Now that's more like it. With the introduction out of the way, the story feels like it's really beginning here in the second volume of RG Veda.
After being warned outright that his rule will be over if Yasha and Ashura gather the Six Stars, Taishakuten sends two of his strongest generals, Zouchouten and Koumokuten, after them. Not trusting anyone, he sends spies after them. We're reminded that the queen, Shashi, is actually Ashura's mother, but she completely lacks any affection for him, calling him an abomination. There are rumors that her other son, Tenou, might actually be the son of the old Lord Ashura, not Taishakuten. We also learn that Ashura is one of a set of twins - I hope that's not just a bad translation.
Meanwhile, Yasha and Ashura are picked up by Queen Kendappa, who lives in a flying castle and is both the royal musician and loyal to Yasha. She calls herself Yasha's sister, but I'm not sure if she's telling the truth. Her mother fell for Yasha's father, despite being married to someone else, and then pined herself to death because her marriage kept her away from him. Lord Yasha is said to have done nothing wrong, so it's probably not true that Kendappa and our Yasha are actually related.
Kendappa gets Yasha in touch with Kisshouten, Bishamonten's wife, who offers Yasha what little support she can in the form of the service of Souma, a female alchemist and assassin who has been hiding from Taishakuten since he slew the rest of her tribe years ago. It's a wonder anyone is still alive, what with Taishakuten killing off entire tribes whenever someone pisses him off.
Souma and Kendappa are lovers, which is really surprising. Not that there is a lesbian couple at all, but that with CLAMP's doujinshi background, the first same-sex couple we see isn't a pair of men. They have a very sweet farewell scene that highlights their affection for one another. I hope that they end up back together, but with the body count so far, I doubt they will.
Kujaku, who seems to always show up to tell the characters just what to do, shows up and tells Yasha that he has to go to the western borders of the kingdom and get the magical Shura sword from the underground castle of Kumaraten if he wants to gather the Six Stars. Yasha isn't entirely convinced, but he doesn't really have any better ideas and is willing to do whatever it takes to bring down Taishakuten, so off Yasha and Ashura, now joined by Souma, go.
On the way, they meet up with Nahga, the reluctant soon-to-be Dragon King. All he wants to do is fight and get stronger, but his servants won't fight with him anymore because they think that he's already strong enough. So when Yasha shows up, he's thrilled and challenges him to a fight. They go at it for a while, but are interrupted by Ashura, who wants food. Nahga decides that he's going to join Yasha and Ashura on their quest, both so that he can continue his match against Yasha and also because it's more fun than ruling the kingdom. He accepts his title as King just so he can take the sacred Dragon Fang Sword and then runs off with the group.
It takes some convincing from Ashura to get Yasha to accept Nahga (now called Lord Ryuu, because he's the Dragon King), because Yasha doesn't want to be even indirectly responsible for the death of yet another tribe. He warns Ryuu that joining with them will bring Taishakuten's wrath upon the Dragon Tribe, but Ryuu brushes him off. Eventually, like a father spoiling his child, Yasha gives in and allows Ryuu to come along.
So now we're up to a party of four, and only one if them is one of the Six Stars - even if he doesn't know it yet.
They arrive at Kusumapura, where Kumaraten has laid a trap. He's been waiting for 300 years to get his revenge on Taishakuten after he - wait for it - slew Kumareten's entire tribe. Seriously, how cam there be anyone left for Taishakuten to rule if he keeps killing everyone off? Kumareten traps Ashura inside his castle, planning to use his blood to release the Shura sword during an upcoming solar eclipse.
It turns out that Kumaraten's lover, Kahra, used to be a priestess of the Ashura clan. Even more - she's actually Ashura's mother, Shashi's, twin sister. They were both humans chosen to become priestesses of the Ashura, but Shashi had more ambition. She married Lord Ashura and birthed the young Ashura. Along the way, she showed her cruelty by ripping the wings off of a bird who messed up her dress. When Taishakuten mounted his rebellion, she fled the Ashura to become his wife in search of power, vowing to slay her son Ashura with her own hands, just like the bird. Shashi is certainly not someone to be messed with.
Unable to enter the castle, Yasha, Sohma, and Ryuu face 52 of Koumokuten's men, led by Varuna, who foolishly taunts Yasha using Ashura's name. It's handy that two of them have magical swords, because Yasha seems able to blast through a dozen men or so at a time when he's powered up. And there we end, on a cliffhanger, with Yasha fighting Varuna and Ashura trapped below.
In this volume, there wasn't any of the demon child inside Ashura. He was sweet and caring, worried about others, and happy when he met someone (Ryuu) who was strong enough to come along with himself and Yasha without being killed. It almost makes me wonder why CLAMP had him show the demonic side in the first place. He's a much more compelling character as a sweet little kid, and the father/son bond between Ashura and Yasha seems so much more believable when Ashura's not busy grinning as he licks a dead woman's blood off his hands. Yes, the prophecy says that Ashura's alignment is not clear, but wouldn't it be more interesting to see how a sweet little kid could be driven to evil by circumstances, much like Darth Vader, than to see a half-demon kid, who is drawn to it by nature.
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