Master of the Winter part 4

She had to hurry. She didn't want to leave Sesshomaru on his own for too long, but she discovered the worst thing imaginable while they were separated. Meioshi was forever grateful for her spiritual connection with the Nameless General. Without him, she wouldn't have known that Heiwa was in grave danger. Riding her boat with firepower propelling it forward, Meioshi was racing to Heiwa with worry etched in her wild features. The green pheasant decided to wait until the second parallel point was opened; from there, he could either help Sesshomaru bring everyone to safety or help Meioshi battle the black wall demon. There! She spotted Heiwa's crystallized barrier. The village was still protected, but her estate was vulnerable to attack and Moeru and his family might've still been there. If Yuko and Ichi were taken away by the black wall demon, then something could have happened to them if they hadn't decided to stay in town.

Hopping off Genso Shushu-sen, Meioshi landed with a thump and used her Nether Dash to gain a burst of speed into the back entrance of her estate. Ichi was slashing at the barrier protecting the top of the cliff. Leaping from stone to stone near the waterfall of the pond, Meioshi made it to the base of the cobblestone stairs leading up to the cliff. Her estate seemed fine. No ice or fire damaged her home or clinic, so the black wall demon had only sensed Baohu qi Voluptatis in the hidden arsenal. He doesn't know how to get to it. Using Nether Dash again, Meioshi caught Ichi in the middle of a blunt swing and grabbed him at his waist before punching him with enhanced strength into the pond. This surprised him as he tried to catch some air by flailing about. When he remembered to swim, he rushed in his movements until a hand pulled him up and Meioshi threw him on the pond shore. Without missing a beat, she threw the Dai Fubuki blade at Ichi's head and rapidly formed a sign with her hands.

"Zanshin stage: exorcism of the first degree. Bind!" Meioshi ordered, activating divine power through the family crest. Her eyes became the lovely, glowing lavender and a symbol appeared in place of pupils. A glyph formed underneath Ichi and the Heavenly King of the South stabbed Ichi through the forehead with a spear. Ichi's eyes rolled in the back of his head and he started shaking violently. Meioshi then commanded, "Dai Fubuki, release!"

From the depths of his diaphragm, Ichi let out a powerful scream as the combined strength of the Heavenly King and the Dai Fubuki expelled the black wall demon from his being. A bright flash of light burst out of Ichi's body before a slithering glob of shadow snaked its way out of the bind and ran from Meioshi's estate. The doctor dismissed the Heavenly King of the South and waited for the Dai Fubuki blade to diminish in power. She walked across the pond's surface as though it were as firm as the earth and watched Ichi's eyes return to normal before fainting. Sealing away her divine power, her own eyes returned to normal before she let out a labored breath and fell to her knees on Ichi's side. She used too much for a sample size of the black wall demon's power, but the binding strength that lingered in that piece might be enough to weaken him further. Like Baohu qi Voluptatis, the Heavenly King of the South was somewhat parasitic as he was a slow killer for demons. Draining the black wall demon was a worthy taste of his own medicine.

Uncertain if she had the strength to carry Ichi, Meioshi crawled over to the man and inspected any lingering fragments of his possessor. He seemed alright. The doctor picked herself up and used her remaining strength to drag Ichi into her home to rest in the lounging room. She crawled over to a candle with char in the bottom of the cup and dipped her fingers in it. Regaining some of her breath, she calmed down a bit before drawing a symbol on Ichi and speaking an incantation of protection for him. When his body was surrounding by healing light and wind, she turned to the cliff and narrowed her eyes.

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Yuko stopped running for a moment to catch her breath. Her chest was pounding from the hard beating of her heart. She didn't wait for Jaken to decide on what he was going to do, so she followed her instincts and went to find the wolf. Meioshi's shimenawa trail was a very distinctive feature for this unknown prison. One of the sprites that Meioshi frequently worked with during the nights at the clinic must have brought it here to purify the area. Yuko just had to find one of them. Leaning on a pine tree, Yuko looked around and took notice to light pouring in and someone else losing his or her breath trying to run through this dense landscape of forest.

"Doctor!" the voice called. "Doctor!"

"Is that...?" Yuko questioned, eyes widening. Someone was calling for Meioshi? She gained a second wind and jogged to the voice. Yuko then responded, "Little wolf? Little wolf? It's me! Yuko!"

"Yuko?" the voice called.

A little ball of sunlight came in Yuko's direction, blinding her to the point of needing to block out the strong rays. She slowly proceeded to walk, feeling around for other trees so she could know where she was going, and felt hands grabbing at her yukata. The light covered her entire body in warmth and Yuko slowly opened her eyes when she heard sniffling. Someone was crying on her. She looked down and saw a little girl with deep brown hair reaching the middle of her neck clutching onto her. Yuko quickly dropped to her knees and embraced the girl with relief.

Yuko then asked, "Little wolf, is that you?"

The little girl looked up and blinked her light brown eyes before nodding in response. She then said, "Yuko, I'm scared. I can't find the doctor. All I have is the sun."

Yuko looked down, gasped brightly at the trinket, and said, "She's protecting you, little wolf! I knew she wouldn't give up! That little sun houses her strongest barrier. It'll keep you safe as long you keep it with you. Don't give up on her just yet, little wolf. She's with you even though you can't see her."

"I'm sorry, Yuko," the little girl said, making Yuko worried. She wasn't about to do anything drastic, was she? The girl then said, "I didn't mean to scare you before. Honest."

Yuko smiled gently at the girl and hugged her. She then said softly, "It's okay. I only wanted to help you. I lost someone once, too. The doctor helped me back then, and she wants to help you now. We'll find her together."

"ACK!" a familiar voice screamed.

Yuko furrowed her brow in confusion until she realized, "That sounds like Jaken! Jaken! Come on, little wolf. We might be able to use the barrier to protect him, too."

"But that mean man tried to hurt you!" the little wolf argued, tightening her grip on Chen-bi. "You didn't trust Jaken either!"

"Believe me, I don't want to help them either," Yuko started, shaking her head at herself for saying what she's about to say, "but Meioshi would never forgive me if I let him be hurt. I'm taking the oath of medicine soon. As nurses, we've sworn to ensure the well-being of others regardless of what we feel about them. He's a living creature, so I'll protect him. It's my duty and hers."

The little wolf gasped at this, blushed, and then looked down at her feet. Such a pure heart. She then said, "But... I'm not a living creature. Why's she protecting me? Why was she so nice to me?"

"She helps spirits find peace, little wolf," Yuko replied, kneeling in front of the girl. "Her oath of medicine as a doctor is more advanced than mine. She helps both the living and the dead because very few people, if any, will. A lot of people see her work as bad luck, especially for a young lady, but I think she's the luckiest of all. She wouldn't be as strong as she is if she lived her life believing she's nothing but bad luck or a danger to everyone else."

The little wolf was silent at this for a moment. She smiled a little before saying, "I wanted to be strong like her... when I saw her in the Land of Ice. The cold didn't bother her. She likes snow. She plays in it, knowing it can hurt her, but smiles. She had such a warm, pretty smile even though the snow was sharp enough to cut her gloves. She wasn't angry or scared. How come she was so happy in such a dark place? Even when I chased her away, she wasn't scared of me. She was only afraid when she fell in the lake. Even then, it was only for a moment. It was like she remembered that she had something more important to do. She couldn't let her fall be the end. She had to survive to see things through. I felt it when she held me up in the sky. All those soul carriers going to heaven waved at her and said her name. They were nice to me, too. Riding her boat and seeing the world again... felt safe. I could actually sleep again... like I did before... and when I woke up... the doctor was there showing me a different thing or place. Does she always smile like that, Yuko?"

Yuko smiled gently at the girl and answered with a nod, "I call it the smile of grace. No matter how dangerous or scary something is to her, she has to find something great about it. Something that she can learn from or see the good in. If you knew her story the way I do, you'd think she'd never smile again. You'd think she'd never laugh again. You might even wonder if she'll someday lose sight of her oath, but she finds three more reasons to stand back up and keep going for every time someone brings her down. It's not about being positive, even though that's a great quality, or about pushing the inevitable away or even being stubborn. She feels, accepts, understands, and releases herself from suffering. That's where her strength comes from: the transition. It's the same way I believe you were able to hold that sword. You chose to fight the same way she chooses to fight. So, what will it take for you to smile again, little wolf?"

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Sesshomaru caught the scent of the Netherworld's burning and Jaken's skin being singed. A violent scream rang out in the distance following after. Gritting his teeth and furrowing his brow, he picked up his flying speed to get to him. He wound up returning to the sea of hills, which were now moving slowly, but noticed that a torii gate was visible and a scroll with people trapped in the paper confines was stretched into a dome to outline the walls of some sort of tunnel. Landing near the hills, Sesshomaru was nearly struck by the black wall demon, who had now taken to the sky, and unsheathed Bakusaiga to block another downward strike from above. Much to his dread, the black wall demon punctured through the scroll and tunnel walls to let out a fierce attack, but the hit immediately rendered Jaken breathless from impact and left him at the mercy of the black wall demon's mental invasion. He let out another scream from the tunnel.

"Lord... Sesshomaru..." Jaken called out helplessly from the darkness.

Eyes burning red and teeth bared, Sesshomaru ground out, "You will regret this!"

"Is that so, son of the Great General?" the black wall demon questioned, chuckling darkly. A large mouth opened in the sky and breathed out heated air through a twisted smile. He then said, "I would have thought you'd be a little quicker on your feet after our last encounter. That sword won't work against me on its own. Where is my beauty? Tired of you already?"

"Quiet!" Sesshomaru growled, striking at one of the tethering arms connected to the sky. "You and her can go to hell together!"

The black wall demon merely chuckled at Sesshomaru's anger-fueled attack and absorbed the poisonous yoki energy. It then said, "You just love testing my patience, don't you? Well, let me try to explain this once again. Your sword can't pierce my body. I devour the energies of swords forged in the living world, and... I can use those very same energies to return fire."

Another blood-curdling scream was ripped out of the imp as his body had been burned with Sesshomaru's own poison. Unbeknownst to the western lord, the black wall demon was waiting for Sesshomaru to unleash another attack. The more harm done to Jaken, the closer it was to possessing both him and Sesshomaru. He just needed the youngster to fall for the bait. Summoning blackened arrows from the ground, the black wall demon watched as Sesshomaru summoned a huge amount of yoki power in the form of a blue dragon. Yes! Do it, fool! Readying attacks on both ends, Sesshomaru and the black wall demon released their energies to collide.

"Sesshomaru! Don't!"

Feeling a feminine body rush at him and covering his back, Sesshomaru turned to see Meioshi getting hit with arrows in the back. She let out a pained scream before stretching the expanse of her torso in a taut arch. Confused, Sesshomaru could only watch the doctor place a hand on his armor while the other arm covered his back.

She glared at the demon before saying, "It's a trap!"