Wanderings of the Misplaced

Chapter One

The abandoned town was silent as a lone figure approached. He paused for the briefest of moments on the outskirts, sniffing.

"Seems deserted. There were people here, but they are gone now. I wonder………….." the figure muttered, as a stiff desert breeze blew around him, making his empty left shirtsleeve flutter around him, along with his silvery white hair. Then the breeze carried a scent that was familiar to him; blood.

"There's been a fight here. I smell blood………………….and gunpowder." The figure said, as he followed his nose to the source of the blood-smell. He came to a hastily built, unmarked grave. He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"You'd think that humans would have a better way to honor their dead. Well, maybe the person who did this was in a hurry……………..I guess there's no time like the present to see if the sword still works." The figure said, as he started disinterring the corpse. Sweat poured off of his face as he worked, and he fervently wished he still had his left arm to help dig. Finally, he reached the object of his dig; the body of a dark-haired man.

"Hmm. He hasn't been dead long. It might still work." The 'figure' said, as he dragged the body out of the grave and laid him on the sand. When he had done that, the 'figure' unsheathed his sword and swiped it through the body. At first, nothing happened, then the body began to glow, and the man's heart began to beat again. The figure watched as gunshot wounds healed over, and blood began to flow through the man's body. With a strangled gasp, the man began breathing again, rolling over onto his side to make it easier.

"It worked. So, that means he must still be alive." The figure murmured, quietly.

"Who's………………….still alive? Knives?" the man from the grave gasped, as he looked up at the figure.

"No. My brother. Can you stand?" the figure asked, turning his attention back to the man on the ground. The man on the ground said nothing, as he attempted the sit up, still breathing heavily to try and get air into his lungs. He nearly ended up falling on his face, but the stranger stopped him.

"Who're you?" the dark-haired man asked, a little suspicious of the stranger.

"My name is Sesshomaru. I was known as the Lord of the Western Lands, when the earth was young and green. What might your name be?" the stranger asked, as the man settled back against the boulders next to the makeshift tombstone.

"The name's Nicholas D. Wolfwood. Some people just call me 'Wolfwood' or 'Nick' for short." The man replied. Sesshomaru nodded quietly.

"By the looks of your attire, I would say that you are a priest. Am I correct in my assumption?" Sesshomaru asked, his catlike golden eyes shining eerily in the setting sun.

"You're about half right. I'm not exactly a priest, but I'm not exactly an assassin, either." Wolfwood explained, as he reached into his coat and pulled out a cigarette.

"Then what are you?" Sesshomaru asked, with some curiosity in his eyes. Wolfwood shrugged.

"Dunno. I guess I would qualify as a fool, to some people." Wolfwood said, as he lit the cigarette and inhaled.

"I am surprised that you are not questioning me on how I brought you back. Aren't you in the slightest bit curious, Wolfwood?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Some things are best left unknown. How you brought me back from the dead is one of them. So, what do you intend to do with me?" Wolfwood asked, in turn. It was Sesshomaru's turn to shrug.

"I don't know. I guess I just wanted a traveling companion. It's been a long time since I have traveled with someone. Many years ago, I would have rather been alone, but now, heh, I feel the need of having a………………friend? A partner, so to speak?" Sesshomaru murmured, as he remembered his former traveling companions with a wistful look in his eyes.

"A partner? Why would a youkai need a partner? You're going to outlive me, aren't you?" Wolfwood asked, seeming a little skeptical of Sesshomaru's proposition.

"That is true. I will outlive you, as I have outlived others. But, sometimes, the shortest life can make the greatest impact on those who live outside of time. It took me centuries just to learn that." Sesshomaru said, his golden eyes taking on an orange hue as the sun sank below the horizon.

"Okay, you've made your point. Where do we go from here?" Wolfwood asked, as the youkai stood up (he had been sitting across from Wolfwood) and dusted himself off with his only arm.

"Well? What do you think? Where would you turn, Wolfwood?" Sesshomaru asked, as the light began to fade. Wolfwood looked thoughtful for a moment, then put a hand to his face and groaned.

"I guess I'd better go after Tongari. He'll get himself into trouble again sooner or later." Wolfwood muttered, in exasperation, as he too stood up.

"Tongari?" Sesshomaru asked, confused.

"A friend of mine who goes by the name of Vash the Stampede. You know, spiky hair, red coat, acts like an idiot most of the time?" Wolfwood said, trying to see if Sesshomaru knew whom he was talking about. He was met by a blank look from the former youkai lord.

"Never mind. You'll know him when you see him." Wolfwood said, as he looked at the sunset.

"Okay……………. I suppose it is too late to go after him now. Let's find some food, and get some rest. We leave early, tomorrow." Sesshomaru said, as he started walking to the nearest house, unaware that the events that were to come, would change him forever.

Flashback

Sesshomaru stood patiently as those chosen for project SEEDS waited to be sent into the sweet oblivion known as cryogenic sleep. Beside him Inu-Yasha and Shippou were also waiting, both with subdued, sad looks on their faces.

"You're thinking of her again, aren't you, Inu-Yasha?" Sesshomaru asked, with some sympathy on his face.

"Yeah. I knew she wouldn't live forever, but I refused to acknowledge that. It's silly, she's been gone almost five hundred years, and the pain is still fresh." Inu-Yasha said, as he touched the place over his heart with a clawed hand.

"I know. That pain will probably never go away, completely, but time will help to dull it." Sesshomaru murmured, smiling slightly when Kirara purred and licked his cheek.

"I hope so. You know, a thousand years ago, the last thing I would have ever expected was comforting words from you." Inu-Yasha said, making eye contact with his brother for the first time that day.

"That is because we were two completely different people back then. Time has changed us." Sesshomaru said, looking up as the line moved, and they moved with it.

"That is true, yet, the very time that changed us is also what we live outside of. We're not subject to its ravaging effects, like humans are." Inu-Yasha murmured, his voice softer than Sesshomaru remembered it ever being. Silently, Sesshomaru looked at his brother, taking in the changes that had taken place in the latter's features. Over the years, Inu-Yasha's face had become a little more angular, to the point that he now looked almost exactly like his brother, with the exception of the tattoos that Sesshomaru had. And, though still golden, Inu-Yasha's eyes were also changed; they were no longer the wide, almost innocent, eyes of an adolescent hanyou. They were now those of a mature man, full of sorrow and regret.

"And still humans try to become immortal. This…… Project SEEDS……is an example of that." Shippou said, speaking up for the first time since they had arrived at the take-off point.

"We exist outside of time…………………and soon we will be among others who will be doing the same thing………………..only the method will be different." Sesshomaru said, as Kirara hid inside of his coat, determined to stay out of sight. Not long after that, the four youkai were put into cryogenic sleep, unaware of what was going to happen, several months from that point…

When awareness again came to Sesshomaru, he could sense that something wasn't right. All around him, he could feel the vibrations of the ship.

"Are we landing?" Sesshomaru wondered, gasping when he felt a violent jolt shake his cryogenic chamber.

"Wait! It's too soon!" Sesshomaru thought, as he struggled to open his eyes. They sluggishly complied, after a few moments, and he caught sight of someone running to the control console, trying to get the ship to stabilize. It appeared to be a young, dark haired woman that had soft, brown eyes.

"I remember her! That's one of the crew members that welcomed us aboard! What was her name………………..Rem? Rem Saverem? Yes! That must be it! But why is she alone? Where's the rest of the crew? What's happening here?" Sesshomaru wondered, as he tried, desperately, to get her to notice that he was awake. To his relief, she looked his way, her eyes widening when she saw him. Almost immediately, Sesshomaru felt a change in pressure in his capsule, and knew that she had opened it, so he could get out. When he had managed to crawl a good distance from the chamber, Rem came over to him.

"How could you be awake? You were in cryo-stasis, weren't you?" Rem asked, as she helped the still somewhat groggy youkai to his feet.

"No time. What's going on?" Sesshomaru asked, his voice coming out in a croak.

"Someone has set the controls so the ships will go plunging into the desert below us. I must change the commands so all of those lives can be spared." Rem said, desperately.

"I see. Where is the center of this 'control'? How do you go about changing it?" Sesshomaru asked, instantly wanting to help.

"One is on the front of the ship, the other is in the center. It would take too much time for me to run between one and the other." Rem said, with some despair in her voice.

"Leave the one at the front of the ship to me. Tell me the code, please." Sesshomaru said, with determination in his voice.

"But you've just woken up! It'll take some time for you to recover from the effects! And that is time we don't have!" Rem said, watching with worry in her eyes as Sesshomaru shakily got to his feet, leaning heavily on the wall and taking deep breaths as he struggled to get his equilibrium back.

"Miss Saverem, I have loved ones on this ship. I'll be damned if I'm going to let them die this way! Let me help you!" Sesshomaru said, with growing strength in his voice. Rem, though startled by his sudden recovery, nodded, and quickly told him the code for changing the commands for the ships around them, and the one they were in. When he'd gotten the information he needed, Sesshomaru took off, almost flying down the violently shaking corridors to the control room at the front of the ship. When he'd reached the place, he could smell blood, and saw the captain slumped in his chair, dead.

"So this is a murder attempt. A mass murder attempt. I can only hope I have enough time to foil this madman's plans!" Sesshomaru thought, as he typed in the code, his heart racing as he did so. Then, right when he'd finished, an explosion ripped through the ship, and fire leaped to engulf him.

"No! NO! INU-YASHA! SHIPPOU!" Sesshomaru cried, screaming in agony when pieces of shrapnel imbedded themselves into his body. And then there was darkness.

Sesshomaru awoke to find himself sprawled on some sand. Across his chest, the Tenseiga pulsated, showing that it had saved its master's life once again. But this was of no comfort; since Sesshomaru was now witnessing the landfall of the SEEDS ships. Tears stung Sesshomaru's eyes as he thought of what must have happened to the ship he, his brother, and friend had been on. He gritted his teeth as sobs wracked his body; all he had ever known was gone. Then a small mew came to his ears, and Kirara emerged unscathed from his coat.

"Kirara……………………you survived!" Sesshomaru whispered, then held the neko-youkai close to his face, breathing in her scent, relieved that he had at least one thing he could cling to. As though understanding his loss, Kirara gently licked the tears from his face, then got off of his chest, transformed into her large size, and helped him get on.

"Where are we going, Kirara? Even if anyone else survived, they probably wouldn't even be awake yet." Sesshomaru reasoned.

"Gr." Kirara replied, as she turned her head in the direction where the most ships were landing.

"Are you trying to tell me that we are to wake them up? But how?" Sesshomaru asked, as the neko-youkai started running. He only got another growl from Kirara, and that was enough to convince him.

"If you say so. Let's do this." Sesshomaru muttered, wincing as his wounds protested against it. They disappeared into the darkness, unaware that two children were now also watching the landfall; one with sorrow in his eyes, and the other with hatred for all mankind…………….

End Flashback

Sesshomaru awoke to a warm nose nudging him awake, and found Kirara standing there, waiting for him in her large form.

"Good morning, Kirara." Sesshomaru murmured, as he stroked her soft fur.

"That damn thing scared the shit out of me when I first saw her! Those eyes are freaky!" Wolfwood quipped, as he stuck his head into the room Sesshomaru had bunked in the previous night.

"I guess they are a little unsettling to someone who isn't used to seeing youkai." Sesshomaru said, as he stood up and stretched, wincing at the stiffness of old wounds.

"I guess so. Do you realize you yell in your sleep?" Wolfwood asked, with slight annoyance in his voice.

"Oh? What did I say?" Sesshomaru asked, as he meandered into the kitchen for breakfast.

"You kept yelling about how you weren't going to let someone die and you called out two names in your sleep, Inu-Yasha and Shippou." Wolfwood said, cursing when he burned one of the pancakes.

"Hmm……………….I was just dreaming about the past." Sesshomaru murmured, somberly.

"It sounded like a nightmare to me. So, I wonder where Tongari went? And the girls? Wherever they went, they took my Cross Punisher with them." Wolfwood said, looking somewhat annoyed as he set a plate of slightly burned pancakes down in front of Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru arched an eyebrow.

"Hey, don't look at me that way! I'm no cook!" Wolfwood grumbled, as he put some butter and syrup on the pancakes.

"That's obvious." Sesshomaru muttered, dryly. The rest of the meal was spent in sullen silence, at least until Kirara jumped onto the table in her small form and started licking some of the runoff syrup off of Wolfwood's plate.

"Kirara, you know better than that. Behave yourself, and you'll get your breakfast!" Sesshomaru said, as he gently moved the neko-youkai away from Wolfwood's plate.

"I take it she has a sweet tooth?" Wolfwood asked, amused by the sight of Sesshomaru fixing a plate with two pancakes for the smaller youkai.

"Intolerably so. She bugs me incessantly when we're between towns. She goes through sweets like a sand-worm through sand. Of course, I think she picked that up from Shippou when the two of them were much, much younger." Sesshomaru explained, then looked crestfallen when he remembered what had happened one hundred thirty years before.

"So, Shippou was a friend of yours?" Wolfwood asked, having caught the sorrow in the youkai's eyes.

"Yes, he was. We didn't become so until after my brother's mate died. My brother, Inu-Yasha, and I…………….well, we didn't really see eye to eye when we were younger, but, after Kagome passed away, we reconciled our differences." Sesshomaru said, his eyes taking on a distant look as he remembered bygone days.

"So, you're a survivor of the SEEDS landfall, aren't you?" Wolfwood asked, curiously.

"Aren't we all? But, then again, if you're talking about my being alive during that harsher time, then yes. I survived, but I don't know if Inu-Yasha or Shippou survived or not. I haven't seen any sign of them in all this time." Sesshomaru said, grimly.

"Don't give up. They're somewhere on this world. Just keep looking. Now, let's get going, shall we?" Wolfwood said, emphasizing the need to move.

"Let's fill some canteens first. We'll be needing them later." Sesshomaru said, as they both left the table. Kirara, who had just finished her meal, mewed and followed Wolfwood, getting a deadpan look from Sesshomaru as a result.

"Traitor." Sesshomaru muttered, getting a chuckle from Wolfwood, and a 'mew' from Kirara. Within the hour, the three were on their way; Kirara in her large form with her one-armed youkai friend, and a rather nervous looking human riding on her back.

"This is gonna be a long trip. I can just feel it!" Wolfwood thought, not even daring to look down when Kirara took to the air.

"Don't worry. Kirara won't let us fall. We'll be in the next town in no time." Sesshomaru said, casually.

"If you say so, Sess." Wolfwood muttered.

"Sess?" Sesshomaru asked, arching an eyebrow at the shortening of his name.

"It's easier to say." Wolfwood replied.

"Oh. Then I guess I could call you Nick, then." Sesshomaru said, grinning slightly when Wolfwood grumbled something obscene under his breath about the height he was off the ground. Yes, this would be a long trip, but Sesshomaru could already feel that he was closer than he had been to finding his brother and friend. Only he had no idea how close he really was………………

Author's Note!

Okay, okay, I realize that Sesshomaru and Wolfwood are really OOC, but I have a reason for this! Bear with me, okay?

Gemini