To Foreign Lands [Private]

Mika stood up and jumped high into the air, landing near Marius as Kurama turned, looking at InuGenki. His eyes had gone dead, his power slowly raising before he closed his eyes, letting out a low sigh. "We came here with you, InuGenki. I was here the entire time, ready to help with the training. My powers are still new to me, and I was also going to use this as a chance to test my limits."

He opened his eyes, and they were white with a circle of red for the iris. "I am going to leave. Visit Inari's last known main shrine. I should have been clear to begin with. I have no desire to follow in Inari's footsteps and get killed by a god killer. And definately not Toki's father. Alright?"

InuGenki scowled at him annoyed. "I do not appreciate being ignored! I asked you question!" his voice boomed. His children and InuYasha shivered to that voice knowing he was genuinely pissed off. They did not bother to say anything other than Shippo's remark that, "Maybe we should go back?"

Sesshomaru listened to her closely before he took in a deep breath and sighed. "You have in fact grown stronger, but this yokai I fear is far stronger that Naraku. InuGenki blew himself up and that thing survived it, and if from what I've heard is true, this thing can absorb yokai. We need to plan things out. Don't think that you're a burden to me...you may play some part in this" he suggested.

Kurama blinked and looked over at InuGenki. One of his large spirit foxes landed near him, giving its master a burst of energy, allowing him to go back into his god form. "Wow, that hurts, you know. We've been here this entire time." He shot a glare in Marius' direction when the man snickered from his perch in the trees. "Shut it." Mika shook her head as she stood to her feet, glancing towards the others. "Perhaps we should all leave. I... think I am fine for now, and you aren't helping the lord train the others. Marius can take the three of us back." Kurama looked at her in silence for a moment before nodding slowly. "You are right..."

- - - - -

Rin was slow to respond, as she had slipped into a bit of a walking sleep. She felt a flush of embarrassment as she suddenly realized he had spoken to her. "Y-Yes. Kaede and Kagome have been helping me. I was having these weird dreams about spirits, and Kagome came up with the idea of training me to be a miko. Once I started, the dreams stopped. I loved training."

InuGenki looked off towards the explosion in confusion. "Okay did I miss something? Hey, little kitsune man? You mind telling me what your business here is?" he asked. InuYasha and the others looked over just as confused, but they let InuGenki do the talking since these were his lands.

Sesshomaru looked over his shoulders hearing her sniffling, which he did not like that sound. "What is wrong?" he asked. He started to think to himself before he looked ahead. "Rin...you have gotten a lot stronger have you not?" he asked trying to make the effort to recognize the hard work she has put into her training.

Asagi listened to the explaination that he gave them of the technique. It seemed far more complicated than it should, but she remembered that a couple of elders from her original home had done this very thing many times. As she looked down at her feet, her thoughts on trying to put into practice what he had said. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt as if a massive shift in... reality was happening, and it kind of frightened her. A loud explosion to her right made her jump, and she turned as she heard a man's laughter coming from a large dust cloud. As it cleared, a beautiful silver fox with two tails, standing at four feet tall at the shoulders, stood across from Kurama. The daiyoukai was in his normal form, having expended the little bit of his kami power that he had dared to use. "You are just like your mother!" Standing to his feet, he watched with amusement as Mika sat back on her haunches, her two tails curled carefully around her paws. "You can go back now, Marius. I know you want to talk to her more. There is no shame in it." The look that crossed Marius' face when Mika spoke to him was priceless, his embarrassment for all to see. The dragon yokai quickly recovered, shaking his head as he walked over to a nearby tree. "I believe I will stay and watch the day's training."

- - - - -

"Okay..." Rin's voice was soft, as her mind kept dwelling on how she was a weakness to him. All the training she did with Kaede, expanding her power and becoming a stronger person in general... and she was still a liability, a weakness for him. A tiny voice in the back of her head told her she never should have let her feelings be known, that she should have buried them deep and forgotten about it. She was just some human girl. Why did she think this was a good idea? She made a slight sniffling noise and held herself tighter to him as they traveled. Her curious nature got the best of those dark thoughts, as she wondered what kind of person this woman was.

When InuGenki received the message from the ice dragons, and he thought to himself for a moment. "I wonder if you know enough to be able to preform bukujutsu" he muttered before he looked back at InuYasha. "Um, what I'm about to teach you is a very useful technique called bukujutsu. It enable you to fly. Sesshomaru, Akemi, Toga, Toki, and I have all mastered this technique when we were children, so it shouldn't be that hard to grasp" he said before he stared drawing more figures in the dirt. It looked like that of a stick figure man and arrows radiating out. "This is how your aura affects air flow around your body. High pressure goes to low pressure" he said before he drew another looking like the flow of a magnetic field. "If you manipulate your aura loop around and come up at your feet, and channel energy through your feet at the same time you can achieve flight. He wiped off the drawing realizing it was way too complicated. "But I'm getting ahead of myself, first I would like you to just channeling your energy through your feet first before we go into flight aura profiling, heh" he said.

Sesshomaru had received Akemi's message after Rin finished getting ready to leave. He was not too pleased with having to go up North to his brother's castle. He did not want InuGenki to even know about his relationship with Rin. He sighed having to swallow his pride and he took flight with Rin holding onto him snugly. "Rin, I'm taking you to an old friend of mine. She will have room to accommodate you. She's just as powerful as I, and I know she can keep you safe" he told her.

Akemi sat almost completely submerged in the soothing waters of the hot spring. Less than three days had passed, and already her body was starting to ache in weird but very familiar places. She praised and cursed Kurama all in one breath, his godly influence having assured a set of very powerful, healthy twins. She was ready to submerge herself completely for a moment when a cold breeze blew in along the back of her neck. Along with that wind came two voices, one that filled her with happiness and another that made her feel confused and wary. Her husband calling her name wasn't a surprise, but Sesshomaru? What could he possibly need her for?

Raising from the spring, Akemi dried off and got dressed, waving off her current attendants and stepped outside. Raising her right hand, she closed her eyes and made a slow, sweeping gesture in a figure eight design. As she did so, cold air slowly condensed around her finger tips, forming one thick ice band. This then split into two before becoming thin, dragon-like beings. One she sent to InuGenki, agreeing to his suggestion of her training Asagi, while the other one she sent off to Sesshomaru, telling him that he was free to come and aste her his favor in person.

InuGenki looked back at Asagi and nodded. "Yes, that's right" he said before he put his finger up putting emphasis in what he was about to say. "The important thing to do is to redirect the energy around you. You cannot stop the backlash from happening. It is a consequence of the action. I put up a barrier with a shape kept in mind to negate almost all of the backlash. I'm not the type of yokai that could absorb energy, but I have seen that method done before. The only problem is that if the amount of energy is beyond your capacity, it could end up harming you in a great way" he said. He stroked his face and thought to himself. "My wife could most certainly help you with that" he stated dropping the name of the person he saw doing what she described.

Jaken gulped and backed away. "I'm sorry Lady Rin" he said bowing to her forgiveness. Sesshomaru thought long an hard about where he could take Rin, which he could only think of one place to take her where he knew she would be well protected. He sighed heavily and followed her trailing behind the children. "Akemi..." he mumbled. He knew that she was on par with him in power despite the body that hindered her mobility. He was hoping that she was listening to him, but deep down he was hoping that she would contact him and not force him to go up north in person.

Asagi turned her attention to InuGenki, watching what he was doing and listening to what he was saying with a sharp gaze. When he started to draw on the ground, she knelt down and looked at the diagram for a long moment before standing up and looking at him. "I learned a word from a scroll Lord Marius gave me when he first showed up. Recoil... like, energy backlash. How exactly do you prevent that left over energy from knocking you out? Could one absorb it and redirect the left over energy to disperse into the ground you stand on?" Asagi had learned that she really liked reading, and a detailed, hands on and verbal explanations to things.

- - - - -

Rin held the blanket against her chest as she watched the children as they laughed and played among themselves, ignorant to the talk going on behind her. "Jaken, I will stitch your mouth shut next time you ask about something you know you have no business asking about." She spoke in an even tone, trying to ignore the strange feeling that had ran through her in response to the anger she heard in Sesshomaru's voice. She easily smiled as the children came up, all trying to speak at once. "Alright, settle down. Here is some string. I want each of you to tie up your herbs and place them in this basket for me." Once they had done so, she carefully laid the blanket over the basket and turned. "Let's return to the village, my lord. Everyone's parents will be looking for them soon."

InuGenki was not going to be the one to stop Mika from therapy, but he was annoyed with all the distractions; moreover, his children's lack of focus needed to be improved or at least they had to be desensitized to being around strong Daiyokai and Hanyo. He took a deep breath and examined her ice spear closely. "Hmm, that looks a bit cumbersome and awkward to use does it not?" he asked before he held out his hand and formed a ball of light the size of an orange. "Just pretend this is ice for a moment" he said before the light started to change shape. It turned to the shape of a tear drop, which he smiled at her. "This shape flies farther and faster. Even faster than sound" he said before he launched it with a pulse of energy. It sounded like a bolt of lightning struck beside them as the light streaked across the lake with a conical cloud trailing behind it. It felt like you were punched in the gut with the amount of force from that pressure wave. The rumble of the sonic boom bounced off and echoed off the mountains around them. InuGenki looked back at her and smiled after a rather sizable plume of smoke raised above the tree line. "Yup, the tricky part is to counter the recoil" he mentioned.

He drew a diagram in the sand with the shape and vectors of how he was launching the his projectile, which it was extremely technical and complicated for the level of education in that era. For some reason the cone shape was pointed towards the user. Toga looked over his father's shoulder at the drawing and stared at it in confusion. "Dad, that's really hard to do" he said before InuGenki looked back at him smiling. "It's how I do it" he said before he cleared his throat. "The point of this is that the bigger and heavier a projectile you have, the more energy and effort it takes to get it moving. Consider the most efficient shape and size to conserve your energy. I don't expect her to send her ice that size at supersonic speeds. The pressure and friction from the air would heat it up such that it would break apart and vaporize" he said. He glance back at Asagi and grinned. "I know what she can do...trust me. She'll get a hang of it. I just want her to get the concepts not do things exactly like I do" he said which he did not want to mention that the way he did things was the most destructive, but that was pretty obvious.

Sesshomaru stared at her not sure what to think of it, but as the thought lingered, the more angry he got. None of this was making any sense to him, and all he could think was that whoever they were seeing was not his brother. Jaken could see his confusion, and he should have known that his Lord did not like being confused. "Master? I've heard so many rumors about him...How could he be alive still if he blew himself up?" he asked before Sesshomaru's temper snapped and his eyes turned red. "Enough! Do not ever speak about him around me! He's not alive! I've seen his body burn to ashes and scattered into the wind! Whoever this lowlife InuYasha and Kagome went to see is just an impostor! Nothing more!" his voice boomed. Jaken coward in fear, but it was clear that seeing InuGenki's death triggered farther resentment towards his brother or maybe he respected his brother and regretted not having the chance to fight a worthy opponent like missing an opportunity to fight his own father, who knew.

"Believe me, they will be fine." Marius said before turning to watch that particular spectacle. He remembered the many fights that would break out back in Wales, and this thing that was going on between father and daughter was not worrisome to him. He also knew that a lot of Mika's hang-ups about her demonic nature were due to the resentment that she had towards her father. Asagi meanwhile was still a little rattled from the dramatic shift in power she had displayed earlier, but she felt herself snap back into reality when she was asked that last question. Blinking, she let out a low breath, her hands held out in front of her. She concentrated on her power, creating a small draft of super cold air, then using the other power to stretch it out, using both until she had a rather hefty ice speak that she held in her right hand. "Yes."

- - - - -

Rin listened to their conversation but kept her attention on the children. "Alright. I want you all to pick enough for your family. Make sure you leave the roots in the ground so more can grow later." After they ran off, she brushed her hands off and stood up once again. She picked up the blanket she had been kneeling on and shook it out before carefully folding it. "Lady Kaede told me that InuYasha, Lady Kagome and Shippo went to see... him." She let out a light sigh, quickly banishing the want to ask him about his brother, knowing she could just ask Kagome later without the need to irritate him about it.

InuGenki glanced over at Marius and frowned. "I hardly find this to be training...It just feels to me that she's unleashing her pent up anger onto him" he remarked before he sighed heavily and sighed. "Do what you want" he muttered before he turned around to face Asagi. "You there! Do you need to catch your breath or are you ready to resume your training?" he asked. Toga eyes went wide. "Father? You can't be serious!" he protested. InuGenki looked back at him annoyed. "Why are you winning at me so much? Neither of you are doing what I asked. You just keep gawking at me" he scolded him. Toki gulped and felt herself backing up to her half siblings. She never saw her father pissed off, but she knew that he was very close to blowing his lid. Toga grumbled and looked away submissively and looked over at InuYasha. "Here, I will teach you Shunpo" he said. Toki oversaw Keiko and Aiko's progress. InuGenki sighed heavily and approached Asagi. "Can you form an ice projectile for me?" he asked nicely.

Sesshomaru looked away when she muttered about his weakness. "Why did InuYasha and Kagome leave the village?" he asked. Jaken walked up to them and made an announcement. "Um...Milord? I've heard some troubling news from up North. They said that the Yokai of Ten Thousand deaths has returned!" he shouted. Sesshomaru paused and stared off into space having a very unsettling feeling tingle up his spine. He himself felt and smelled the reemergence of his brother, but he was in denial that it were even possible. "Don't be absurd...It is a mere impostor" he said before he spaced out again. "There has been an unusual amount of Shinigami out...has he found a way to break into the realm of the living?" he mused. Jaken gulped. "Um, Is it true?" he muttered timidly before Sesshomaru glanced over at him intensely. "Is it true that you have a twin brother?" Jaken asked while fidgeting with his fingers while averting his gaze. "Hmph, I had a twin brother..." he said with a hint of contempt.

Asagi ignored father picking on son, as she watched as Mika started to approach Kurama slowly. The man barely had time to blink before he was sent flying, to be caught by one of his foxes. Mika lowered her arm and continued to walk towards him. Marius had changed back at this point, and he tugged down the sleeve of his outfit before crossing his arms over his chest. "Leave them to it. They'll both be fine."

- - - - -

"Weakness...." The word left Rin at a mutter, her gaze going slightly out of focus as a tiny voice started to build in the back of her mind. Noticing what was going on, she blinked quickly and just smiled. "I will need to say goodbye to the children after dinner, and we can leave early in the morning when they don't have to see me leave." She turned and sat back down as the children started to come back, smiling and laughing even as she ignored that little voice in her head calling her a liability and a weight to him.

Yumi gulped not sure if Akemi meant that it was the safest place for her or if it was the safest place from the castle town. She looked towards Akemi worried. "Milady...do you think that Father...err, I mean, Lord InuGenki will be able to manage?" she asked. She was not sure how strong Mika was, but She know how strong Kurama was, and she then remembered Kurama was there. Choumi stepped out of the room laughing at her with a smug look. "She is just a spec compared to my almighty son" she said proudly as she crossed her arms over her chest looking down at her. "Your concern for everyone is most amusing" she belittle her.

InuGenki was glad to see that some progress was being made on Asagi. "Looks like your girlfriend is doing well" he said to Toga causing him to blush. "Dad! Why are you saying that!" he shouted. InuYasha smirked. "Awe, embarrassed that you like her?" he teased. InuGenki looked over at Shippo trying his hardest to make the blades of grass into something sharper than steel. Before InuGenki could get started with getting InuYasha's training done, he saw Mika land, and he approached her cautiously. "Do you want some Zombies to hack at?" he asked.

Sesshomaru kept a stern gaze at her and did not shake or nod his head. "You know what kind of leverage they'll get if they capture you" he said lowly. He looked off into the distance feeling very vulnerable with being in a relationship with her. "Rin, being in the village is going to lead them here. That thing wants to absorb the strongest yokai. What better opportunity is there to exploit my weakness?" he asked.

Akemi looked over at Marius, who was looking off into the distance to his right, as if he was somewhere else completely. "I want you to take her to them. It is the safest place at the moment, and she needed to confront certain things that will make it easier." Her voice was final, and Marius blinked as he pulled himself out of his thoughts. "If you think it is the safest place for this to happen, sure."
- - - - -

Kurama found himself smiling as he finally realized that he really didn't have to go this soft. Taking a step forward, one of his two foxes appeared and then ran towards her, mostly in a back and forth pattern, flames appearing around its feet. As the fox made it to her, she flung her hand up, a wall of ice appearing to halt the fox. Turning her head to the side slightly, she ducked while making an upward motion with her free hand. Kurama had to go into god form in order to keep from flying when a large gust of dry wind slammed into him from her. "Interesting." Hearing a dull thump sound getting louder, he turned just in time to see Marius in dragon form drop from a bank of clouds below. At the last minute, he snapped open his wings and landed a bit off from the group. Mika dropped down from his back, and Kurama looked a little concerned as he saw her demon form showing in several aspects of her appearance.

- - - - -

Rin opened her eyes and looked up over her shoulder at him, a slightly concerned look on her face. "Away... from the village?" She stood up and smoothed out the front of her kimono, turning to face him. "Why would I have to leave? It's the safest place right now with that... presence out there. Besides, Kagome isn't here right now, and that would leave everyone basically defenseless."

Shippo shivered and laughed nervously. "Uh, it's nothing..." he said before he took a couple steps back with his knees knocking into each other. "Heh heh...uh...What exactly can you teach me? I'm not that strong" he said. InuGenki chuckled to himself and shook his head. "Like I haven't heard that before. This is the first time for Toga and Toki to be teaching, so I'm going to teach them how to teach by teaching you" he said. Shippo scratched his head. "Uh, okay" he said. Toga looked down at the ground in dismay and sighed heavily. InuGenki looked up over at Kurama. "Be aware that both her parents were hanyo" he informed him before he turned his focus back on Shippo. “Okay so what do we do first?” Shippo asked eagerly.
InuGenki scratched the back of his head and sighed. “Well, let’s start small” he said before he plucked a pebble and blade of grass off the ground. “I want you to run a blade of grass through his rock” he said before he made the grass start to glow and pushed it through the rock. “It’s not as simple as focusing your yoki into the blade. Focus too much yoki and…” he said before the grass burned into ashes.
“The trick is to sharpen your yoki into an edge and point. If the grass gives you don’t have it sharp enough” he said before he looked over at InuYasha approaching him. InuGenki smiled at him. "How's your forehead?" he asked. "Shaddup!" InuYasha shouted before he rubbed his arm looking away timidly. "Um, What are you going to teach me?" he asked. Toga stood up and smirked. "He's going to teach you Shunpo" he said. "Shunpo?" InuYasha muttered.

Yumi was not privileged to gain all the wisdom and knowledge of a woman of Akemi's social status. She nodded slowly and thought to herself about how much consideration InuGenki put into choosing his mates. It was clear he had a thing for strong women. There was Kiyohime who was her mother, the miko, and then Akemi. She did not feel bad that her mother could not be with her father, but Lady Akemi really did deserve a man like him. All she could do is feel pride knowing where half of her blood comes from. She did not need to inherit the kingdom or heirlooms. Just being his daughter was enough to make her satisfied. "Um, should I take her to a quiet area for her to unleash her demon?" she asked.

The Twins and their brother had grown used to Sesshomaru over the years, and they had a sense of his relationship with Rin. The children were open minded and took the Twins' lead. Sesshomaru looked down at her with a frown and sighed looking away briefly. "I might have to take you away from the village for a while" he said rather sternly.

Kurama didn't like having to step in on what was essentially Toki's job, but he saw a lot of the kid he once was in Asagi. His father had employed a similar tactic on him, and it had worked when nothing else did. He smirked faintly when ice 'hooks' of sorts appeared around her feet, anchoring her in place. "You needed a trigger." He moved quickly, as large sharp spears of ice shot towards him, and he laughed at the dark look in her eyes. "I see your father was no normal mortal." Her eyes had turned a dark golden color.

- - - - -

Akemi turned a cold gaze to Yumi, unable to believe that the girl couldn't tell the difference. "InuYasha's mother was a normal, plain mortal. Those two and Mika's mother were both powerful miko. That gives the three of them an advantage that InuYasha never had." Marius glanced at Akemi, noting the very faint undercurrent of motherly attention when she spoke of Mika. It was probably just a result of her current pregnancy, but it was still something nice to see.

- - - - -

Rin sat and watched as the children milled about. It was still a surprise to her at how the children didn't have a single problem with Sesshomaru. The twins were obviously used to him because they grew up knowing who he was related to. The village continued to show her surplussing, new things even after all these years. Closing her eyes as a breeze blew past her, she heard his footsteps, and she tilted her head to the right slightly. "You are troubled by something, my lord. What is it?"

InuGenki watched over everyone closely as training began. Toga gulped remembering all the other daiyokai giving him the same treatment during training. Toki got offended when Kurama interfered, and she looked towards her father huffing. "Dad!? I was supposed to help train her!" she shouted. InuGenki glanced over at her and frowned. "Well, then start training her! You can coach her through this! I don't want to hear you complain either!" he said firmly before he glanced over at Toga annoyed. Toga flinched and turned towards Shippo and began to train him as well. InuGenki returned to teaching Aiko and Keiko. "Alright you two. I am going to teach you a technique called Shunpo" he said before he vanished and reappeared behind them. "Whoa! So that's a technique you're doing?" Aiko asked. InuGenki nodded. "Yes, it is an advanced technique that involves precise knowledge how your body works" he said before he vanished again reappearing in front of them. "I am taking one step from where I was before to where I am now" he said before Aiko and Keiko stared at him. "You mean what you did last night...that was ones step too?" she shouted. InuGenki only smiled at her and snickered to himself. "It's pretty handy to catch your opponent off guard. It all starts by concentrating your yoki into specific muscles into your legs, feet, and even toes. Keep in mind that you'll be going really fast, so I'm going to have to teach you how to use your yoki to allow you to stick to things" he said before he started walking up a tree trunk defying gravity. "If you don't know how to do this, you'll only slide out of control or fall on your face. The ground and other materials can only bear so much compression and shear stress with the energy used on this technique. It'll require more than just where your feet contact a surface" he said before he vanished and exploded the tree trunk. When he reappeared, he had his arms crossed over his chest. "You get what I'm saying?" he asked. They both nodded before he pointed at another group of trees. "Great, now I want you two to walk up to the top of those trees!" he said before he turned towards Shippo and frowned watching him stare at him again. "What?" he muttered.

Yumi gulped thinking that Akemi was going to unleash hell on them, but she relaxed and shivered hearing her tid bit of information. "He's too weak?" she muttered she thought for a moment when she used that pronoun. "He? Are you speaking of Master InuYasha?" she asked before she looked over at Akemi curiously. "Let her demon side stretch out? Is that a wise idea? Don't you remember what happened with Master InuYasha?" she asked. She did not know about Mika's blood and having spiritual powers in it like Keiko and Aiko's did. She did not understand this power could help make letting their demon side out be more stable and less likely to lose control.

The kids laughed and looked at each other. "He's protecting us!" a little one said. The twins both grinned at Rin's statement. "He's very well hidden" one said. "Too bad he's so powerful, and we can sense him" the other said. They all dispersed and roamed around the spring plucking herbs, which by this time, Sesshomaru came out of the shadows with his arms crossed over his chest. It was clear to her that something was bothering him, and he was acting strange since they got done cuddling in bed together.

"I believe I have something that can help you, Lady Asagi." Kurama's god side had retreated, as he had pushed back that very uneasy feeling that had brought it out in the first place. He had then turned and sensed the rising irritation from Asagi, and had decided to intervene before more people got pissed off. His idea for training really wasn't going to help that either, but there was no choice. When she walked over, he moved his right hand quickly, and an unseen energy slammed into her, making her slid across the ground. "Why did you do that?" Kurama's expression turned stony, as he raised his hand above his head. "It is not stress that brings out your power. Defend yourself!" He hit her again, seeming to watch dispassionately as she managed to turn slightly but still got slammed hard in the shoulder. To most it would look as if he was really trying to kill her, but he was careful not to actually hit her with too much power.

- - - - -

Marius stepped back at this point, his hands held tightly behind his back as he watched Mika carefully. The girl seemed to be really shaken, and he had to smother that old angry voice in the back of his mind. Akemi's posture stood up straighter, her spine going rigid as a post as her mind ran through several possibilities, but she closed her mind, quickly calming herself. "Sensomaru is still too weak. He will be looking for power, for answers. He does not know what has transpired over the years, so he must be heading there, thinking that... he is still there." She opened her eyes and looked at Mika. "If you are to stay here, you need to stop being a coward and let your demon side stretch out. Everyone will be needed when the time comes, and that means you as well."

- - - - -

Rin sat down the empty basket lined with a damp cloth and looked at the girls with a smile. "Yes." She took the thick cloth she had draped over her right arm and laid it out flat, sitting on her knees in the middle of it. "He isn't very good at sneaking around, is he?" She said with a light tone, laughing behind a hand. "Okay, everyone. There are many fresh water herbs here around the spring. Please bring me one herb each, and we will learn what each is called and what it can be used for."

Toga growled to himself and looked at the ground in anger after hearing what his sister said. "This guy is going towards the bone eater's well! He could use it to go into the future!" he shouted. InuGenki sighed heavily and closed his eyes understanding Toga's anxiety. "Toga, if he goes into the future, I'll exist there. I'm pretty sure that I'm a hell of a lot strong than him at that point in time as he is now" he said with confidence. "No, he's probably trying to locate the shikon no tama" he said.

Choumi smiled at Akemi and giggled to herself. "Oh my, we can't have her attacking someone" she said before she leaned back at against the pillow. She was extra quiet wanting to eavesdrop on the conversation. Yumi looked up at Akemi as she approached them, and she gulped seeing her face. "Um, Sensomaru's movements have somehow triggered this response from her. I believe that he is heading towards InuYasha's home...and where Sesshomaru's love interest lives" she said. Choumi poked her head out of the shoji and looked at them curiously. "I had a feeling that there was something going on between those two" she muttered.

The kids followed Rin to the springs, which they ranged from ages 5 to 13. Sango and Miroku's twin daughters both looked at her curiously. "Um, Lady Rin...Do you know that Lord Sesshomaru has been following us for a while now?" they asked. The kids looked around trying to spot him, but he was very well concealed. The twins were very good at sensing yoki, and they knew just were he was.

"Similarities..." She muttered to herself, turning her attention to father and son at the minor spat. Her head tilted to the side, and two small cold winds blew along the ground from by her feet, hitting Toga's back to break the tension, trying to get his attention turned towards her. "We don't know what he is doing. He could be going there for something simple, and non threatening. Why put yourself in danger against someone you know is too strong? Your father is right. Just calm down, okay?" Her voice at the end was soft with an undercurrent of irritation, as if daring him to continue on.

Akemi sat down the cup she had been drinking out of and looked to Choumi. "Please excuse me. The last time that girl's power came out, apparently she almost attacked someone." Walking calmly out of the room, she walked over and opened the door, stepping into the hallway before she really let her irritation show on her face. Finding the small group, she was going to say something but she paused, seeing the look that Mika's eyes, then turning her attention to Yumi. "What is going on?"

- - - - -

Rin sighed as they finally made it to a hidden fresh spring, one that she had found a few months ago. She looked behind her, making sure that the kids were behind her. "Here we go! We can learn about a bunch of good herbs here. Look, they really like to grow along the edge of the spring here. Make sure that you are careful when you are close to the water." With recent events, she had come up with the idea of teaching the children some useful stuff, mostly to give their parents a break.

Toki frowned watching Asagi, and she regretted poking fun at her. "Come on, you haven't even seen my brother's power. How can you be afraid of it?" she argued before she let out a heavy sigh. "Right then...I guess we're going to have to do things the long way" she muttered before she noticed her father and brother both looking towards the South. She overheard Kurama say something before InuGenki made another observation. "It seems like they are traversing the borderlands..." he muttered before his eyes narrowed. "They are not strong enough to face Sesshomaru directly" he said before Toga interrupted his muse. "What are you going to do father?" he asked. InuGenki looked over at him and sighed. "I can't do anything at the moment other than use your Grandmother as a medium to arrange a coalition" he said although he was clearly irritated at the situation. Toga stood up and growled. "Then I'll do something about it!" he shouted. InuGenki glared at him. "You will sit down, and you will train the Kitsune! You are in no condition to be fighting let alone make the trip!" His voice boomed. Toga clenched his fists and growled. Keiko looked between him and Aiko finding a similar personality trait in them that the brothers had. She knew that her father wanted to jump in and help, but she and Aiko did not dare to say anything else.

Yumi shivered to herself and gritted her teeth. "Lady Akemi!" she called out again.

Asagi looked at her, glancing down at her hands. Remembering the feeling that had caused that surge of power, and she laughed lightly, the sound tinged with nervousness. "Well... I could, but... I'd rather not be constantly reminded of how utterly terrifying your brother's power is... Although, that power seems to be brought out by stress. Maybe I can find a different trigger." She turned, planning on asking Kurama if Mika might be able to help them, but she clammed up quickly. The daiyoukai was turned towards the direction of Musashi province, his form in full god, the shimmering form of two massive spirit foxes curled around him. "On the move, but not alone. Headed for that village. Protected by mortals, powerful but not nearly powerful enough." He said in a low voice, the spirit foxes getting agitated, reflecting the emotions he kept hidden.

Mika closed her eyes, rocking slightly on her heels as she got control, shoving her power down deep. "What did you see?" She turned to see Marius standing there with a concerned look on his face, having felt the surge of power from her. "Death... and one young woman in a beautiful kimono, killing herself to keep up a barrier to protect the children of her home.

Toki took notice of Asagi's look of terror, and she herself was in disbelief of her father's power. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked. She reached over to touch Asagi's shoulder, and she smiled at her weakly. "Ummm...yea...Did mother ever tell you how powerful our family is?" she teased. She looked over at Toga and blushed thinking about how nervous his soon to be wife is about marrying into such a fine blood line. "Do you know what Asagi?" she asked before she turned to look at her. "I think that you'll be a great hanyou like Uncle InuYasha. We just got to hone in on your specialty, and I think we're finding it" she said before she held out her hands and grew ice claws. "Can you do this again?" she asked curiously.

Yumi followed behind her and smiled to her question. "I would say you know Lady Akemi all to well" she said before she beamed happily and closed her eyes. "Oh, you don't have to worry about your seal breaking. Things around here are always breaking...even seals. Nothing really surprises me anymore. Either it's some relic here, a demon sword there, or tiny jewel shards everywhere. The only thing that surprises me is how my father is able to handle a strong woman like Lady Akemi. He must spoil her a lot for her to not kill him for breaking things" she said before she trailed off. "Who? That Sensomaru guy?" she asked. She leaned over to check her seal. "Lady Akemi!" She called out in distress.

Asagi let out a shaky sigh as she stood to her feet, brushing herself off as the ice claws disappeared. A hand lay over her heart as she looked towards the two brothers, finding a small voice in the back of her mind screaming with a mortal terror, but she closed her eyes and quickly pushed the feeling into a dark place in her mind.

Mika scowled to a slow walk wgen she heard Yumi's voice, and she let out a light sigh. "Why do I get the impression that she will constantly hound my father because her daughter happens to be the mirror to his soul?" She muttered, but she jumped slightly, a blush on his face as she looked sideways at Yumi. "If I let you help me, please don't tell anyone what I said. I... kept getting bursts of my power past this seal on me, and apparently one of them is soul reading." She went to walk forward but she went rigid as her power surged again, and she literally fell into the wall, almost dropping the vase pieces. "Oh no.... No, no, this is bad! He's headed for that village!"