Beautification Committee by Phoe Nix

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha. Please see Rumiko Takahashi and all other respective parties. I will remind you of this oft, so that I am not sued from here to kingdom come.

Author Note: Enjoy!

Beautification Committee

By

Phoe Nix

~*~

“Milord,” Jaken started. “I have the information you requested.”

Sesshomaru sat back in his desk chair. “Proceed.”

Jaken unraveled a scroll. “We thank you, Taiyoukai of the West, for your diligence to your duties. The land is fertile, and will reap a grand harvest. You have the loyalty of your people.”

The toad demon set aside the scroll moving to an envelope with a seal. He broke the wax and read. “The town of Vigil wishes great tidings and riches to our Lord. The land shows the strength of it ruler, and your power has no match. We thank you for the plentiful harvest to come.”

The youkai pulled two more scrolls from his sash, and held them up for his Lord’s perusal. “It is much the same in these missives as well.”

“Report your findings,” Sesshomaru commanded.

“This humble servant traveled to retrieve these communications, and the land is as these letters say. As you traverse north in the West, nature flourishes. The groves and pathways teem with life. It is similar to a painting, overflowing in color, spread out in the forests of the West.”

Jaken prostrated himself low before the lord. “It is a sight to behold. Forgive this Jaken for not respecting the full extent of your power.”

Sesshomaru showed no surprise at the toad’s groveling as it was a normal occurrence. The toad youkai was ever loyal, having served the West for many a century.

To be able to further ingratiate his servant to his stead with one short jaunt north was worthy of note. If it were not the deference showed by the people, Sesshomaru would have attributed this irregularity to the accursed spider hanyou, Naraku.

“Did you sense any residual negative energy from these villages?” Sesshomaru asked.

“No, Milord.” Jaken fidgeted in his seiza.

“Jaken,” Sesshomaru spoke firmly. The servant knew never to withhold even the finest detail from his Lord.

The youkai met the gaze of his Lord. “This Jaken felt...” Jaken paused, “rejuvenated in the area. Now, in your most esteemed presence, I feel the heady weight of your youki. The pow...no...the...” the toad youkai fumbled for the correct description, “sensation is soothing, where your youki is provoking in its power.”

“Yet you say you felt no energy fluctuations,” Sesshomaru verified.

Jaken bowed low once more, nodding fervently.

Curious, Sesshomaru thought. An oddity to be handled personally.

~*~

Sesshomaru walked north, single purpose in mind.

His small pack had been ordered to stay at the Western abode. Rin, a constant presence, would have slowed travel considerably due to her addiction to flowers. Truthfully, the proof Jaken’s report grew around him.

It was not the stark contrast that he had presumed. Instead, a furlong from the border the plants simply emitted more light. The change was gradual, barely detectible to the naked eye, be it human or youkai. As a Taiyoukai, he could detect the aura of many beings. His youkai swelled and ebbed as he traversed further, the true indication that something was amiss.

The West was known for its beauty. The people may attribute this vivid spring to the Taiyoukai, but Sesshomaru lusted for power of his own making, not this dazzling spectacle of growth.

It was peculiar at best. The bark of the trees darker; the branches bearing leaves a brilliant green. Plants stood tall instead of bending towards the light of sun as if flush with an energy of its own. There was no way Naraku could be involved in something so positively pleasant.

Sesshomaru, steadfast in the need to resolve this occurrence, had Jaken find maps of the territory. He recalled the toad’s findings:

“Of each town that sent a missive, there is a landmark within two days ride. The closest village, human, calls it the Fauna. It marked on the map as a mound in an open clearing.”

Jaken paused. The toad clearly knew more. He urged him to by staring at his servant until he caved.

“The area used to be a settlement for fox youkai centuries ago,” the toad stated. “Foxes build their dens underground, Milord. Perhaps this growth can be contributed to something they may have left behind."

The toad’s suggestion had merit. Sesshomaru was nearing the landmark and, if the swelling of his youki was any indication, the location was a key component in the irregularity.

Curiouser, that his loyal retainer had not felt the fluctuations, but been affected by it.

The pathway opened to a grove and Sesshomaru halted. Cherry blossom trees surrounded the clearing. They rained spent pink leaves onto low bearing grass. In the center was a large mound covered entirely with white and yellow flowers.

Sesshomaru shifted his footing, assuming a mild horse stance, feet shoulder width apart. One of the fundamental lessons of combat his sire had taught him was to listen for an attack. It was not until his advanced training that he had learned that it was possible to could listen for defense as well.

Sesshomaru expanded his youki, breathing out. Then he contracted his youki, drawing it back, breathing in. He repeated, breathing in and out, and listened.

Energy was malleable. It flowed like a river or remained still like a lake. It was causing the flourish of nature in the West. Sesshomaru was merely using youki, his own energy, to track the effects. He was looking for the ripple.

His youki shifted the most at the corner of the mound facing him. It flowed over instead of blending with. Exiting his stance, he moved to the place in question, stepping on a cluster rather magnificent jasmine flower.

So many flowers. There was not a patch of soil visible amongst the bursting plant life. Or too many?

Poison dripped from his claws onto the shifting spot, eating away at flowers to reveal a bright pink barrier.

Sesshomaru pooled his energy into a whip. He slashed and the white jasmines and sunflowers disintegrated, revealing an opening in the ground.

Sesshomaru nodded. It is as his retainer had guessed. The flowers camouflaged the true source.

Sesshomaru gathered his youki and pushed.

The barrier held. Surprise filled him. Perhaps also a tinge of excitement. It had been quite some time since he had a challenge.

Sesshomaru pushed harder, sending direct pulses of youki. He grunted softly when the barrier repelled his strikes. Very few beings had the power to match his own but barriers required strength enact and endurance to maintain.

Switching tactics, Sesshomaru allowed his youki to cover the barrier entirely, masking the pink light with his green glow. The youki swelled over the barrier, thickening in the center. He struck there, slashing with Tokijin. The barrier shattered, pink luminous crystals clinking to the ground and then dispersing.

Beyond it by twenty feet stood another barrier.

Curiouser indeed.

The space in this region of the barrier was occupied with signs of life. He counted blankets, flint, and dried fish. The second barrier, unlike the first, lashed at his person. It was protecting something. From the looks of the objects lining the walls of the den, the barrier protected someone.

Sesshomaru moved closer. The reiki singed, battling his youki. It forced him to take the defensive; to deflect the lashes of energy. The beast, his base instinct, recognized the barrier’s methods as that of prey.

Sesshomaru, predator though he was, had no intent to kill, he admitted. The source was not harming his territory, and this barrier protected the source.

So if I mean it no harm, he thought, drawing in his youki with a deep breath. The reiki settled back into the barrier. The barrier will not harm.

Sesshomaru walked through the second barrier.

The dank cave opened to a space no larger than a small hut. The barrier he had passed through illuminated the area.

And there, in the corner of the den, surrounded in an aura of pink light, sat Inuyasha’s wench.