Clash of Alphas by sarhea

Riku Ryuu's Prompt - Time

AN: Thanks for the reviews. I may be slow in updating this one because I'm working on several other fics but I definitely will not leave this incomplete. I've outlined everything but writing it out will be between work on my other fics.

~ooO Time Ooo~

Deftly Sesshoumaru set Kagome down on the soft green grass before a sun speckled bower. With his hand at the small of her back, he guided her to stand before the largest tree she had ever seen. She knew instinctively it rivalled even the Goshinboku in age. Even the Tree of Ages! And it had so much power! She could not remember feeling such power the last time she had met Bokusenou.

A wizened face appeared in the gnarled trunk. Shrewd knowing eyes studied the pair standing before him.

“This old one is honoured to finally meet the one you have taken as your own Sesshoumaru,” he spoke directly to the daiyoukai. “She will bring honour to the House of the Moon and the Western Lands for all time to come.”

Sesshoumaru inclined his head. “This one is pleased to hear that.”

“But you did not come to hear an old mori-youkai give his blessings.”

“You are correct Elder. We seek your advice and knowledge. What would you recommend to end the threat of Naraku, to youkai and ningen.”

“Ahhh…” Bokusenou sighed and closed his eyes. “This one has been waiting for a while, for someone to voice that question.”

Kagome could not resist the urge to stick her oar in. “So what would you suggest?” She ignored Sesshoumaru’s glare and set her eyes on the old youkai.

The elderly mori-youkai smirked. “Move fast and attack relentlessly,” he said bluntly. “Do not give the kumo-hanyou the time to recover from your attacks, time to plot and reweave his webs and traps, time to find a new hole and create new allies while destroying your own.”

Sesshoumaru’s lips turned down at the corners. “Time is what we are short of,” he admitted reluctantly. “We need time to travel, time to track down the spider, time to make our own plans, time to move our own allies into place.”

“Ahhh…” The branches above rustled as though Bokusenou were moving them like others would shrug shoulders. “This one can help with a few of those needs,” he said as thin bark lips shaped into a smile. “This one can provide you a tool to track down the spider. This will cut down on the amount of time you must spend travelling and tracking the kumo-hanyou down.” Bokusenou smirked. “In fact if you use this tool properly you will not even have to approach the area where the hanyou is lairing.”

Sesshoumaru looked thoughtful and Kagome gleeful. “Thank you!” she chirped joyfully. “That is exactly what we need! Naraku specializes in hiding until he is ready to move.”

“How is this possible?” Sesshoumaru demanded to know. “This one has spent many weeks trying to track down the cowardly hanyou. Even the most skilled sorcerers failed to scry a location. Naraku uses a great deal of magic to hide himself and his agents.”

Leaves rustled as the mori-youkai chuckled. “This one has spent a great deal of time pondering on the best method to track down one who specializes in hiding. It took months before the answer came to me. Since then I have been waiting for one of Sugimi’s sons to come seeking my advice.”

Both Sesshoumaru and Kagome were stunned.

“Wait, you had a way to track down Naraku for months now?” Kagome squawked.

Bokusenou blinked mildly. “Yes. This one would have sent a message through Myouga but he has not visited this old youkai for a long time.”

Kagome growled just about ready to explode when Sesshoumaru rested his hand heavily on her shoulder, silencing her imminent outburst.

“Enough Kagome,” he told her sharply. “We do not have any time to waste.” He turned towards the very amused mori-youkai. “What is this tool and how does one use it?”

TBC...