No Time For Reflection! It seemed like Inuyasha would never wake up! They had already slept until noon after dragging into town from the battles with their siblings, and the big lug-head was still asleep! Dodgers sulked, each ear peeling back as annoyed yellow eyes stared down at the lump of red sleeping on the floor in the middle of the soulless humans. The anxious young fox tailed adventurer then skipped outside, letting each thick soled boot slap loudly against the ground and the leather straps and belts clank against rusty buckles. The villagers, however, didn't look quite so impressed with the youth's spunk, and stared with suspicious eyes. Mouth shortening, ears folding to either side insultedly, the kid hooked each thumb into that thick belt and dragged both feet along the ground with head lowered, staring off from under the shade of deep silvery bangs.
That was when Dodgers came across a stair leading up a hill to a more important looking structure, it's roof was shingled and very steep, climbing to a tall peak, not like the thatch roofs of the peasant houses. Turning an ear away from the strange mumblings of the peasants, the kid proceeded to skip right on up the stairs and into the building. It had an alter in the rear, must have been a place of gathering, though it was empty at the time. Other then that, it didn't look very interesting. Those scrawny shoulders rose and fell with a deep sigh as an empty yellow gaze lifted and traveled along the walls of the small enclosure, dispassionately glancing over the hanging scrolls with weird markings all over them. Feet and tail dragging along the wooden floor, the kid shuffled slowly up to one in particular, for no apparent reason other then to stare blankly at it and the cloud picture above it.
Dodgers hadn't even paid attention to the time, but definitely paid attention when a raucous, older voice spoke from over the kid's shoulder causing that yellow gaze to lift up to the time worn features of a woman's face, a patch wrapped around her head to cover one eye, "Ye are interested in this village's story of Susano-oh?"
Staring at the upside-down face, the kid lifted each brow as high as they'd go then blinked, "Huh? Is this the weather forecast or sumthin'?" turning to look back at the scrolls, a gloved finger pointed at the cloud and thunder bolt above the hanging scroll. "No, child. But I suppose ye cannot read our writings; ye are from distant lands by the looks of ye. This scroll tells of how once the wandering God Susano-oh No Mikoto came to this very village long long ago."
The old woman knelt down a little bit as if to situate herself for story time, and the kid watched her and stooped to a sit upon the floor at her feet letting that fluffy tail curl up just as each ear slid forward, proof that the child was listening.
"Once, this village was terrorized by a great demon of fire. The season before, there had been a great flood from many storms, and much of the village had been destroyed. The people blamed the chaotic God Susano-oh and spoke much ill of him. During the dry months, the village had been rebuilt and the floods forgotten, that was when the fire demon came and set the fields and houses ablaze. But upon chance, the Brave, Swift, Impetuous Susano-oh had wandered near by. He traveled on the winds under his feet and witnessed the people screaming in terror, emptying their wells in vain during their weak attempts to fight the fire demon, the same people who had spoke much ill of him and hurt his pride," her voice was grim to match her stern face. Dodgers' mouth shortened, eyes widening like twin full moons as that hero-instinct took over and that youthful outdoors voice shouted in response, "But, Miss Old Woman! What did he do, if he was so brave? He should hurry up and save everybody!"
Her one eye squint a little bit as if the kid's voice had hurt her ears, and she lifted one hand and motioned for the child to hush, "Patience, young fox, let me tell ye the tale in my own time!" Each eye crossed and the kid slumped forward, wrapping each arm and tail around knobby knees pulled up against that scrawny chest, "All right all right . . . "
"Susano-oh was baffled by this, unsure of what he should do for he knew his powers were very destructive. But he looked up into the smoky sky and saw his sister Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun, shining even through the rising clouds of smoke and bright glare of fires. By this sign, he became very excited and happy to help. The winds became strong, and it looked to the people as if Susano-oh was feeding the fires with them. They all cried to him, remembering how he had flooded their village earlier, and felt that he was punishing them for speaking ill of him. But then the earth shook with great bolts of thunder, and the sky darkened with gathering clouds. The Brave-Swift-Impetuous Male had unsheathed his great sword Ama no Murakumo Tsurugi, and as he did, the rains began. The clouds above were fed by the steam and smoke once the water fell upon the flames as if in struggling combat for dominance, just as Susano-oh faced the demon the same way. His stormy nature, sporadic attack, and the power of his great sword blew out the flame of the demon and in a whirlwind, he sent it's remains away. On that wind, the smoke and cloud cleared and the villagers beheld their fields and village to be safe and damp, their crops drinking in the rain thankfully and their wells were refilled. The ash had been washed away by the great winds and rain that Susano-oh used to defeat the demon, and the lands were now left clean."
Dodgers then nodded with approval, knees pressed against the ground and the soles of each boot pressed together as the kid leaned forward to listen intensely, "What a noble thing to do! He really sounds like my kinda guy! He still around? I'll have to look him up sometime!" with this comment, each ear peeled back mischievously in the same manner that an older kid might snickeringly tease a younger one about Santa Claus.
"The gods show themselves to those they choose, it is not up to ye, young fox. But we keep this scroll here to remind ourselves that although Susano-oh No Mikoto might be chaotic and unpredictable, he still cares for the people of the world and helps us in his own way. And because of how long and intently ye had been staring at this particular scroll, I took it upon myself to read it to ye," here, the old woman cumbersomely stood up and turned her gaze to the entrance, "Now, we must awaken Inuyasha, must we not?"
But the kid's face had wandered off once more to stare at the cloud illustrated scroll, staring at the jumble of markings drawn all over the paper, and that youthful voice was distant and quieter then before, "But that still doesn't explain why he had to look up at the sun to make his decision, I mean . . . shouldn't it have been obvious what the right choices was? I mean, I wouldn't have hesitated."
She turned once more, and regarded the child more gently, speaking with soft yet hard-earned wisdom, "Amaterasu is an inspiration to us all. Her shining light is full of wisdom, and her brother Susano-oh knew this more than any of us for once he hid her light from the world because of his impetuousness."
One ear swiveled around to face the old woman and the kid looked through the corner of one eye suspiciously, "Wait a second, how is that possible?"
"One day, Susano-oh went to visit his sister Amaterasu to gaze upon her inspiring light, but his steps were thunder, and his approach was a hurricane. She became frightened from the terrible noise he made and, thinking he was a threat to her, she greeted him coldly with a weapon at hand. When she did not welcome her brother as graciously as he had hoped, he became enraged and scolded his sister terribly with great storms causing her to hide in her home, and even then his temper was so great he threw a horse into her sewing room where some say, a close friend of hers became so frightened she fell dead from shock. In despair, fear, and frustration from the temper of her brother, Amaterasu hid herself in a cave and blocked it's entrance plunging the world into darkness for a short time. The other gods coaxed her out, but Susano-oh was forever in shame and left the heavens to wander the earth for he knew it was his own fault for his quick temper."
Suddenly, each arm folded over the kid's scrawny chest, face lowering until both eyes were shaded by those deep silver bangs and Dodgers pouted a bit, lower lip protruding slightly and voice deepening as much as it could, "Hmph! I don't think that's how it went at all!" Tilting her head slightly, wondering how this young whelp could feel so offended by a tale told about gods, the old woman turned to the child once more, "Oh? And how would ye tell the tale?"
"Uhh . . . " here, one ear loosened and fell to the side of the kid's head, sounding to be suddenly at a loss. Then, one boot stretched out as far as it could and the child stepped past the old woman and towards the exit, back turned towards her, "What I mean is, it's really very silly to believe it is all! I mean, why worry what these gods do anyway? The sun doesn't need anybody to direct it! It rises and falls all on it's own!" sounding quite offended at the whole idea, the kid stepped outside, dim yellow gaze lifting until it met the sky. The sun overhead was bright and warm, inspirational indeed, but was soon shrouded in a soft fluff of cloud looking quite cozy and comfortable there in it's cottony bed. Remaining there in the doorway, the kid's face lowered again as each ear folded backwards hearing the old woman's approach and that loud, youthful voice sang out once more, "So, old woman! What's this about Inuyasha? We'd better get to it, lazy dog's been sleeping all day, heh! And I've yet to know who you are, it must be rude of me to address you as old woman all the time!" Dodgers admit honestly.
"Aye, 'tis quite rude," she agreed with just as much honesty, "I am the priestess Kaede, sister to Kikyo. And I know much of the goings-on between Inuyasha and my dead sister. It seems ye samurai friend has fallen along with Kagome and the others to the same symptoms that have been striking many villages near here."
As one ear lifted, standing as tall as it could twisted backwards, the kid's head slowly turned to save it the trouble. Looking up at Kaede with much sincerity and seriousness, the kid nodded once then fell into a respective bow, taking her hand and planting a formal kiss upon it before unfolding to a stand once more and staring up to her, "I am Captain Tristan Mitsukaru Alaren Faris Artemis 'Fox' Dodgers, at your service and the service of our mutual friend Inuyasha and company. As interested as I am to know why the warrior Inuyasha has befriended the sister of our enemy, I admit I'm more curious to know what you mean by these symptoms! Perhaps you should fill me in, Lady Kaede, while our friends sleep so that I may know more about our situation and the forces I have to face!"
