"So, you're the ruler of an in-between world, Pheasant?" Sanraku asked.
"Indeed," the Green Pheasant responded.
The group had split up due to a conflict of interest... eh, so to speak. Sanraku decided to stay with Kirameku Ha and the Green Pheasant to see how oaths worked and what Lord Toga had to do with them while Reijiro traveled with Sesshomaru to the Akabeko Temple to diffuse the rally per Elder Hikozaemon II's instructions. Though Sanraku knew it was bound to be awkward between the two, he was more surprised that Reijiro was choosing to keep his distance from Kirameku Ha. While he was consoling his comrade, Sanraku had come to understand that Kirameku Ha's words struck a nerve in his best friend. It was more to do with the idea that Reijiro was unworthy to see their beloved sensei get his justice and how powerful Kirameku Ha was as a force of nature both by sword and by his honor. The old man was actually scary in that moment when he struck Reijiro to the ground. Sanraku had agreed that Kirameku Ha was a more daunting figure than most of the men they came across in the army, but... for some reason, Sanraku found that he kind of liked Kirameku Ha. The old man didn't say much, but he was gentle when he did have something of importance to say. It was like he knew they were still in the learning phase of what it means to be a protector of the people. It... made Sanraku respect him more.
The noble inu may have detested humans, but the lower class inu lived among the humans and often worked with them during busy seasons on the farming lands once upon a time. When the doors were closed on the humans during their teenage years, Sanraku and Reijiro found that they somewhat missed their human companions; however, it was around that same time when Takamuku had found them and recruited them into the cavalry unit of the inu army. One day, he'd find out what happened to his sensei. He and Reijiro would do it together! They just needed some kind of a clue - any kind of a clue.
"What's this world called? Are there more pheasants that talk like you?" Sanraku asked.
"I'm the ruler of the Blood Oath's Circle. My wife and children speak as I do. Although, the children speak through chirps and tweets at the moment. They are not of proper age to start using full words and sentences," the pheasant replied.
"Guess there's someone for everyone, huh? How many children do you have?" Sanraku asked.
"Thirty-eight including my last two," the pheasant answered.
"THIRTY-EIGHT!?" Sanraku shouted more than questioned.
The young maroon inu was a curious one and seemed to be more cheerful than his darker counterpart. He was fully invested in these oath keepers and the pheasant's role in all of this. The Green Pheasant, of course, had no problem explaining his backstory to others these days. Being a family man changed him for the better, after all. Of course, he had Meioshi and her family to thank for his new life as a husband and father. Sanraku was a lot like Meioshi when she was a young child. The Green Pheasant met her when she was just ten years old - about two to three years after she had met Shanwang for the first time. The hell travelers were a very dutiful bunch and quite friendly towards him outside of their role as warriors, but no hell traveler was as quirky or spunky as Meioshi in her youth. She was just as inquisitive as Sanraku was being now. The pheasant remembered the day they met like it happened at lunchtime.
Little Meioshi was known for wearing short yukatas with a wide obi that was decorated to look like some version of a blooming flower or insect's wings. On the day they had met, she was wearing a scarlet and orange yukata with a pale rainbow obi spanning out like damselfly wings in the back. Her obijime cord was brown and yellow to resemble the tail of the insect, and it dangled at the young girl's sides with blue and silver bells at the ends. She wore little booties that her grandmothers crafted specifically for the wear and tear of the girl's activities during her dirtier adventures. She had just finished school for the day and was tugging on her father's and maternal grandmother's arms to go with her on her scavenger hunt before it got too dark. The Green Pheasant was a loyal guide to the hell travelers, so it was custom for him to appear before the new one when the time of his or her call to power was drawing near. It surprised him that another woman was chosen for such a stressful role, but Meioshi wasn't the first woman to become a hell traveler. She was, however, perhaps the most intelligent and scientific. She sensed his presence without him having to use his powers and turned to look at him. At the time, he was about the size of a peacock. He wasn't nearly as small as he is now. He didn't speak first either. Meioshi happily introduced herself first and marveled at his size.
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"Wow! Look at the girth of that pheasant, paapa! Baba, come quick before he runs away!" she called, taking a few careful steps towards the pheasant. She bowed before him and greeted, "Hello, Lord Pheasant. Please don't run. I simply must draw a picture of you!"
"I won't run from you, milady," the Green Pheasant responded, shifting his feet to turn to her. He was standing on a rock as a perch. "I've come to see you, after all. I'll show you my good side for a portrait. I wasn't prepared for the occasion."
"Eh? Oh my gosh! You can talk!" Meioshi declared, slapping her cheeks with awe as her eyes sparkled from overstimulation of this news. She stopped for a moment to analyze the bird's words and then pointed to herself to say, "Wait. You came to see me? Why, Lord Pheasant?"
"Pheasant?" Meioshi's father questioned, squinting an eye in confusion at him. "I thought you normally came when an oath was being made. Why are you here?"
"You know Lord Pheasant, paapa?" Meioshi asked, looking up at her father.
"Those who have the ghost wings have the ability to see him, my granddaughter," Umehana answered. "You received yours a few years ago. She is a tad young for you to be appearing, isn't she, Pheasant?"
"Arimasa was young when I appeared before him. That was why Kokina Hoshi was adamant about protecting him and teaching him in his youth, Lady Umehana. Suiren was also fairly young when we met," the pheasant replied, looking to the adults. "I believe you were playing with your son at the time. Arimasa was teaching Suiren how to carve wooden toys. I only introduced myself, though. Arimasa was quite startled that Suiren was chosen to succeed him just as you were startled at having visions of her husband there. Her strength and her enemy were different. I was not required to appear again until a bit later. This one... is also very different, I'm afraid."
"I am?" Meioshi questioned, blushing a bit before she realized something. "Hey! Are you making fun of me?"
The Green Pheasant raised a brow at the question before saying, "If your portrait comes out terrible, I will."
"Oh, no pressure!" Meioshi remarked, stomping her little foot and making her father chuckle.
"None whatsoever," the Green Pheasant said, holding his beak up and opening his tail feathers a bit. "I will, however, pressure your father. Have you not received your vision yet?"
"I don't want to see it. Let's start there," Meioshi's father answered, eyebrow twitching and mouth set into a perturbed smile.
"See what, paapa? You can see things like maakaa?" Meioshi asked, eyes sparkling again with even more information to absorb.
"Not quite, little one," the Green Pheasant said, raising a brow at the man. "Lord Teruya there can see who your husband is going to be once you come of age. He's supposed to be meeting with the guardian spirit for the passing of power."
"Does that mean I don't have to go to school?" Meioshi asked, cheerier at this possibility than anything else.
"You're finishing school!" Umehana and Teruya shouted in unison before laughing at each other. The spouses of the hell travelers truly do share a similar mindset, it seems.
"Aw, man!" Meioshi responded with a pout.
"You should be honored that you get to know who the wife or husband is of at least one of your children," the Green Pheasant said.
"Do you have a wife, Lord Pheasant? Is she big like you?" Meioshi asked, attention fully gained.
"My kind have all died," the Green Pheasant replied emotionlessly. "I am the last of us."
"Oh no..." Meioshi said sadly.
The Green Pheasant was actually sad when the little girl was sad. He had already grieved for the loss of his family centuries ago, so there was no reason to be sad anymore, but this little girl somehow... made him realize that he actually envied the hell travelers. Though their lives were short, everything within their lives had a function and a purpose. There was a reason why the spouse of a hell traveler was very specific and why a certain child received the marking and why they went to war for one particular soul and why Shanwang was bound to this one family. There was a reason for it all, but they were blessed with being able to see who is next. Who is the next traveler? Only the previous traveler will know through a vision. Who is the traveler's enemy? Shanwang will know when the traveler comes into power. How much strength will the traveler need to defeat this enemy? The Green Pheasant will know when the oath between deity and traveler has changed. For the spouse, he or she knows who is next in line for this specific position. They even know which child will receive the marking. In Arimasa's case, he was the nephew of a hell traveler, not the son of one. Everything was very specific. The Green Pheasant supposed that he wished his life was tailored like theirs.
"I know!" Meioshi cheered triumphantly. "I'll find you one!"
"Huh?" the Green Pheasant questioned, tilting his head.
"I dunno how I'll do it, but I'll do it! I'll find you the perfect wife!" Meioshi declared, clenching her fists and nodding her head with fierce determination. "If paapa can see who my husband will be, then he can try to see who your wife should be, right?"
"I highly doubt that's how that works, my granddaughter, but the pheasant is a friend to us. We'll see what we can do," Umehana said, placing her hands on Meioshi's shoulders and smiling at the pheasant.
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Sure enough, Meioshi found Madame... and 38 chicks later, here he was at Meioshi's side trying to figure out this new oath that's surfaced. Well, it wasn't really new from the looks of things, but it was unreasonably incomplete and involved hell's minions of all creatures. Actually, it was far worse! It involved the evil talking dog that stepped all over the children's crib! Inspecting the old gazebo that Sesshomaru's camp was trying to use, the Green Pheasant tested the wood by stepping lightly onto one of the boards. Most of them creaked from the pressure he was applying with exception to one, which didn't budge at all, and the resulting response from this small action was a gasp from Sanraku.
"L-L-Lord Toga?" Sanraku questioned, backing away.
Kirameku Ha and the Green Pheasant were met with a vision of the great general. He seemed to be much younger in this vision, and he had a child in his arms with short, floppy hair. The boy was playing with a red cow toy as Toga looked up from the child and into the ceiling of the gazebo. Images of flowers, ribbons, and other such decorations were also appearing. It looked like a party was celebrated before everyone left.
"They did it, my son," Toga said, very pleased and elated for his friends. "Yonamine and Manzo fought for the right to marry... and won! You got to see your very first wedding among the humans right here at this gazebo. You're probably too young to remember any of this, but I think you helped those humans unite both with each other and with other demons in a very special way. You were their symbol of hope and a promising future. To have a love so strong that they were willing to turn away from everything they knew is inspiring. I hope you keep that quality with you as you grow, my son. That you continue to unite those who feel they have lost all hope and to be a symbol of the good fortunes that are to come if they choose bravery over blind obedience. I suppose we should make our own vows to them, shouldn't we, my son? We'll be their shields of protection... for their family. Maybe someday... preferably when you're 25 so I can digest the fact that I'm going to be a grandfather, you'll have a love you're willing to fight for just like them... and like us."
"If he gets that, he'll have a pregnant fiancée," Milady chimed in, earning a small scream from the boy and some playful hiding behind his father. She sat next to Toga and tickled little Sesshomaru before kissing Toga's lips sweetly. "That's not really what I had in mind when we agreed to make our own traditions."
"Probably shouldn't have done anything before our wedding night either, Lady Difficult."
"I wasn't difficult then. You had some personal matters to attend to. I simply rewarded your efforts," Milady said, wiping Sesshomaru's nose after he sneezed. He tried to move away but couldn't and instead yawned. "My little babe is a gift of gratitude."
"Gratitude?"
"For us choosing to fight for love and letting the elders fight for custom. Did you remember to give those humans our wedding gift?"
"... oh shoot!" Toga yelped, making Milady and the toddler jump at his reaction.
The voices faded away just as the memory disappeared. The Green Pheasant narrowed his eyes at what he saw. That meant that Reijiro was right. Lord Toga did make an oath to humans, but it wasn't a blood oath just yet. It was simply a promise of sorts. The evil talking dog, however, wasn't taking over an oath that was made. He was the other half of the oath which made him the original oath keeper...