The Long Road to Freedom Part 1: The Dastardly Prince

Treason

1339, early-Muromachi Period, Summer

Kuroihi ran her fingers across the scaled pattern of her dragon skin body suit as she inspected it. Finally, after years of gathering the materials and bribing the castle smiths, her armor was finished. She pressed each piece of equipment against herself to make sure they all fit, grinning as she found them perfect. She expressed her gratitude to the smiths, gathered her gear, and stepped inside the proper dressing areas to give it all a try at once.

She was amazed by the cool, comfortable feel of the dragon hide as she shimmied into her suit. It clung to her form, so light she could barely tell it was even there. Each piece of armor seemed to attach to the hide without being strapped in place, but once they were on they were difficult to shift. Try as she might, she just couldn't get it all to lie correctly. There was no way it was going to function properly like this under her clothes...

She was in the General fitting section fighting with one of her shin guards again when the Warmaster slipped in under the noren divider to the outside. The dirt and chinks taken from his own armor told her he'd been sparring with Sesshoumaru again, and sure enough, the scent of poison followed him. Judging from his demeanor, he had lost the match, but his expression of displeasure molded into one of critique when his eyes fell on the dragon-clad hanyou leaning against the wall, knee drawn up.

She bowed respectfully as he stepped up and began examining her.

"Dragon's hide... I see. If I remember correctly when you first asked me for gear, you wanted it concealed under your traveling clothes."

She nodded, a little surprised he had remembered. He waved a hand to indicate her armor.

"Then this is all wrong. Take it off."

She hesitated a moment but did so, plucking each piece from her suit and laying it aside. With Rekkonji's guidance, she managed to fit each piece properly so they laid flat and hidden under her yukata. He paced around her, inspecting once more, and gave an approving nod and pat on her back. He didn't seem to notice or care that it had knocked the wind out of her as he settled into a spot nearby to remove his own damaged armor.

"Thank you, Warmaster," she said with a hint of uncertainty.

She wasn't sure what to make of this. It seemed like he had given her the same regard he gave his new trainees.

"Un," he grunted but didn't look at her. "You heading out again soon?"

"Lord Sesshoumaru has not yet found another task for me."

"Been a week, hasn't it? Unusual."

Kuroihi seemed to shrug.

"I am but his humble vassal, at his command."

Rekkonji chuckled, and something in his tone told her he didn't completely believe her. The silence that fell between them how felt awkward, so she thanked him again for his help and left.

The sun was beginning to set on yet another uneventful day as she crossed the courtyard, and she couldn't but feel...bored now. She had her armor, her weapons were on the way, why hadn't Sesshoumaru set a task for her? It had been nearly a year since the General returned home with his new weapon, and ever since Sesshoumaru's attention had been elsewhere, often seeming to forget about her for weeks at a time.

She hadn't sat idle during those times, though. She'd insured Sesshoumaru wouldn't be needing her and struck out on her own, not that he noticed, to keep up with business and relationships she'd be cultivating for herself through the years. A couple of times she had nearly run into the dueling father-son pair and had witnessed first-hand Sesshoumaru's near-obsession with the Tessaiga sword his father now carried.