Outside, the leaves were slowly turning from a soft color green, and were eventually shifting a faint red. Mother earth has decided to change it's seasons, and the décor of her landscape. Night had fallen upon the Western Lands once more.
Inside the western lords castle, a certain tai youkai had struggled in vain to admit defeat. In a short context of 24 hours, his pride and integrity had been stripped. His most trustworthy and endearing companion tenseiga, had been ruthlessly snatched from his possession. 'Who would have known this were to ever happen, let alone to me?' he thought aimlessly as he laid on the soft mush blue carpet in his room. 'The one thing I hold dear...the one sword I swore to never let anything happen to...the one blade that is my heart..that revived Rin..' his mind continued to think on the wonders of his lost sword.
In a serious fight with the other lords of the lands, Sesshomaru came to a grave understanding after serious council meetings that came with the chilling reality call of the consequence of not having his other sword by his side; the loss of his lands..and his right to reign as lord over them.
To unbelievably think of losing Inutaisho's sword to a raging fire god in the middle of the wilderness...was more shame than Sesshomaru can bear.
The demon lord could not find a way to fall asleep, no matter how hard he tried. After turning on the floor for the last time, the decided that sleep wasn't what he needed.
He didn't know how to go after the demon, because he almost permanently lost his eyesight when he unsheathed tokijin to fight it. It was then he learned the cruel and hard way, that the 'demon' he came across in the desert was no demon, but a god.
For some reason, the demon lord had a feeling that something unexpected was going to happen, and he knew that in his gut feeling, and with the passion of a thousand horses, that he was most ardently not going to like it.
Putting the negative thoughts aside, the tai youkai contemplated on past endeavors and experiences in his fights with other gods. They had all been so easy to fight and be rid of. So why not this one? He thought indifferently of anyone who even dared to come across this blazing fire storm, until he recalled a memory. Searching in the back of his mind, he remembered a small conversation he had with the lord of the south, Lord Moro. His kind was of the fire type. Though he was a fire demon, his family inherited genes of the phoenix generation slightly, making him well versed in the matters of fighting like the bird itself, something Sesshomaru certainly was not accustomed to.
'It couldn't not be that hard, could it? This is pathetic!'
Getting off the floor in a single stride, the dog lord walked back and forth monotonously as he tried to rack his brain with a creative way he would accomplish such a task.
'Lord Moro would probably be able to show some ways in which I could fight this god and regain tenseiga..' he thought and then a slow but very faint smile spread across the dog lords face.
Laying back on the carpet, he replayed his ingenious attempt to how he would gain the learning experience to fight this blazing fire god.
'Perhaps if I am able to ask him or one of his guards to train me in these ways of fighting, I will be able to regain my honor.'
Happy with his conclusion with what he is set out to do the next morning, he finally settled a bit, and his mind relaxed. He turned over for the last time and found himself falling into a deep slumber at last, but at the price of remembering the scorching venomous heat exuding from the creature...
It's blazing red hair and scarlet deep red eyes was a sight that Sesshomaru would never forget.
Through all the grovel and all the sweat of the past infinite battles, sand had stuck to the large creature's face. Massive in size, the creature donned at least a good fifteen feet tall. Fire engulfing flames flew behind it's massive form, making it a walking, breathing fiery furnace. Bending down, the creature had grabbed a scoopful of sand and smashed it between it's immense paws made of fire, making them rough and ragged so it would be able to grab the lance on its back with ease. The large lance measured over six feet tall, and it's fire red hair flowed nearly down the rim of his back, all the way down to it's multicolored tail. His face resembled one of a eagle, and his body was similar to a griffins.
The proud demon god roared with anger and cocked his head to the side as he hurled a a chunk of spitfire and lava from his mouth. The scars he donned from fighting the other demons before him were still clearly visible as some of them had pierced right through his armor. He grubbed his paw in the sand and waited impatiently as he eyed Sesshomaru, as though he dared to walk through the desert that he indefinitely proclaimed was his and his alone.
Sesshomaru looked at the bright glorious creature in the face, resembling not the least bit of fear.
"What is it that you want? Speak! Are you the guardian of this desert?"
There was no answer, just a chilling glare from the creature's bright red eyes.
"You refuse to answer? This Sesshomaru will not be ignored." Sesshomaru's aura peaked.
"Very well then. You leave me no choice. I will destroy you."
In that moment, before the the mighty tai youkai changed into his other dog form, he noticed a pulsing of his sword. Looking down, his eyes met the surrounding blue aura that surrounded tenseiga, and instantly unsheathed the mighty weapon, grasping profusely at the steel blade's handle.
'Why are you pulsing? No blood has been shed yet.' thought Sesshomaru as he quickly looked over his sword.
In that instant, the creature pulled its long flamed engulfed head back with a screeching roar that set off a glowing light that was so bright Sesshomaru was unable to feel any kind of pain, and was completely numb. The white haired demon tried grabbing the hilt of his blade, Tokijin, and stepping forward into the limelight of the scorching flames.
Through the vast corner of his eye, he felt his armor suddenly become instantly lighter. Blue orbs floated in the mist of the fiery furnace, surrounding his armor. Looking down it was then Sesshomaru realized his hand had become empty.