Ichigoichie by MontiK

Aka-Shita

Obakemono-Week 2
link to the challenge prompt http:// dokuga .com/ forum?func=view&catid=29&id=23999 (w/out spaces)

Aka-Shita

Vocab: Mokusei - Jupiter

They sat on the cliff side, legs dangling over the edge, staring out at the ocean. The day was quiet, warm with summer's breath. The wind whispered quietly off of the water, tickling their faces. The only interruptions to the peaceful scene were the quiet gasps of wonder each time Sesshoumaru threw a rock out to sea. 

Somehow he managed to get the rocks to skip even with the fifty foot drop, and Kagome couldn't count how many times the skipped before they sank. Young Sesshoumaru grinned, feeling pride at her unveiled amusement. 

As she watched the next stone leap out over the water something caught Kagome's attention from the corner of her eye. 

The previously clear sky was quickly being blotted out. The darkness quickly covered the late day's sun casting her and Sesshoumaru in shadow. At first she was surprised by the sudden onset of what she thought was a storm. That was before she heard the terrible, earth shaking growl that sounded almost more like thunder. 

Uncertainly she held onto the arm of her companion, trembling slightly in well placed fear. 

"Sesshoumaru..," Kagome's voice quivered, "Shouldn't we move back into the forest?" She really wanted to be out of sight at that moment and she was a little miffed he seemed to have no intention of moving. 

She heard him snort. "It is nothing you or I need to worry about." He stated dismissively. 

Kagome was only assured for a moment before the gather clouds parted like elemental gates and a great beast strode through, the clouds pooled under his feet giving them purchase and somehow despite the beasts behemoth size he balanced with great grace upon their wispy surface. He was in the shape of a dog, faint bits of blue standing out on his face and a swath of grey fur covering his back. It growled again, the sound closer now reverberated through the ground and made the tree tops shake with it's intensity. 

When the beast panted, letting a long, feathered, crimson red tongue loll out lazily Kagome put the pieces together. The guardian of Mokusei was said to reach from the clouds with a clawed paw, jowels wide displaying flashing teeth and revealing the trademark red tongue. 

"Aka-Shita," she whispered in awe. For all the stories Kagome had heard of it's hideous and ferocious nature it was truly beautiful. She still feared, it's power sung in the air and it's roar still shook her to the bone, it would be foolish not to fear. But that didn't take away from how his white fur glowed against the dark back drop of the clouds and how he moved so gracefully. 

Her jaw hung gaped as she stared in wonder before he disappeared just as quickly as he'd come into a puff of white clouds. 

The annoyed huff from beside her broke her from her musings. "Showing off," Kagome heard Sesshoumaru moodily grumble. 

Kagome gasped. "How could you say that!? That was wonderful!and he.. he.. was well.. beautiful!" She fumbled over the description not sure if that was right for a male but it was the only thing that fit. Handsome didn't do the Aka-shita justice. 

Sesshoumaru quirked an eyebrow at her as she moved to stand. She wasn't sure but did he look jealous? She could see his fang poking over his lip where he bit it and his arms were crossed with a slight pout. 

She huffed as his obvious dismissal of a sight she deemed to be terrific, "Well I need to go tell jii-chan! He'll be so surprised," Kagome smiled at the thought of how her jii-chan would be so happy, momentarily forgetting her previous ire at her friend's stick-in-the-mud attitude. 

She heard yet another snort, "You humans have to give funny names to everything." His mention of her race specifically gave Kagome pause and she stopped to look back at him. He hardly ever brought up that difference between them. "His name," he waved a hand at the sky, "is Togaou, not Aka-shita." He turned away from her, staring back out at the ocean before he said his last piece, "I call him father." He still seemed a bit put out over her awe for what she now realized was his sire. 

Jii-chan forgotten she came back to kneel at his side. "That was your father? Buh.. But, he.. well he was a dog..," she fumbled. 

A brow quirked at her, "Am I not Inu-youkai?" He asked as if the answer were obvious. 

"Well yeah," she sighed exasperatedly. "But you look... well not like a dog, and he was very much a dog. Four legs and tail and all that." She couldn't compare Sesshoumaru to a human because he was too pretty but she knew he wasn't very dog-like in her opinion either. 

He grinned then, impishly. His egotistical expression annoyed her and excited her all at once, he was surely about to unveil something amazing to her if he looked so pompous. 

"Greater Inu-youkai are capable of changing shape. Which includes both my father, and myself." His grin stretched wider at her gasp and he eagerly awaited her barrage of questions, it was so nice to have his ego stroked. 

"You can?!" She cried excitedly while grabbing a hold of his haori sleeve and tugging it with emphasis. "Can I see? Can I see? Please?" She was nearly bouncing with glee at the prospect of seeing a giant puppy up close. 

Some where in the back of his mind he heard his sensei's voice. One should never use such power as you hold lightly, young master. But it flew out the window with such an amazing opportunity to show off. Standing up, he stepped a good distance away from the cliff and began his transformation. 

Kagome scarcely had the time to shield her eyes from the billowing wind and the fierce light before he began. She felt the air shift as his energized body shot up into the sky, though she could not see it, and felt the same rush of air as he came back down and the earth shook as Sesshoumaru landed. Once the hold his energy had on the very air around them gave way with the completion of his transformation Kagome fell forward to her knees, reeling from the sheer speed and force of his feat. 

A paw the size of a dinner platter stepped into her vision and a pink nose nuzzled her cheek cautiously. Coaxed into looking up Kagome was once again awed, staring into the crimson gaze with the tiny sapphire pupil she might say Sesshoumaru was more beautiful than his father, though no where near the massive size. In his young age Sesshoumaru was only about twice the size of the average horse. But then she was bias, Sesshoumaru was her best friend. She could tell he was waiting for something, for her to say anything, and was hoping for her approval. 

Smiling she chastely kissed the tip of his and scratched the top of his muzzle, "You're pretty too," she whispered quietly. 

A slight blush covered white furred cheeks but thankfully for Sesshoumaru she didn't seem to notice.