The Trifecta's Parade part 2

Sesshomaru sat in his viewing seat, judging things in silence. He was actually quite impressed with the presentation of the trifecta, so he responded to things as a lord would through the criteria he was taught in his childhood. If he remembered correctly, his father taught him about the rubric for annual events and the overall score equated to 20. He was about seven inu years old when he taught him this. It was at the Takarabune Matsuri. His family all went to the Akabeko Temple to visit Grand Monk Shishido as the prophecy beasts were building their lantern boat. Watching a bunch of cow demons build anything was a sight to behold, but the old monk was quite happy with the construction of the boat. On the day of the procession, they went to the viewing chairs along the riverfront and watched the boats sail away in an ovular course around the kingdom. That was his favorite festival to go to as a child because each boat was designed like a float and had a different look as part of the year's theme. Everyone could go to the festival as well. That was his first real memory of the House of Inu being at peace with each other and acting as a real community for once. Throws were tossed from boats, too. He remembered catching a large stuffed sheep that held other small toys in its belly from the hay boat. As a show of gratitude, he hunted quickly for a small purse and put coins in it to throw back. Someone caught it! They waved to each other and all.

"You're too cute for your own good, pup," Toga said, smiling gently and mussing Sesshomaru's hair.

"He gets that from you," Milady mumbled, drinking tea as she smiled appreciatively at the boats.

"My flirty son tossed a lot of things in his youth, but money wasn't one of them," Hikozaemon II said with a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"M-m-money?" Toga questioned with shock, looking at Sesshomaru to confirm things.

"Mommy, why are all the floats so different? Shouldn't they be the same?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Each boat represents different things, my nibbler. That one represented good harvest. This next one," she pointed out, bringing Sesshomaru close to her, "represents the heaven's guidance. Lanterns provide light to show you your path and the truth. That boat represents that."

"Where's the boat for smiles?" Sesshomaru asked, hugging his stuffed sheep.

"Smiles?" Hikozaemon II questioned, raising a brow.

"Everybody's smiling. There should be a boat for happiness out there, right?" Sesshomaru asked.

Toga kneeled down, guided Sesshomaru to sit in his lap, and said, "I think we have to judge which boat makes people happiest, my son. A good harvest makes a lot of folks happy because that means they're able to put food on the table. Extra food can be given to those struggling to survive. That would make them happy, too."

"The hay boat makes people happy. You get sheeps!" Sesshomaru cheered, lifting his toy to emphasize his point.

"You keep tossing money like that and you'll make the boaters happy, too," Hikozaemon II commented, eating a snack.

"Do the boats toss cookies?" Sesshomaru asked, earning a laugh from his family.

Sesshomaru wondered about his rival's words for a moment. In her speech, she said she hadn't gone to this festival in years since she started working as a doctor. He hadn't been to the Takarabune Matsuri in years himself. He worked so hard to be a ruler that he had forgotten all about it. If he remembered correctly that festival stopped being active around the time he was leaving the dojo. Either the year before he and Homugi graduated or the year his father was his most active on warfronts was the last year he remembered seeing it. He snuck off to see Homugi and Takamuku at their viewing seats first before running back to his family's viewing seats and watching the rest of the festival from there. It was his own way of making sure they were happy before getting to enjoy things for himself. None of the festivals he favored as a child came back once he entered adolescence. He didn't even bother to bring them back once he accepted certain responsibilities as the House of Inu's new ruling authority. Rin never got a chance to see any of those events either. She would've really enjoyed the Takarabune Matsuri. With the way the House of Inu has been acting as of late, however, Sesshomaru was in no mood to give his people anything resembling that favored occasion. But... his mother celebrated the Tsukimi festival in private and she seemed happy. He hadn't seen her smile so genuinely in years. Even the pride she had in being an Okuri-inu was something he just hadn't seen in her for a while. Perhaps...

Watching the people of Heiwa recite lines and move about in their presentation, Sesshomaru started to remember his father's teachings. In a parade, there were four categories that a ruler judged based on technical things like organization, planning, construction, and cleanliness to showmanship like dances or use of floats. Categories were given five points each for the lump sum out of 20 at the end. Of course, a perfect score would be rewarded as a highlight for the year and others to come. Perfect scores also encouraged other viewers from different parts of the country to be part of the festivities. This could be a good thing for a ruler if economics were involved. Exposure to resources and allies were great benefits for a festival and a king. Certain classes of people, who were limited in the amount of time they had to socialize, could participate in something worthwhile and may show greater devotion to remaining part of the civilization a king built.

The first category was effort. Sesshomaru found he had to be a little harsh on this one because the emperor admitted to extending the time since no one was ready for the supposed deadline, and the private luncheon with... that little skink of a doctor was probably not a part of the traditions, but it was difficult for his lordship to tell. The young emperor claimed that Unmei and Muranaka I were friends, so it's possible that this was true, but no one else mentioned that as being factual of the relationships among the trifectas. That uncertainty robbed them of a point as part of the organization and planning technicality. There was another detail that couldn't be overlooked, though. It was also slightly concerning. Demons weren't allowed to participate in the trifecta march. That was against this parade's rules. Why was Homugi approved for her dance? Was it strictly because an inu was a part of the story of Unmei as a youth? Lord Aka was a big part of Unmei's story as well. He didn't dance with them at all. He sat in the viewers' section with them. While Sesshomaru thoroughly enjoyed Homugi's dance and the added howl, he docked off a point for disobeying this particular rule in favor of showmanship. As for the order of the marchers, each trifecta organized their team differently. While that set the tone in distinguishing each leader, he wondered if it would have made things cleaner had they let the flagmen go first like the general had it. That sort of variety in who led the march first made it appealing but also off-putting. For that, he docked off another point. It looked like the main themes for the trifecta leaders was their ancestors' calling. It translated accordingly. A two out of five was plausible for the effort put into retelling each person's story. He might be able to return a point if someone could explain a few things.

Next category was... theme, if he remembered correctly. All seemed clear here. The emperor had the more prosperous and youthful troop, so the gentleness of the songs and the coordination of the guards and flagmen were very clean and inspired a sense of joy. Emperor Muranaka I seemed to be a ruler who focused on the well-being of his people. That was fairly clear, and Sesshomaru was pleasantly surprised that the young boy representing his ancestor was able to perform his kata when the emperor had to fight on warfronts alongside his people. Even now, he was performing a dance with the First General and Meioshi as a reenactment of their joint battles with other humans and demons. Homugi was returned to the back of the line in accordance with the parade rules most likely. Ah, so she was strictly meant to do her dance and then take a viewer's position. Maybe he can give that point back for effort. The First General's troop was deeper and richer in tone, and his theme was about the warriors of time, so he played up the theme very well with the costumes of early soldiers and their evolution to the plated armor they have now. The inclusion of female soldiers was also quite nice. On the doctor's side, the music was very ethereal and shrouded in mystery represented by the smoke. Otherwise, he believed Meioshi's interpretation of her ancestor from start to finish. Sesshomaru knew the Green Pheasant personally now and heard his stories about the past, so the pheasant would be able to provide fairly accurate information about the hell travelers. The pheasant's inclusion in the parade was... actually cute. The little chicks passing out throws was a nice touch, and the Green Pheasant's call and tail opening was a flamboyant show of color. Even his wife's appearance was nice. She didn't have an elaborate tail like her husband, but she had those gorgeous and full set of wings that opened up. It made his lordship question whether the green pheasant was actually a pheasant or some kind of peafowl because of the tail. Maybe the tail was really a status symbol? Either way, the themes were excellently done. A perfect score here.

As his lordship was judging the other categories and analyzing small details to give a proper score, Jaken spoke up a bit, "I think their good fortune and merriment is coming to a close. A storm is rolling in."

"Oh! I thought that was another special effect. I've been fooled!" Sanraku remarked, making Reijiro laugh. "Good eye, Lord Jaken."

Sesshomaru looked up, but he sensed something odd about the clouds. He saw the weather forecasts all throughout Meioshi's estate. There would be no heavy rain for another three days, supposedly. Sniffing the air, he caught a whiff of Meioshi's power with a hint of sweet orange. That meant a divine spirit was nearby... or approaching. He remained on alert at this. Another presence caught his attention in the crowd. It had a foul smell and seemed to be spreading.

"It's a pity that demons aren't allowed to join in more," Jaken commented, engaging in mild conversation with the soldiers.

"Well, they got Homugi in on it," Sanraku said with a shrug.

"That's because oni girl's old man spotted one of our kind passing by. If it could fly, he could've spotted a mixed breed like the Green Pheasant and Elder Hikozaemon II told us. She probably got in because that was such a key moment. 'Sides, Old Man Kira's people told us not to worry about it. Our kind have our own march," Reijiro said, eating a snack one of the human children had given him.

"I wonder how grand the youkai march is. Would we have time to view it given our mission from the elder and Milady?" Jaken asked.

"Honestly, I think the Green Pheasant might be able to help us with this. He said the gateway to another in-between world had opened when we were at that abandoned city near the Akabeko Temple. I think that wasteland Jaken was talking about might be that in-between world. If so, he can help us find that water stone a lot easier. The hard part is going to be the Yama Oroshi's spines. Either we find Totosai to help us with armor or we find someone who can break those spines," Sanraku responded.

"I don't know who could bust through those things. Old Man Kira can control water, maybe he'd be able to put the fire demon out for a while as a distraction. You'd need someone made of metal or stone to shield you against those prickly bastards," Reijiro commented. "Whoa! Are they fighting down there?"

Someone had thrown a muddied stone at Meioshi while she was reciting lines with the emperor. The Shinto priests were yelling at her over something. Sesshomaru was just about to retaliate when a large water funnel shot down to the ground to block another projectile from hitting the doctor. A cold mist spread against the crowd and that evil spirit that Sesshomaru sensed was purified on the spot. From the funnel emerged a large, finned tail, scaled limbs and claws with leafy appendages attached underneath its legs and along the ridge of its back, and soon the head of a sea dragon bellowing angrily. Meioshi dashed away from the dragon to protect Kunimatsu, but she spotted a singular mark on the beast's forehead that stopped her dead in her tracks. It was her family crest! When the dragon looked down at her, it purred before lowering its head and locking eyes with the doctor. Nuzzling against her cheek, Meioshi reached out to it curiously and took notice to the beast's eye color. Only one man had eyes the color of a dragon blue instead of brown or any other natural color. The dragon gently removed Meioshi's mask to see her glowing eyes and broke Biancheng's bony headpieces with its bite. The dragon purred again in response, waiting for Meioshi to say his name.

Tears fell down her eyes before she mumbled, "Jiji?"

"Taisho?" Kirameku Ha asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

The dragon turned to the old man's voice and nodded his head to follow him. He disappeared in a billow of mist and storm cloud, waiting at the beach... to say his goodbyes to the living world...