A Kludge of One Shots by tenchi no mai
Windy Day
This was written in response to Priestess Skye's weekly challenge.
Theme: Wind
Due: June 7th, 2009
Required Word Count: Minimum 800
Actual Word Count: 1391
Universe: Canon - Feudal Era
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine, they are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz Media. Only the plot to this story and my original character, Shun, are my intellectual property. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
'Italics' = thoughts
Windy Day
She had been waiting for a day like this. It was just about as perfect as it was going to get. The sky was a brilliant blue with some fluffy white clouds being blown across it by the stiff breeze. Wetting her finger, she held it up to check the direction and strength of the wind. Perfect.
Now if she could get the rest of the tachi to agree to stop for the day. It was only early afternoon, but they had been pushing hard for the last few days, heading west towards the Fortress, which was still a couple days away. It was to be their first visit to Sesshoumaru-samas home.
Inuyasha had disappeared several hours ago. He had gone chasing after Kikyo's soul stealers when they fluttered into his line of vision. Kagome ran ahead to catch up with Sesshoumaru, who was in the lead at this point.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, I would like to stop for the day and set up camp. If I remember correctly there is a clearing not too far ahead with a water source nearby." Kagome knew he would be the hard one to convince, she was going to have to do some quick thinking.
'Indeed... water source nearby.' Sesshoumaru watched the Miko carefully, she could be wily in her own manner. 'If she means hot springs, why does she not just say so?' Her love of hot springs was well known to the demon lord. Although, after giving a sniff in the direction of the rest of the tachi, he realized that it had been at least several days since they camped near a 'water source'. Everyone could use a bath.
"Hn..."
About half an hour later, Kagome pointed to the left. "The clearing is over there behind the pine trees."
"It will suffice." Sesshoumaru turned and led them to the clearing. 'I smell a cold fresh water source, but no hot spring. What form of disobedience is the Miko up to now?'
Listening to a rustling in the brush some distance away, he sped off, returning a few minutes later with a small suckling boar. After putting it down in front of the Miko he walked over and sat down, leaning against a tree.
"Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama. The children have not had a good meal in a few days." Kagome was surprised, usually Inuyasha hunted for them. "Miroku, can you take care of 'fixing' this for us?" The one thing she refused to do was learn to butcher the kills, another thing Inuyasha did for them.
"Of course Kagome-san, it would be my pleasure to be able to contribute my humble skills towards our dinner." Miroku came over and got the boar then walked off some distance into the woods to butcher it. He knew Kagome didn't like to see the process.
After dumping her backpack under one of the nearby trees, Kagome turned around, clapping her hands. "Okay everybody! If we can get camp set up quickly I have a surprise for Shippo and Rin. Sango, if you could fill our water containers, the children and I will gather firewood and get the spit set up for the meat. Jaken, will you go see what you can forage to go with the meat and rice?"
"What's the surprise?" Shippo and Rin were just about jumping up and down in their excitement.
"Once we get everything set up we will have plenty of time for the surprise. See, the stones for the firepit are still here from the last time we camped in this clearing, that's one less thing we have to do." Kagome headed off into the woods, watching the children run ahead to gather the kindling.
After making several trips to assure they had a decent supply of wood for the fire, the spit was set up and the fire started. Miroku returned shortly with the cleaned meat and took over the task of keeping the fire going and turning the meat on the spit, all the while watching Sango sharpen and polish her Hiraikotsu.
Kagome went over and began digging through the items in her backpack for the surprise. She had been home not too long ago and brought these back with her, just waiting for the right day.
"Yay, time for the surprise!" Shippo yelled, as he watched Kagome come back with a long, flat, skinny package and a small paper bag.
Sitting down between where Miroku and Sango were keeping an eye on the cooking, and Sesshoumaru was sitting under the tree, Kagome figured everyone had a decent view. The group was always curious when it came to something she brought back with her from the future.
Sesshoumaru was always interested in the things the Miko had in her backpack, although he would never voice this thought aloud. The most recent oddity was her new fire starter. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. Made of some type of metal and what she called 'plastic', she worked it by pushing a lever, then the flame appeared at the end of the metal piece to light the campfires.
Splitting the tape and unwrapping the brown paper from the package, Kagome spread the paper on the ground so they had a workspace.
"What is it?" Rin asked, leaning over one of Kagome's knees to get a better view.
"Kites! We just have to put them together." Kagome started separating all the pieces into two piles, one in front of Shippo and one in front of Rin.
'Hn... now I know why she picked this place to set up camp.' Sesshoumaru looked around at the large clearing, coming to the conclusion there was more than enough room for them to fly the kites.
Kagome had had a difficult time finding a kite for Rin. Most of the kits were for boys, and it was fairly easy to find a kite with foxes on it for Shippo. She had searched for several hours, then bought another one with a dragon on it. After that she went to the local fabric store and got a yard of silk material with multi-colored flowers woven into it. With help from her mother she cut a kite from the flowered material and carefully sewed it into shape. They then reinforced the pockets on both kites where the bamboo pieces fitted to hold the kites into shape. After some modifications by Souta to make them easier to put together and then take apart to carry them, he had given her some lessons on kite flying.
After a few minutes of explaining how to put them together, they were ready to go fly the kites.
"Sesshoumaru-sama look at what Kagome-sama brought me from her home!" Rin ran over to him carrying a kite that was almost as big as she was. "May I go fly it with Shippo and Kagome-sama?"
"As you wish, Rin." The demon lord answered in his usual manner. Rising from his seated position, he slowly followed them towards the middle of the clearing. As alpha, it was his duty to provide protection to his chosen one, as well as the rest of the members of the pack.
He was surprised at how quickly the Miko was able to get the kites aloft, and show the children how to fly them. 'This is usually a sport for the male children. The Miko's time must be... exceptionally indulgent if the females have enough leisure time to become involved in sports.'
After several hours of running all over the clearing, laughing, and launching the kites several times, Kagome called to the children to come put the kites away, the sun was beginning to set. "We can fly them again the next time we have a windy day. Maybe Sesshoumaru-sama will let us fly them at the Fortress if there is enough room."
Following them towards the campsite, Sesshoumaru again wondered at the ease with which the Miko handled the young pups. They could be little devils, but they did listen to her even if her methods were somewhat unorthodox. 'Someday she will be good with our own pups. I wonder what they will look like.'
He lifted his head as the wind changed direction and swirled his silver hair around. 'Kami kaze... maybe it truly is a divine wind that has blown the Miko in my direction.'
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Fin