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Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the humanoid Murder that surrounded him, each a jumble of wings and talons and partial beaks save for one, who stood before him, poised and clad delicately in shimmering black feathers and flowing black silks. The leader, in turn, fixed his equally black eyes on the dog before him, amused that the creature had ventured this far into the Tengu territory.

"You are the one they call Lord Sesshoumaru of the Inu Clan, are you not?" He asked coolly.

Sesshoumaru nodded slightly.

"And you are Commander Hiken of the Tengu."

"Then we know each other. Wonderful. I do hope you've found my home...comfortable, despite the weather."

They were empty words, half-hearted gestures in keeping with the tenuous vestige of propriety they were all expected to maintain at first. Sesshoumaru mostly ignored them.

"It is my understanding that Tengu are both crafty and cunning creatures, similar to Kitsune in that you have a taste for riddles and the like. Have I been correctly informed?"

There was a round of caw-like laughter and Hiken chuckled.

"Something like that, yes, why do you ask? Have you a request of me and my people?"

Hiken's entire face pulled into a mocking grin.

"Or is it, rather, you've stumbled onto something your dull canid brain can't wrap itself around?"

There was another round of laughter. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and let the insult pass. It was juvenile, and he had things to accomplish here. Instead, he crossed his arms leisurely into his sleeves, maintaining his stoic expression.

"Seeing, but never seen; protected, but unknown by its protector."

"Hm. That's a good one, pup. Did you come up with it yourself?"

Sesshoumaru let his jyaki weigh down on them all as he narrowed his eyes once more at their master. Hiken cocked his head in a bird-like fashion, seeming to catch the hint. He blinked those glittering black eyes as he repeated the riddle back, all humor suddenly gone.

"It is ambiguous and with no context. What is it referring to?"

"You are either capable of parsing it or you are not; or am I mistaken in believing there is not a riddle or puzzle the Tengu can solve?"

Sesshoumaru allowed himself the subtle hint of a smile. Hiken pursed his lips.

"Our reputation is well earned, however, the more information we are given, the quicker we can give you an answer."

Sesshoumaru gauged his response carefully. "A location of interest to me."

"Location? You are certain?"

Sesshoumaru simply blinked at the needless question.

Hiken shrugged slightly. "If you're sure. Let us meditate on this for a time."

"How long do you require?"

Hiken smiled.

"We'll find you when we're finished."

Sesshoumaru did not much care for that answer but had no choice but to accept it for the moment. He left as silently as he had arrived, joining his traveling party shortly before sundown where he'd left them some miles away from the Tengu border.

"Milord! Milord! The staff!!"

Jaken squawked almost as soon as Sesshoumaru appeared.

"What of it?"

"It's changed position; the old man faces in a new direction once again!"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes yet again as he roused A-Un and settled into the saddle on his back.

"Then we shall travel that way. Where does it point?"

"Towards the Sheep-Monkey, my lord. We have yet to search there."

"Indeed."

'Someone is moving the tomb; why else would the staff change direction; but how does a gravesite move? Should it not be stationary? Perhaps this is one of father's tricks, a tactic to keep his resting place a secret from this Sesshoumaru. Determined, even in death, father, aren't you?'

***

1418 mid-Muromachi Period, Spring, Shanghai

Kintsuke gagged and coughed, her burning eyes squinting hard against the noxious fumes she could no longer endure and had not been able to neutralize. Fingers and hands going numb, she struggled to her haul herself out of the pit, ignoring her grandfather's amused chuckle as she flopped on the ground like a landed fish, gasping for air in a similar manner.

"Oh, oh yes, I was correct. This is very entertaining. Once more, Kintsuke, if you please, but like you mean it this time. You will not improve if you do not put everything you have behind your efforts."

She resisted the urge to shoot daggers at him with her eyes, focusing instead on recovering from her failed attempt to strengthen her blue and black flames. Her eyes still burned, watering horribly, her throat was dry, and ever so slowly she was regaining feeling in her extremities. This batch of miasma was particularly effective.

The creatures that spewed it looked harmless enough, almost cute; small and almost reptilian, but it was a deception. Three of the things skittered about at the bottom of the pit, filling themselves with air and spewing out more of the poisonous gas they required to live. As she watched them, still choking and sniffling, they seemed to give her taunting glances, their beady eyes glinting up at her.

'Don't get comfortable, you little shits, I am not giving up that easily.'

As soon as she was ready, she flexed her youki, testing how much she had left, and leaped back down into the pit. Blue and black flames billowed and swathed her in their harmless glow, eating away at the cloud of poison that now surrounded her. She was holding her own, barely keeping the fumes away and neutralizing the air around her so she could breathe and see, but again the creatures simply belched out more and she faltered, her flames flickering as they slowly died. Once more, she dragged herself out of the pit, gasping and hacking, her entire body tingling from the effects of the gases.

"Tch."

Her grandfather strode over, grabbing her by the back of her hanfu and tossing again into the pit.

"You're not thinking correctly," was the only hint he offered.

He stood at the edge, watching from above as Kintsuke landed hard on her side and again fell into a choking fit, quickly blinded as her eyes squeezed shut and watered.

The creatures skittered and chirped, quickly immersing her in a concentration of their fumes, and Kintsuke struggled to find the focus to push her fire out against it. Her fingertips sparked green; no, that wasn't right. They sparked purple; no, that wasn't it either! A faint blue flickered for a split second, and then again, lasting only as long as she had youki to spare.

She held the flames to her face, desperate for clean air, but those few seconds weren't enough. She was frantic now, out of fire, out of fuel, and she was starting to drown in the miasma. Her inner demon began to panic as she realized she was out of options. She might actually die here.

'No! There has to be a way; something, anything!'

Her arms and legs were unresponsive, tingling numbness creeping its way into her belly and shoulders, dangerously close to her heart. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the answer hit her, screaming just as loud as her inner demon was, desperate to save herself. She could see them in a way, feel the dancing bits of youki that permeated this gas. They resonated the same way the natural fires did, the power signatures almost like a song to her senses.

The answer struck her like lightning, and she cursed having taken so long to find it.

Everything was going dark, her head was swimming; she would beat herself up about it after she escaped. She smacked it on the floor of the pit, letting the pain bring her to focus just long enough to determine the major notes of the thrumming demonic energy around her and warp the last bits of her own that she could muster to resonate as close to opposite those 'notes'. Her eyes began bleeding red under their protective lids as she struggled, burning in a different manner as her fire escaped along the only channel it could find. Red became blue, jolting out desperately to ignite the miasma.

The last thing she saw was an explosion of her blue and black, the force slamming her against the side of the pit where she finally blacked out.