The bloody clouds that once covered the entirety of the Forest of Silence begin to disperse, finally revealing the warm sun and the naturally blue sky behind.
Thanks to the natural light now pouring down on the forest, you can see the horrible wounds it has suffered during the previous conflict.
Cuts tens of meters long, pools of blood slowly evaporating in the sunlight, slowly burning corpses and the remains of fallen trees.
"Lord Sesshōmaru, did you not?"
Pushing the corpses aside from where he passes by with his staff, Jaken, the green imp, makes a frightened face as a corpse has a postmortem movement and runs after Sesshōmaru.
"Quiet, Jaken. Stop hitting it already at once, can't you notice that it was just a movement because of the wind?"
Staring at poor Jaken as if he were a piece of trash, Sesshōmaru analyzes the remains of the battle with utter meticulousness, as if through it he could understand those who faced each other right there.
"Asahiko's power was highly reduced without the Clouded Fang at hand, besides those purification abilities..."
Moving lightly across the battlefield, Sesshōmaru is unaffected or untouched by any of the remnants here, almost as if he were walking on a different plane of existence.
"On the other hand Inuyasha is still waving his sword around like a log, even though he can naturally use Cutting Wind now."
"That's true master pretty, but he hasn't used that technique that defeated Ryukotsusei... Doesn't that mean he still can't control Steel Fang? Ahh, I don't mean he can control it at some point, since he never could, more that it's his late father's sword and"
Blurting out stupid things one after another and each time faster than the last, Jaken doesn't seem to notice the weariness in Sesshōmaru's gaze.
"Jaken!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, lord Sesshōmaru!
Falling to the ground in surprise, Jaken remains kneeling and begins to apologize erratically, though Sesshōmaru only asked him for silence, which he did not do.
Perhaps finally connecting his two neurons, Jaken puts his hands to his mouth and chokes on them, giving Sesshōmaru a pleading look with his big eyes.
"Lord Jaken, Lord Sesshōmaru!"
"What did I tell you, Rin."
"Ehh, but I didn't come alone, look, look, A-Un is with me!"
Frolicking among the corpses super excited, just as if she had eaten a whole bag of sugar, Rin, the girl following Sesshōmaru, lets out a laugh excited about her victory.
"Silly girl, how can you talk to Lord Sesshōmaru like that! A-Un you too, how could you let. Agh, let go of my head!"
"Let it go, let it go, A-Un!"
"But you stop pulling on my legs, you'll break me in two!"
Shouting from inside A-Un's mouth, Jaken tried to open the big dragon's mouth with his hands, though it was totally useless. On the other hand, Rin finds herself pulling his legs in order to get him out of there, but it doesn't seem to work either.
"Let it go already, A-Un."
"Grr!"
"Thank you so much for helping Lord Jaken, Lord Sesshōmaru!"
Totally exasperated at the girl's energy, Sesshōmaru just ignores her and moves on with his thoughts about the combatants of such a battle.
...Christopher/Asahiko pov...
"Shut the fuck up already!"
"Now it's Asahiko who's fighting with the sword?"
"I told them that swords are trouble, but no one believed me!"
Ignoring the idiots talking behind me, I watched Clouded Fang who was just smashed into a tree with critical eyes, before turning to talk to Saya.
"Because she's so... so... so energetic, Saya. Phew, I finally remembered the word."
Pointing to Clouded Fang who seems to be trembling, before he smashes her to the ground with a tail, he looked at Saya and waited for her response.
"Ehh... Well, you see, it's just that..."
"Speak at once!"
"The seal no longer exists, when Clouded Fang was free, took the opportunity to render it useless. Now it's just an empty shell that I use as a house, although the pod still retains its other skills"
Hitting Inuyasha who was laughing in the side, since this is obviously a problem, I retract my tail and hold up Clouded Fang.
"What will you do with that sword now, Asahiko? You want me to take care of it, I promise you a fair price, a good friend's price."
"Kagome, that greedy monk is drooling!"
"Your Excellency, have some decency, please."
Staring at Miroku like the greedy hunk he is, I think for a few seconds about punching him, though Sango takes it upon herself to put him back on the right path with just a glare.
"Shippo, what have I told you about imitating Asahiko or Inuyasha's examples? That's not done."
"It's not that I'm wrong, Kagome. That greedy Miroku doesn't look like a monk at all, only in clothes, when he has to swindle someone, and..."
Inuyasha couldn't finish his words as a massive pressure sends him crashing to the ground, thus leaving a crater with his form and Kagome slightly happier for having stopped little Shippo's corruption.
"I had already forgotten that winding you guys up is the worst thing anyone can do... Okay, let's go now. I want a clean bed, warm food and a roof over my head."
"Uwaa, you're right, I could really use a break. Dark priestesses, curses, crazy swords... This time it was too much in too short a time, even for us."
"OK, the group leader agrees with me, what, we all know you're her pet, Inuyasha. OK, group, everyone with me we're going to steal Kaede's house again."
Breaking Inuyasha's feelings, about his leadership, he raised his arm into the air and explained our noble goal to achieve.
Yes, I too have become a certified house squatter, now I care little for taking Kaede's food and space... Wow, how bad did that sound, really.
...Some time later...
The way back was looking like a big hassle, but thankfully Miroku's servant, the raccoon Hachi, waited for us at a safe distance from the conflict with Menōmaru.
With his much appreciated help the trip back passed like a breeze, that's the good thing about flying through the sky, you don't run into unwanted things let alone trouble.
"Inuyasha, no!"
"What, what, what happened!"
"Sorry, I was carrying on my internal monologue and I said there's no problem..."
Slowly turning his head with pure terror in his eyes, he crossed his eyes with Miroku, but that didn't reassure me at all... He literally has the same look of terror on his face.
"Asahiko what have you done! You're playing with higher forces that you can't even come to comprehend!"
"I know, but. No, screw it, there's no but here, I'm out of here!"
Trying to reach out to grab Clouded Fang who has been held by one of my tails, just that arm is grabbed and held, before two other arms grab me from my shoulders.
Swallowing saliva, I slowly turn my face and see that it's Kagome holding my arm, while my shoulders are grabbed by Sango. Luckily, wait, is Hitomiko also circling me.
"You won't leave us with the problem, will you Asahiko? We're friends."
"You called it, now you're going to take care of the new problem."
"Master Asahiko... I'm sorry, I'm going to have to be on your side."
What the hell, Hitomiko? You've only been with the group for a few days and you already believe in Inuyasha's aura of bad luck, through and through, have a little more confidence in the strong guy in the group, he really... Well, yeah, Inuyasha is a trouble caller.
"I don't attract trouble, they just show up, plus because no one seems to be on my side!"
"Don't say that, Inuyasha. It was just a joke, besides being at the center of trouble shows that you're important. Just like those manga protagonists I showed you in my time period."
"The ones in those cartoons? Heh, I knew it was awesome, you guys are just jealous."
Watching as Inuyasha scratched his head in a clearly confused manner, I could only remain mute at his words. Still this opens up two questions, is this guy illiterate, or was it the change in handwriting over time that left him clueless.
"Yes... From those drawings."
"Kagome has managed to calm him down, but at what cost."
"Wise words, Shippo. Very wise words indeed."
Nodding along with Miroku, Sango and the fox of the moment, Shippo, we stand watching the defeated Kagome who doesn't seem to want to talk anymore during the trip.