InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tsubaki's Revenge ❯ Hanyo Sleeping ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: This story is based on "Inuyasha," copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement of copyright intended or implied.

 

Tsubaki's Revenge, Part X: Hanyo Sleeping

 

Tsubaki was already regretting having invited the tanuki to tell stories. She had hoped additional clues about the hanyo's power might have been found in the stories, but she found herself quickly bored by the elaborate details Yukuuku was putting into the story. Who cared about the list of who each subsequent teller of the story had first heard it from? Or the painstaking details of the setting, down to the kind of stones in the nearby brook? It must be, she supposed, a tanuki form of story-telling. But at this rate, it must take all night to tell a single story.

 

"Please forgive my interruption," said the shikigami, as the tanuki paused for breath. Surprised and secretly relieved, Tsubaki looked over at him. He was still kneeling next to the motionless hanyo, his white face and black eyes emotionless as always. "The hanyo appears to be having trouble breathing."

 

"What!" Tsubaki was on her feet and moving before her thoughts caught up with her. She knelt next to the hanyo, searching for a pulse. "The poison isn't supposed to be fatal!"

 

"Is it because it is hanyo?" asked Kuroshin. "The poison works twice over, against its youkai and its human blood?"

 

Tsubaki shot her creation a sharp glance. Even with the first of her demonic bargains, she had not had the power to replace her snake shikigami with one as powerful, so she had chosen to create a puppet with as much cleverness as possible. But it had not, to this point, been apt to volunteer suggestions. "Perhaps." She glared back down at the hanyo, anger vying with frustration. "Get the potion for the antidote."

 

"At once, mistress."

 

The shikigami scrambled away. Tsubaki kept her fingers on the hanyo's pulse, fuming silently. Why was yet another thing going wrong? The poison would have worn off of itself in a day, which would have given her plenty of time to plan her revenge. But now she would be forced to spend more of her energy on saving the hanyo's life, for the potion alone would not be sufficient. And then she would have an awake hanyo who had already managed to somehow break two of her spells, which she would have to immediately subdue. A hanyo with more will and more power than she had counted on. And to think she had thought that keeping the hanyo subdued would be simple!

 

Simple--a thought occured to her. Looking up, she saw that the tanuki was had not moved from her position, though she had turned her head to watch, worry and apprehension evident in her eyes and the position of her ears. "Yukuuku," said Tsubaki, "do you have a tea that makes youkai drowsy?"

 

The tanuki's ears twitched upright in surprise, then wavered. "I have a tea used by my clan," she said slowly. "I do not know if it works on other youkai."

 

"It is worth a chance," said Tsubaki. "Can you make a pot now? Quickly?"

 

"Yes, mistress. You wish this?"

 

"As strong as you can make it, Yukuuku."

 

"Yes, mistress." The tanuki bowed, then scrambled to her feet and ran out the entrance. As she left, Kuroshin came in from the second entrance. He handed Tsubaki a small vial, the stopper already removed. Tsubaki sniffed to make sure it was the right potion, then handed it back to the shikigami. "Slowly pour this into its mouth when I tell you."

 

"Will it not choke?"

 

Shaking her head, Tsubaki closed her eyes, and began the spell. Winding youkai energy into the spell to strengthen it, she felt it settle into place in the hanyo's body. "Now, Kuroshin." The shikigami carefully dribbled the potion between the hanyo's parted lips. The spell pulsed faintly as the potion was absorbed directly into the body. Tsubaki waited tensely, her fingers still touching his neck, waiting for any indication that the potion was working. As silence reigned, she began to angrily wonder if the potion had been too late or too weak. Then, she realized that his breath had lengthened from the earlier gasps. His breathened quickened, and his pulse steadied. A flick of motion drew her attention to his ragged ears, which were twitching.

 

The dark priestess let out a silent sigh. Leaning a bit further forward, she removed her fingers from his neck, and pressed the tip of her index finger on his forehead. Whispering, she began a chant, drawing symbols over his skin. It was one of the simplest spells around, used by healing priestesses, and one of the first she had learned. "Go to sleep, little child. Listen to your mother's voice, be happy and at peace, go to sleep, go to sleep."

 

The golden eyes flicked open, glassy and dilated. "Mama?" the hanyo whispered. He sniffed audibly, a wrinkle forming between his brows. "Not ... mama..."

 

Holding her emotions firmly in check, Tsubaki repeated the chant, lowering her voice, her finger barely touching his skin. The hanyo blinked, several times, before the eyelids closed. He whimpered, the crease between his eyebrows deepening. "Mama ... mama's not here..." he whispered. "Mama's dead..."

 

"But you can still hear her voice in your head, can you not?" murmured Tsubaki with as gentle a voice as she could manage, starting a third repetition of the tracing on his skin. "Listen to her voice, little one. She wants you to be happy. She wants you to sleep. Go to sleep..."

 

He whimpered again, but slowly, the wrinkle began to smooth out. "Mama?"

 

"Sleep," she breathed. "Go to sleep, little one."

 

"Mama ..." The word was breathed out in a long sigh as his face and ears relaxed. Tsubaki waited, but his breath remained even, and if anything, his ears drooped even more. Slowly, the dark priestess began to relax. She sighed a little as her own fatigue made itself known. The white-furred ear closest to her twitched at the sound, swiveling, then slowly drifting back to its former relaxed position. Tsubaki studied it a moment, before reaching out to lightly grasp the appendage. The fur was incredibly silky. She examined the ragged ends of the ear, which was still split into half a dozen tags. The ear began to twitch, trying to pull away from her fingers. Ignoring the attempted motion, she bent the end of the ear back, testing the stiffness of the cartilage. The efforts of the ear to release itself grew more frantic. Tsubaki let go, and then scratched gently at the ear's base. It twitched, then relaxed, and a very faint rumble whispered from the hanyo's throat as he shifted his head minutely, to move closer to the fingers.

 

Tsubaki smirked. “You are a puppy,” she whispered, leaning over to deliver a brief scratch to the other ear. “Puppy ears, and a puppy nose. Maybe I should find a spell to turn you completely into a puppy? A little white dog with big golden eyes—I wonder what Kikyo would think of that?” She returned to scratching the closer ear.

 

"M-mistress?”

 

Tsubaki started, snatching her hand back. Turning her head, she saw Yukuuku standing in the entrance, an earthenware pot clutched in her hands. “Pour a cup and bring it here, please?” The tanuki gulped and nodded. “Don't worry,” Tsubaki added. “The hanyo is asleep; he doesn't even know you're here.” Which, on one level wasn't true, as she very well knew, having noticed how the one ear was clearly aimed at the tanuki. But he was hardly in a state where he could act on what his senses were telling him, so the lie was simpler than the truth.

 

Keeping at least half her attention on the hanyo, despite Tsubaki's reassurance, the tanuki edged over to the low table that held several cups. Pouring the dark liquid into one cup, she set the pot down on the table before advancing towards the seated human. As soon as Tsubaki took hold of the cup, she retreated. Hiding her amusement over the youkai's fear, Tsubaki sniffed the tea, and then touched her tongue to the liquid. Considering a long moment, she nodded to herself. One herb she recognized as a strong soporific for humans. She wasn't sure of all the other scents, but there was nothing in there that was inimical to human blood. Whispering a small spell of illusion to hide the taste and the smell, she used her free hand to slide under the hanyo's neck and raise his head.

 

“Drink this, little one,” she said, putting a bit of power behind her words. “You are thirsty. Very thirsty.” His face scrunched up a little, and he sniffed audibly. “It's only water,” she told him. “You need to drink.” He sniffed again, before obediently opening his mouth. The cup went quickly, and Tusbaki was smiling a little as she let his head down. Yukuuku was gawking, which increased her feeling of amusement. She gave into the temptation, and let her hand start scratching behind his ear again. The tanuki's eyes widened, and she gulped.

 

“Is there a problem, Yukuuku?” she asked.

 

“N-no, mistress, oh no! I-I j-just, I n-never i-imagined s-such a t-terrible h-hanyo l-letting you p-pet it! As if, as if it were a tame dog!”

 

Tsubaki chuckled. “Oh, I'm sure he would be reacting differently if he were awake. My powers are good for something, after all. Now, why don't you leave the pot here, and go get my meal. Kuroshin will take the hanyo to the other room and make sure he stays asleep. I will have one of your excellent meals, and then, tomorrow, I'll start breaking this hanyo so I can do this while he's awake. And won't that be interesting to watch?”

 

The tanuki's went wider, if possible, and she shrank back. “I-if you s-say so, m-m-mistress,” she stammered. “I-I will go g-get your s-supper.” Bowing quickly, she didn't quite run from the room.

 

Tsubaki smirked and looked back down at the hanyo, who was again responding to her ear-scratching. “Yes, I think we'll start with that,” she told the sleeping hanyo. “You're going to be my little puppy dog, and when I'm finished, you're going to beg for these little treats. Aren't you?”

 

The hanyo, asleep, said nothing.

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