The bird was silent at the doctor's words. She was... accepting the blood pact? Why? Releasing Meioshi's rope dart and relaxing a bit, she tilted her head and backed away with some suspicion. As if she thought she was being tricked, the bird looked to Sesshomaru and only saw a blankness in his eyes. The western lord was quiet, but his servant seemed to only care about the doctor's reaction. What did the little imp know? The bird returned its red gaze to Meioshi, yet Meioshi held no anger in her eyes and no desperation in her voice. She was firm in her decision. Planted. Even the wolf was silent, but it's blue eye could be seen blinking before looking up at the doctor. Instead of the doctor feeling the wolf's light of hope within her bosom, it felt hers in its chest and that light attracted the bird to Meioshi as well. Bird-Meioshi was drawn to the doctor with a look in its eyes that was almost pleading. In the prison, where the wolf lay, that beacon of light amplified within the wolf and produced a warming shield around it like the blanket on her boat. The bird wouldn't understand the significance of that, but Meioshi didn't need the bird to understand it. She needed the wolf not to lose trust in her and the bird to put its trust in her, too. Confident in her decision, Meioshi gave a simple smirk. It wasn't so smug that it could be called arrogance. It wasn't so challenging that it questioned the intelligence of everyone there. It was something else. It was almost like reassurance.
Sesshomaru was equally surprised by the doctor's acceptance of another blood pact. Didn't the pheasant just say that a dual blood pact would kill her? What was she thinking? Did it have something to do with the bird's scent? Sesshomaru was not one to take orders from just anyone, least of all from an annoying human, but Meioshi was desperate for his aid in that moment. For whatever reason, he felt he could acknowledge such a simple request. It wasn't harmful to him just odd. Sweet lemon and wood were nice fragrances compared to the blank slate the doctor possessed. When she smirked, he grew somewhat curious about it. Why was she smirking like that? If she wanted to die, he could have easily taken the responsibility.
"You said you were looking for your master, right? Let's make an exchange," Meioshi offered, analyzing the bird's reaction carefully. "Now, I swore to this wolf that I would find someone precious to it within five days or else it takes my life and the life of another. You just disrupted that agreement. I'm assuming you want to find someone precious to you as well, do you not? I'll accept the pact only if you grant me something in return. What shall our agreement be? You took my form and blood, but you offered nothing to me. What do I gain in exchange for helping you?"
The bird hesitated. It pouted a little - the only thing signifying a childishness locked away in the adult figure - and looked down to think of something. That small action gave Meioshi enough time to make a connection. She went to scratch her skin underneath the hinoki roots and sneakily touched the vines that covered the cut root. They fully sunk into that hole, but they weren't strong enough to actually stay there. Meioshi could easily pull them out without much damage to her; meaning, the bird didn't complete the blood pact but she made the move to start it. This bird may not know how to perform such a thing because like the wolf she lacked a certain ability. She only needed the bird to do one thing to support her claim. She would have to thank Sesshomaru and Jaken later if she could solve everything in time.
"Your form is all I need," the bird said in a possessed voice. "An offering is unnecessary."
"Ah, ah, ah!" Meioshi interrupted, holding up a finger. "You didn't take into account one thing."
The bird furrowed her eyebrows at this. Meioshi took a deep breath before crossing her arms over the wolf's eye and feeling it widen. Together, the light of hope shared between the two formed a barrier of light around Meioshi. The orb broke into smaller ones and shot into different directions to extend the radius of the barrier. Sesshomaru felt a very familiar power resonating from the doctor and so did Jaken. Meioshi then spoke an incantation that tightened the barrier around her and formed multiple symbols with her hands.
Once she settled on one sign, Meioshi said as though she were boasting, "I'm a goddamn doctor, little bird! And my body tends to reject certain blood!"
The wolf's powers were being called to her! Shocked, the wolf blinked as its energy was going to Meioshi. The doctor drew an orb of ice into her hands and rushed at the bird before punching the ground with quaking force. From the ground came enough ice to freeze all of the bird's vines and legs. She yelped from the sudden rush attack and tried to fly away, but the weight on her legs weighed her down too much to even gather her strength to fly. She couldn't even crawl away and had a look of terror on her face. What made her fear grow was the doctor's next move, however, and she watched as Meioshi pulled at the vines on the roots, froze them, and broke them into pieces. The root was still exposed and Meioshi could feel the air entering her broken skin, but this was all to prove a point so she had to hide her pain.
"Since your blood pact is incomplete, it is rendered void and I can kill you without harming myself," Meioshi explained, summoning her Kaishi Novum and pointing it at the bird's neck. "Do you want to stay a petty child and die by my hand, or do you want my help in finding your master? My physical form isn't going to be enough to get what you want."
"You still want to help me?" the bird questioned, not really listening to all of what Meioshi said. She only caught one important detail out of everything. That Meioshi wanted to help. The bird then asked, "Why?"
"Simply because I want to," Meioshi said gently, taking the spear away from the bird's neck. She kneeled down to the bird and looked her in the eyes with a soft smile before saying, "I think you and this wolf are suffering from the same loneliness that's driving this unbridled desperation to find anyone with enough strength to help you reach out to who you lost. If it hadn't been me, it might've been the elegant man over there or someone else. Is that why you looked at him strangely before?"
The bird's eyes softened at the doctor's words before a light blush dusted her cheeks and she pouted a little. She looked at Sesshomaru briefly and started to say something but second guessed it. When she finally found the words, she said, "It might be best if I whisper this."
"Eh?" Meioshi responded, puckering her lips. Did the bird want something else out of Sesshomaru then? She leaned in closer to the bird and let her whisper what she actually thought. When the bird was done, Meioshi had to fight not to laugh and produced a face that annoyed Sesshomaru enough to want to respond. Meioshi was struggling to the point of shaking and having to look down at her bent knee to blanket her face. The bird could only blush more and look down at her frozen legs. The doctor kept the exchange confidential and said with a smile, "Don't worry, little bird. He just got confused. Right then, let's get you out so we can help you."
Meioshi reached into a pocket in her skirt and pulled out some flint to start a fire, but Jaken took that moment to release Nintojo's flames instead. He shouted, "I'm tired of everyone treating us like background fodder! Nintojo!"
"No! Don't!" Meioshi tried, throwing her body over the bird to guard her against the flames. Nintojo's fire dispersed before it could touch the girls, confusing Jaken but relieving Meioshi. She backed away from the bird then explained, "Demonic magic doesn't work against divine power. The ice I used was purified. Only divine fire can neutralize it. What on Earth has gotten into you anyway?"
"First off, you insolent sow, you and your wolf sent us to some oblivion with that stupid pheasant!" Jaken argued, confusing the bird and the wolf who just blinked at him.
Meioshi gasped at the mention of her old friend and asked, "Oh? How is he? Up to trouble still?"
"I almost cooked him and his two troubles!" Jaken argued again.
"That naughty, little thing! He just had children!" Meioshi responded, giggling at Jaken's frustration. "Two more little ones? Well, did he have a message for me?"
"Accepting a dual blood pact could kill you," Sesshomaru stated, interrupting Jaken and kicking him out of the way. "You now have less time to satisfy the wolf's demands and you're playing around and putting Yuko's life at further risk. Do you even care if she gets hurt?"
"The bigger question is why do you care if she gets hurt," Meioshi challenged, lighting a fire expertly in one swipe of the flint and stone. "You tried to hurt her yourself."
"We don't care! You, humans, have been nothing but a bother! Having us run in circles trying to figure you out, talking to random people, and being bombarded with personal questions - !" Jaken argued from behind Sesshomaru.
The western lord tuned Jaken out right around the "bother" part and became... distracted. Meioshi was humming in response to Jaken's shouting, but she was concentrated in melting the ice on the bird's legs. The action she chose in doing this is what caught Sesshomaru's immediate attention. She was caressing the ice as though it wasn't there. It was like she was teasing the skin underneath the feather skirt through the subtle movements of pushing each small feather away to glide her fingers across the flesh. Her fingertips might have been calloused from battle or her work as a doctor, but they were delicate and still held the appearance of kinder years when she was a child who played more. Her hands still had a softness to them. The curve and bend of each finger looked so much more intimate as she guided her hands up the bird's legs. Her eyes seemed so much more intense from the divine flame dancing across the ice and creating a sensual smolder in the hazel depths. Her lashes looked longer and wispier like she was once a magical creature before she took this adult form. The bird, who was an exact copy of the doctor, only watched Meioshi with interest and tilted her head every now and then to see what she was doing. The ponytail of the bird swung and laid on her bosom like a chain of temptation, forcing you to trace the spirals up to her face and find the similarity of curve and twist in the pouty lips. He knew the bird wasn't Meioshi because it possessed that fragrant lemon and wood combination of scent, but he wondered if her smell was even more fragrant from Meioshi's fire. That just made him wonder of the doctor's natural scent. What did she actually smell like? If not lemon or wood, then what? When he heard the melting of the ice in hisses and crackling, the doctor's soft smile and seductive flame was practically magnetic. She placed one hand under the bird's foot and another above it and did a rubbing motion like she was massaging it. When the ice melted enough, the doctor was able to just pull the ice. Somehow, it looked like Meioshi was undressing the bird by picking at ice and feather. When the bird was freed, it pushed and pulled its legs forward and backwards in a consistent bending and unbending motion.
Meioshi stood up when her task was complete and merely said, "If you don't want to be involved in all this, the easiest solution is to leave us be. You're not hurting anyone in doing so. If you want a fight, you'll have to wait your turn. I have things to do and problems to solve. Once all is said and done, I'll give you your fight. I'll even make it fair so you won't have to call for more power. Until then, I have to find this bird's master so that I can find the wolf's true guardian. I have my first clue to inspect if you don't mind."
The bird rose to a stand after Meioshi stood and said, "I don't know what to give you in exchange."
"How about you tell me why you're here?" Meioshi started, placing a hand on her belt. "You seemed to be sleeping when I found you in that hole."
"The master told me that within the resting place is a stone with the face of the moon. The face will be your eyes to find the True North. Take the path of the True North to find the birthplace of ice and snow," the bird said.
"Your curse is different, it seems," Meioshi whispered to herself, turning to the crater the bird was resting inside.
She walked over to it but was stopped by the sea of hills rising higher and pulsating a bit stronger. The hills were guarding the resting hearth. Maybe that was part of the puzzle? If the hills were protecting the hearth, then the stone the bird needs is inside of the hearth or maybe it is the hearth. No man should be able to just pick up a large stone like that, though. The other problem is that the moon has no face. It has phases. Does the stone change with the moon phases? Wait... Meioshi looked up in the sky and furrowed her brow. The sky was clear but there was no moon. Tonight wasn't the night of a new moon. According to her farmers' calendar and her own personal star maps, the moon should've been in its sixth phase, the waxing gibbous; meaning, the moon should be bright and visible. Meioshi's eyes widened at this and King Shanwang's words came to mind.
"The hinoki tree roots are at the base of your swan-like neck; meaning, your head is acting as the trunk of the tree. Communication comes from the head and travels through the neck to express the soul. By cutting off the channel to do this, communication with the guardian is lost. Above your head is the true mystery, not the tree roots themselves. Where is the treetop to the hinoki tree? The sky is endless..."
"The sky is being covered!" Meioshi whispered. "The sky is endless as in an endless darkness. The eye in the sky. Little bird, you are the stone! You weren't cursed with blindness. You're just blocked from seeing the face of the moon! Someone's trying to stop you from finding your master on purpose. Your eyes aren't meant for this part of the journey, but..."
Meioshi looked down at the wolf and smiled. The wolf's eyes are drawn to the moon! She nodded to herself, called out to her boat oar, and said, "Gensho Shushu-sen! Whoa!"
The wolf excitedly forced Meioshi to hop on the boat right before it emerged from the ground. The doctor made it her mission to ask why the wolf enjoyed the boat so much, but she was pleasantly surprised at the bird's gasp and look of awe in her red eyes. Sesshomaru may have feigned disinterest, but the amount of divine power coming from the boat greatly intrigued him. The large crystal wave prickled against his skin and made the hills reduce their motion and almost become still. His rival continued to surprise him. Her sudden, newfound confidence also piqued his interest. This personality of hers was far more colorful than the somewhat cold priestess he met before. A sense of adventure locked away in that armor and bright smile practically called out to him. In a small way, he looked forward to seeing more from his rival and wondered what exactly she discovered within those few moments of him being distracted by her skillful hand to the bird's riddle. He never really had a rival like the doctor before other than his annoying, little brother, Inuyasha, and Meioshi was like a breath of fresh air now.
"A boat that rides on air the same as water?" Jaken questioned, mouth agape with surprise. "She has to be some kind of witch."
Meioshi guided her boat until it was still and directed it to the bird. Said entity placed her hand shyly to her lips as the doctor reached a hand out to escort her aboard the vessel and looked into her eyes. When she saw the gentle warmth emanating from the doctor and the excitement peeking out from the wolf, her eyes swelled up and she felt a light of hope within herself form from within. Her tears started bubbling up before the doctor chuckled a little.
With the wolf's excitement and a clue gained, Meioshi said, "Hop on, little bird. I think I might know how to find your master."
"You're really going to help me?" the bird asked, tears falling from her face and a small smile creeping along her lips.
"Of course!" Meioshi replied. "Let me be your sword and shield, and, when you're ready, you can form a real blood pact with me if you truly trust that I can find your master just as the wolf trusts me to find its guardian."