trellises and fences constructed in the meadow. Fat silk worms, oblivious to the world around them aside from the slight structure that was there home, squirmed about the trellises. They weaved to and fro slowing creating the thin white film that would soon be turned into silken cloth. 

Sesshoumaru stopped, standing a ways away from the silk worm's home. She always was very peculiar and never let anyone near her precious bugs. "Chie-baa-san," He called to her in greeting, waiting until she turned to acknowledge him before bowing at the waist. 

"Young Sesshoumaru," she called in return, her old voice crackling. She turned to walk towards him, her many-faceted bug-like eyes shown dully belying her near-blindness but her face shown with happiness. She hobbled up to him, the back of her kimono bulged with her beetle shell exoskeleton liked the curved back of an old woman and two of her hands acting as feet carrying her over the terrain. 

She was a kind of insect-youkai, though her exact species was unknown. She had six arms but no legs, so to walk on two legs she used one set of arms like feet and the others as hands. When she sat Chie-baa-san often used all six arms for whatever cloth she was working on at the time. Her skin was a dark hue, shining with a blue tint in the sunlight but otherwise it looked a deep purplish-black. 

Wrinkled hands reached up to Sesshoumaru's face, "Come, let me see you boy." She said, looking about the area of his face but not quite at him. "No one ever comes to see this old one now, it is good to have a visitor." Her speech was slow and unhurried and despite his earlier wish for haste Sesshoumaru felt a bit calmed. 

He bent low to allow her to touch him, as her head was only just higher than his hip. Her fingers gently traced his face, avoiding his eyes and she took in the different texture of his hair and markings. "Oh how you have grown, even bigger than your father now you must be." She brushed a gentle hand through his bangs and then stepped back, allowing him to stand straight again before she hobbled in the direction of her small home. "Come inside young one, I see why you've come now."

Sesshoumaru followed behind her and when beckoned took a seat across from her at the small table inside of her darkened hut. The bright oranges of the old youkai's kimono flashed in the dim light provided by the embers of the fire, making her seem almost ghostly and every bit as old as she was. 

The scent of the tea before him reached his nose as one of her arms tipped the aged, dented teapot to pour into his cup. The aroma was thick, exotic, and sweet, unlike anything he had ever smelled outside of her small valley. Chie-baa-san knew of preservation methods older than even he could remember, magics that could make things last for millenia. So he knew not how old this tea could possibly be, but he could be enjoying some thousand year old delicacy. The anticipation almost made him feel like a child again but he retained his demeanor. With a nod he thanked her and cradled the delicate cup in his hands before bringing it to his lips. 

They talked for what felt like a few minutes, but in truth must have been closer to hours, exchangnig pleasantries and telling stories. When the valley darkened just a bit and the air shifted, becoming slightly more cold, and signaling the impending dusk Chie-baa-san spoke in her withered old voice, "It is good to see you have faired well Sesshoumaru, I worry often in these times." She patted the top of his much larger hand in a grandmotherly fashion. 

Sesshoumaru nodded and replied, "It is good to see you are in good health as well, Chie - " But he was swiftly interrupted. 

"Ah hush young one, I see you want to hurry," she gathered his cup and and smiled knowlingly, "I can only wonder what has you so anxious."

The daiyoukai did his best to remain impassive though he in truth was a bit flustered. It was very easy to forget the old youkai woman's abilities. No she didn't read minds, but she could tell fortune and she could pick up on tiny tendrils of thoughts; just little things like a name, a feeling, or a color, but even the tiniest little unguarded thought could be one's downfall. 

She lead him outside, away from her home and far out into the field, before stepping back. Waving her arms she demanded, "Come on, let's so how big you've really gotten!" The grin stretching her wrinkled features told Sesshoumaru she was truly excited to see. 

With a nod Sesshoumaru started to unfurl the carefully made proverbial ties on his energies. The ground quivered and the wind curled about him, mimicking the motions of his aura. Sun-kissed eyes bled a red so deep they looked abyssal and the flash of the low sun against the glassy surface made them shine malevolently. 

Muscles tight, his jaw began to stretch and it was only a mere moment that was filled with the eerie crunch and twist of the inu's body rearranging before it was drowned out by the dull roar of the wind around him, then the dust hid him from sight as well. 

Light engulfed the small space and radiated outward hiding even the diminutive Chie in it's blinding glow before it faded. In it's wake stood Sesshoumaru, blotting out the the sun and shading Chie and her home in his expansive girth. 

Reaching up, Chie patted his nose, "You and your father did always make handsome beasts," she chuckled and her blind eyes shown with mirth. "Now lay down so I can get at your fur, young one." She beckoned with one hand while the others pulled sharp clippers from within the folds of her kimono. 

With a snort Sesshoumaru prepared to lay down and let the woman do her work, but something in his stance must have tipped her off. 

A sudden screech of, "Don't you dare plop!" sounded through the small valley. "Don't you dare! You sit nice right this minute and I don't want this ground to shake one bit! You hear me?" The suddenly irate Chie brandished a clipper at him threateningly. 

Vaguely Sesshoumaru remembered a time he'd been here with his father. The great inu had lazily plopped down on the soft grass ready to have the small amount of fur clipped off that it would take to make new clothing. The consequence of his lazy motion had been an old woman stuck on her curved back, screaming about disrespectful beasts and rolling back and forth like a turtle. The scolding she'd given his father afterwards included this same angry brandishing of her infamous clippers and the younger Sesshoumaru had been sure she would snip his father's nose clean off with her haphazard movements. 

Having no desire to have the situation repeated with himself as the culprit rather than his father Sesshoumaru carefully shimmied his feet until he was flush with the ground and watched the old youkai warily. 

Seemingly placated by his actions Chie walked up and began clipping. Many a time Sesshoumaru and his father, and even his father had come to her to make clothes like these. The spinning and making of cloth simply from the fur of a youkai was a delicate affair, and if the cloth were to retain the qualities it had while still attached to the youkai it was from it needed the touch of a skilled and careful hand. Because of the clothes making they held many useful properties; such as Sesshoumaru's clothing being immune to his poison, none of the cloth was shredded during transformation, it was impervious to many weaker attacks (though some youkai fur had more strength in this area like that of the fire rat), and it retained most of it's basic fur like qualities. 

The slow methodical movements of the old woman's hands and the smooth motion of the near silent clippers almost made Sesshoumaru fall asleep. That was until her felt her hands move closer to his face, towards the crimson red fur of his markings. Sesshoumaru growled his disapproval. 

"What is it?" Chie asked, "You don't want the design red again?"

Sesshoumaru shook his head, agreeing with her assessment. Then let loose a low, raspy growl. Now because of his growth he should be capable of normal speech even in his true form but the newness and unused state of his vocal chords in this state made it difficult to do. "The fabric will be dyed this time," he stated in a scratchy voice. 

The old woman just hmm'ed and nodded before gathering up the fur she'd clipped from the thick expanse of his mane and gathered it into a blanket like cloth. She took the bundle over her shoulder before waddling back to her hut, "I'll begin now, it should be finished soon enough." 

The great dog shimmied closer to her small home, just enough so he could peek in with one large, ruby-red eye. Sesshoumaru enjoyed stretching out in his true form and relished in the rare chance to do so and relax, so he wasn't eager to change back very quickly. He blinked languidly, watching the practiced movements of the old seamstress and remembering in days long passed when he had first gazed up this ritual and watched with a child-like fascination. 

The bulk of the fur was laid in the center of the room, surrounded by four spinning wheels and a loom, a small bit of the fur was laid off to the side, presumably for dying. Chie took her place at the head of the loom and reached out her six arms, all of them extending to work as she needed them. Nearly faster than Sesshoumaru's eyes could see her arms swept over the wooden machines, simultaneously pushing the peddles to keep the wheels turning while stuffing the fur into them and pulling out the thin silvery thread it made. Within moments little piles of thread made from his fur grew at the base of each wheel and Chie redirected two of her arms from the spindles with a practiced ease and began threading them through the loom. 

Soon the room was filled with the soft hum of the spinning of the thread and the rhythmic tap of the loom moving back and forth. A small swath of cloth formed, it shined with an iridescent glow in the pale bits of waning sunlight that crept through the home's wooden slats and within a half an hour it was a large, long piece of well-made cloth ready for sewing. When the edges were tied and the cloth folded neatly at her side Chie turned to the extra pile and spun it into thread before turning to Sesshoumaru. 

"What color would you wish, young one?" She asked in a genuinely curious tone. 

Scarlet eyes closed in contemplation. What color was it he wished for? This was a new chapter in his life, he felt new. The animosity towards all things he'd had in his youth had faded with time, under Rin and others' influence. Red was his color before, a sign of his royalty and status, his power in war and blood. He wanted something new like he felt, something refreshing but still strong. 

The memory of a stormy night, bathed in the red haze of his beast's mind, crept forth to the forefront of his consciousness. A hideous spider faced off against a young priestess but the girl seemed determined and unfazed by the grotesque visage of her enemy. Set in her stance, eyes sparking with the electric-blue flame of her power and the comet like arrow flew towards it's target momentarily blinding his memory so he only remember a fog of white. A low content groan escaped at the memory. When she'd returned to him and put his head in her lap, caring for him, he felt safe and content. They were strange and slightly unknown feelings, one's he'd never quite felt before but they came like instinct to his mind. The very thought of her made him feel at peace. The priestess' eyes were a roiling sapphire accented with a shining gold made by the firelight when she'd looked down at him lying in her lap.

Just like that his decision was made. Still lost in his memory Sesshoumaru answered, "I wish for blue... Dye the thread blue..."

Like her eyes...

A knowing smile crossed Chie's lips before she set to work again. The cloth was stretched and readied for embroidering and once again six arms spun at dizzying speed, sewing and knotting thread into a pattern. The sleeve of the left arm was quickly encased in a shell of royal blue, the lines of embroidery waving and doubling back on themselves creating a thick, bumpy yet smooth texture reminiscent of a tree's bark. This pattern continued in the shape of winding branches over the breast of the haori until the ends tickled at the seam of the right sleeve. Then the tree's branches were filled out with budding flowers and fresh leaves, all in the deep blue the thread was dyed. The image wasn't that of a sapling, nor was it that of a great and powerful aged tree, it was just in the middle and growing into a new stage and a new beginning as was Sesshoumaru. 

Long after the sun had fallen past the horizon Sesshoumaru was dressed in his new clothing. The blue of the accent thread was a striking complement to the blue hue of his hair and the clothes fit him well. The attire was complete with a white under-haori and plain white Hakama, bunched at the hem as his old ones were. The old haori sat folded and tucked into the inner pocket of his new one, it was still a valueable piece as it was his own fur in that cloth as well so he kept it. 

After thanking Chie for her work Sesshoumaru was ready to leave but just as he was walking through her door the old woman's gravely voice called to him. 

"If you ever need anything for the girl," he could hear the smile in her voice, "you make sure you come see me."

For a moment Sesshoumaru was confused. Did she speak of his previous ward? And how did he know of her? But then she turned with a knowing smile and spoke the words he hadn't expected to hear. 

"I speak of the young priestess. The one with blue eyes, of course." 

He turned and smiled to himself, remember her gift of clairvoyance, and left without saying a word. He transformed once again before leaping off into the sky. The new Sesshoumaru had more things to do before he could turn to his priestess and he was eager to see them done. 

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A/N: Hey I just wanted to say thanks for all the sweet reviews again ^.^ You guys are awesome! This fic one Third place in the Dokuga Awards for Best Canon so I have to give everyone a big thanks for that too!!! :D 

Sorry this chapter took a bit long. I recently moved to a new city and just started a new job so everything's been a bit scattered. I am working on quite a few long (8-10k ish words) oneshots as well so watch out for some titles like 'Netsu Ai' (not a Sesskag but I hope some people will still be brave and read it :) ) 'Vexing Inner Colloquies of a Voyeur' and other ones ranging from old oneshot's I'm turning into fourshots and some inupapa/kags pairings (my muse has been a busy panda). 

This chapter was going to have a bit more but I wanted to give you guys something and I figured 3k was long enough. Because of that you can expect the next chapter in a fairly short amount of time but I am going to take a small break to get out another chapter of Tainted Past, Tainted Future (This fiction was recently nominated for the Feudal Association's Best Darkfic and has won 2nd Best Darkfic in the Dokuga awards) :) 

Thanks again! * huggles and lubs* -MontiK