fic: Under the Cherry Blossoms
Chapter 3
a/n: Ryn and Vexx are playful creatures...
Ryn and Vexx's little tiff slowly died down into playful biting and growling, until the dragon's need for sleep caught up with her. With a jaw-cracking yawn, she lazily pinned the winged man under her much larger body. A rumbling purr started in her chest and she sleepily nuzzled his face. Slowly she rolled over carrying Vexx with her to rest in the grasp of her arms.
Cuddling him close, Ryn entangled her foretalons in his silky black hair. A grin appeared on her muzzled as her jade green eyes locked on the amused Kenshin. Gently untangling one of her talons, she held it out to her newest friend gesturing him to join in her sleepy cuddling.
"Kenshin..." she murmured happily when he complied with her silent offer.
With a quirky smile, Kenshin sat down near the Guardian's head. He watched as she pulled Vexx even closer as if the winged man was her personal stuffed doll. Kenshin listened closely as she started to speak softly.
"The voices of the Sakuras are growing quieter in my head. Where they were once loud roars, now they are gentle whispers slowly fading into occasional murmurs."
"Huh? What does that mean, Ryn?" Vexx asked as he raised his head to looked at the adverted face of his childhood friend. As he waited, he stretched out his wings. One wing covered and rested on Kenshin's lap.
Also waiting, Kenshin reached out one hand to pet the Guardian's soft head fur and the other to stroke the wing in his lap.
"The permanent Guardian has been chosen." she replied with another yawn, "And Papa is bringing him or her to the forest within the next few days."
"That's a good thing, right?" asked the former assassin.
"Yes, it is. My duties as a temporary Guardian is coming to an end. Soon, I'll be able to roam like I did before. All the Sakura forests of Japan have their Guardians, be they temporary or permanent." she murmured sleepily, "Which means... I will no longer be tightly bound to the trees. I'll have some ties but not as strong as they were in the beginning of my reign as Guardian."
"Very good thing then." Vexx rumbled with a sly smile on his face, which Kenshin saw, "That means you won't have to be so violent now!"
"I'll show you violent!" was Ryn's unamused growl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Obsidian black eyes stared at the odd pack in amusement, he could hardly believe what he had just been told.
"So... Let's see if I get this right." Amun Kai said, "You came here looking for the Shikon no Shards, but not to challenge the Guardian. Then Miss-I-don't-need-to-heed-warnings decided to touch a tree to prove that nothing would happen! Idiot Girl!!!"
"Hey!" Kagome cried out in protest.
"Shut up, child!" he snarled, "Do you know that your stupidity would have cost all of your pack their lives also?! Cause if you had succeeded in touching the Grandmother, she wouldn't have been satisfied with only your bloody corpse hanging from her limbs!!"
The young miko gasped in disbelief. "You mean that the Guardian would have killed not only me but also my friends! Just because I would have been the only one to touch her precious Sakura!? That's not right or fair! To punish all for just one person's deeds!"
The lion morph looked up as if he was asking for divine guidance. Then he looked down to glare at the airhead only ten feet away from him. "Didn't I just tell you to shut up! Don't try to argue what is right and wrong when the 'laws' of the forest is made by the trees themselves. The Guardian is just the enforcer and protector of the trees. She enforces these 'laws'. She undertakes the duties the trees ask of her. Her job is to protect and enforce her charges' laws until their permanent protector/caregiver/enforcer arrives. The Guardian does what she has to do."
Kagome opened her mouth to argue some more with the big male, but found her mouth being blocked by Inuyasha's hand. She tried to pull back, and couldn't because of the hanyou's other hand holding her by the shoulder. Her blue eyes glared angrily into cold unforgiving gold.
It had taken Inuyasha some time to recover from the near hit. Briefly, he had ignored everyone, he grabbed Tesseiga and sheath it. Silently, he had said a brief thank you to his father's fang. The hanyou had tuned in right in time to catch the ending of Kagomes's short speech of fairness. He rushed to her during Amun Kai's speech. Evidently, she hadn't notice his approach until his hand was covering her mouth. Staring her down, he lamented in his mind on how completely different and similar she was to Kikyo. Some times, both didn't know when to say die.
Still seeing her angry defiance, he gave the future miko a little shake. "Do NOT say another word, Kagome. Especially about matters that are greatly different from the views and customs of your future time. This is Feudal Japan and you'd best remember that. Our customs and view are what the are."
Feeling the eyes of the rest of his pack burning into his back, the hanyou released the young female from his grasp. He knew by the way she still glared at him, that she didn't understand. He also knew that he was going to get an earful when she corners him alone. He did find himself lucky when she didn't immediately 'sit' him.
"Well, now..." said Amun Kai amused by the way the young hanyou handled the miko, "You do know that the sooner you find the shards, the sooner you can leave the Sakura forest. That would be the best thing for all of you, cause I have a feeling that the longer you people stay the greater the danger and trouble you'll be in."
"What do you suggest, Amun-san?" Miroku asked when it seemed like Inuyasha was still caught in the glare-off with Kagome.
"Take you to the Guardian, of course." Amun Kai grinned fiercely when his words caused the monk to pale, "Guardian-sama knows exactly where the shards are and she can retrieve them with no trouble at all."
"I was afraid you were going to say that!" gasped the monk.
The King of all Cats threw back his head and let loose a roar of a laugh. He couldn't wait for Ryn to meet this strange pack. Sobering up at that thought, he stopped laughing. Maybe he could wait. There was no telling how she'd react to the untrained miko readily voiced views. But he had to do what was best...for all of them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vexx suffered the gentle swat to his head. He was secure in knowledge of her affection for him. Feeling the strong furry arm around him start to relax its grip, he knew that Ryn had finally given into her need for sleep once again. Once he heard the first quiet snore, he slowly inched his way out of her lax grasp. With abated breath, he watched her roll over to her side facing away from him and Kenshin.
Kenshin was the silent observer to the trust and affection the dragon and the winged man held for each other. He watched as the ebony haired man gently ran a hand through the thick fur on the Guardian's neck.
"How long have you and the Guardian known each other?" he asked Vexx out of the curiosity that had been around since he had met the two.
"Heh, good question. Me and Ryn known each other for what seemed to be since forever." Vexx replied in a soft reminiscing voice, "We grew up together. Hell, we were raised together."
"Really?!"
"Yeah, really. Did you know that Ryn is actually older than me by two years?" Vexx grinned, "I'm practically her little brother!"
If Kenshin had been standing up he would have sat down at that. By the way they both act around each other and him, he had thought they were either the same age or that Vexx was the elder of the two. "I thought it was the other way around!"
Vexx chuckled, "Nah... I'm her Big Little Brother Vexxian."
After Vexx stopped petting the young dragon, he turned to face Kenshin. He studied the usually silent red head. It was no secret that he found the other man attractive. He didn't try to make it a secret either. He had let Kenshin know about his attraction for the slighter male. Pretty sure that his advances and innuendoes flustered the red head, didn't keep Vexx from pursuing the ex-assassin.
Kenshin had looked away for only a moment, pondering about having a long friendship like Ryn and Vexx shared. Feeling heated eyes wandering over his slim form, he looked directly at the source, Vexx. His body tingled at the profound desire he was subjected to by those burning yellow-orange orbs. His mouth went dry as he found himself being enthralled by that burning desire. Kenshin never had that emotion directed at him so powerfully and fervently. It made him want to melt.
"Stop it!" Kenshin huskily cried out.
"Stop what?" Vexx asked. His head tilted slightly to the right, and his eyes never leaving the violet orbs of his obsession.
"Stop looking at me like that!" the violet eyed man nearly whimpered as the eyes only burned hotter.
Kenshin visibly shivered as a predatory smile graced Vexx's face. Barely controlling the urge to fling himself either towards or away, Kenshin helplessly stared into the eyes of his predator.
"How am I staring at you, Kenshin?" Vexx asked with a low growl in his voice.
"...like you're going to swallow me whole!"
"Maybe... I will..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kenshin: Eep!! Wake up, Ryn! Protect me from the hungry Vexx!
Vexx: *leers* She can't hear you, Kenshin-chan! *purrs* I put earplugs in her ears.
Behave, Vexxian! *smacks him on the back of the head with a rolled up newspaper*
Vexx: *rumbs head and pouts*
Kenshin: Thank you, Wulfy!
a/n: Ryn and Vexx are playful creatures...
Ryn and Vexx's little tiff slowly died down into playful biting and growling, until the dragon's need for sleep caught up with her. With a jaw-cracking yawn, she lazily pinned the winged man under her much larger body. A rumbling purr started in her chest and she sleepily nuzzled his face. Slowly she rolled over carrying Vexx with her to rest in the grasp of her arms.
Cuddling him close, Ryn entangled her foretalons in his silky black hair. A grin appeared on her muzzled as her jade green eyes locked on the amused Kenshin. Gently untangling one of her talons, she held it out to her newest friend gesturing him to join in her sleepy cuddling.
"Kenshin..." she murmured happily when he complied with her silent offer.
With a quirky smile, Kenshin sat down near the Guardian's head. He watched as she pulled Vexx even closer as if the winged man was her personal stuffed doll. Kenshin listened closely as she started to speak softly.
"The voices of the Sakuras are growing quieter in my head. Where they were once loud roars, now they are gentle whispers slowly fading into occasional murmurs."
"Huh? What does that mean, Ryn?" Vexx asked as he raised his head to looked at the adverted face of his childhood friend. As he waited, he stretched out his wings. One wing covered and rested on Kenshin's lap.
Also waiting, Kenshin reached out one hand to pet the Guardian's soft head fur and the other to stroke the wing in his lap.
"The permanent Guardian has been chosen." she replied with another yawn, "And Papa is bringing him or her to the forest within the next few days."
"That's a good thing, right?" asked the former assassin.
"Yes, it is. My duties as a temporary Guardian is coming to an end. Soon, I'll be able to roam like I did before. All the Sakura forests of Japan have their Guardians, be they temporary or permanent." she murmured sleepily, "Which means... I will no longer be tightly bound to the trees. I'll have some ties but not as strong as they were in the beginning of my reign as Guardian."
"Very good thing then." Vexx rumbled with a sly smile on his face, which Kenshin saw, "That means you won't have to be so violent now!"
"I'll show you violent!" was Ryn's unamused growl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Obsidian black eyes stared at the odd pack in amusement, he could hardly believe what he had just been told.
"So... Let's see if I get this right." Amun Kai said, "You came here looking for the Shikon no Shards, but not to challenge the Guardian. Then Miss-I-don't-need-to-heed-warnings decided to touch a tree to prove that nothing would happen! Idiot Girl!!!"
"Hey!" Kagome cried out in protest.
"Shut up, child!" he snarled, "Do you know that your stupidity would have cost all of your pack their lives also?! Cause if you had succeeded in touching the Grandmother, she wouldn't have been satisfied with only your bloody corpse hanging from her limbs!!"
The young miko gasped in disbelief. "You mean that the Guardian would have killed not only me but also my friends! Just because I would have been the only one to touch her precious Sakura!? That's not right or fair! To punish all for just one person's deeds!"
The lion morph looked up as if he was asking for divine guidance. Then he looked down to glare at the airhead only ten feet away from him. "Didn't I just tell you to shut up! Don't try to argue what is right and wrong when the 'laws' of the forest is made by the trees themselves. The Guardian is just the enforcer and protector of the trees. She enforces these 'laws'. She undertakes the duties the trees ask of her. Her job is to protect and enforce her charges' laws until their permanent protector/caregiver/enforcer arrives. The Guardian does what she has to do."
Kagome opened her mouth to argue some more with the big male, but found her mouth being blocked by Inuyasha's hand. She tried to pull back, and couldn't because of the hanyou's other hand holding her by the shoulder. Her blue eyes glared angrily into cold unforgiving gold.
It had taken Inuyasha some time to recover from the near hit. Briefly, he had ignored everyone, he grabbed Tesseiga and sheath it. Silently, he had said a brief thank you to his father's fang. The hanyou had tuned in right in time to catch the ending of Kagomes's short speech of fairness. He rushed to her during Amun Kai's speech. Evidently, she hadn't notice his approach until his hand was covering her mouth. Staring her down, he lamented in his mind on how completely different and similar she was to Kikyo. Some times, both didn't know when to say die.
Still seeing her angry defiance, he gave the future miko a little shake. "Do NOT say another word, Kagome. Especially about matters that are greatly different from the views and customs of your future time. This is Feudal Japan and you'd best remember that. Our customs and view are what the are."
Feeling the eyes of the rest of his pack burning into his back, the hanyou released the young female from his grasp. He knew by the way she still glared at him, that she didn't understand. He also knew that he was going to get an earful when she corners him alone. He did find himself lucky when she didn't immediately 'sit' him.
"Well, now..." said Amun Kai amused by the way the young hanyou handled the miko, "You do know that the sooner you find the shards, the sooner you can leave the Sakura forest. That would be the best thing for all of you, cause I have a feeling that the longer you people stay the greater the danger and trouble you'll be in."
"What do you suggest, Amun-san?" Miroku asked when it seemed like Inuyasha was still caught in the glare-off with Kagome.
"Take you to the Guardian, of course." Amun Kai grinned fiercely when his words caused the monk to pale, "Guardian-sama knows exactly where the shards are and she can retrieve them with no trouble at all."
"I was afraid you were going to say that!" gasped the monk.
The King of all Cats threw back his head and let loose a roar of a laugh. He couldn't wait for Ryn to meet this strange pack. Sobering up at that thought, he stopped laughing. Maybe he could wait. There was no telling how she'd react to the untrained miko readily voiced views. But he had to do what was best...for all of them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vexx suffered the gentle swat to his head. He was secure in knowledge of her affection for him. Feeling the strong furry arm around him start to relax its grip, he knew that Ryn had finally given into her need for sleep once again. Once he heard the first quiet snore, he slowly inched his way out of her lax grasp. With abated breath, he watched her roll over to her side facing away from him and Kenshin.
Kenshin was the silent observer to the trust and affection the dragon and the winged man held for each other. He watched as the ebony haired man gently ran a hand through the thick fur on the Guardian's neck.
"How long have you and the Guardian known each other?" he asked Vexx out of the curiosity that had been around since he had met the two.
"Heh, good question. Me and Ryn known each other for what seemed to be since forever." Vexx replied in a soft reminiscing voice, "We grew up together. Hell, we were raised together."
"Really?!"
"Yeah, really. Did you know that Ryn is actually older than me by two years?" Vexx grinned, "I'm practically her little brother!"
If Kenshin had been standing up he would have sat down at that. By the way they both act around each other and him, he had thought they were either the same age or that Vexx was the elder of the two. "I thought it was the other way around!"
Vexx chuckled, "Nah... I'm her Big Little Brother Vexxian."
After Vexx stopped petting the young dragon, he turned to face Kenshin. He studied the usually silent red head. It was no secret that he found the other man attractive. He didn't try to make it a secret either. He had let Kenshin know about his attraction for the slighter male. Pretty sure that his advances and innuendoes flustered the red head, didn't keep Vexx from pursuing the ex-assassin.
Kenshin had looked away for only a moment, pondering about having a long friendship like Ryn and Vexx shared. Feeling heated eyes wandering over his slim form, he looked directly at the source, Vexx. His body tingled at the profound desire he was subjected to by those burning yellow-orange orbs. His mouth went dry as he found himself being enthralled by that burning desire. Kenshin never had that emotion directed at him so powerfully and fervently. It made him want to melt.
"Stop it!" Kenshin huskily cried out.
"Stop what?" Vexx asked. His head tilted slightly to the right, and his eyes never leaving the violet orbs of his obsession.
"Stop looking at me like that!" the violet eyed man nearly whimpered as the eyes only burned hotter.
Kenshin visibly shivered as a predatory smile graced Vexx's face. Barely controlling the urge to fling himself either towards or away, Kenshin helplessly stared into the eyes of his predator.
"How am I staring at you, Kenshin?" Vexx asked with a low growl in his voice.
"...like you're going to swallow me whole!"
"Maybe... I will..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kenshin: Eep!! Wake up, Ryn! Protect me from the hungry Vexx!
Vexx: *leers* She can't hear you, Kenshin-chan! *purrs* I put earplugs in her ears.
Behave, Vexxian! *smacks him on the back of the head with a rolled up newspaper*
Vexx: *rumbs head and pouts*
Kenshin: Thank you, Wulfy!