Disclaimer: Characters owned by: Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Entertainment, etc.
I don't own it. I wish I did, particularly Sesshomaru…
a/n: I will be more likely to continue this, if I get some interested parties. Please review!
He scanned the forest and surrounding mountainside for somewhere he could set down, clutching his one and only arm, now lying useless at his side. His pink cloud effervesced at his feet as he moved through the warm evening air at a tremendous speed, his long silver locks and white haori billowing out behind him. His golden eyes caught the last rays of the setting sun on the horizon and gleamed like polished jewels. He ground his teeth in frustration and anger, and a rare look of confusion washed over his features.
A kuro miko, then. At this point, he was almost certain. Although almost had never been good enough for Sesshomaru. He had tried to follow her and Rin but had lost their scents, and it was more than likely, she was masking them. If he was not such an arrogant, haughty youkai, this might have given him pause for concern, given that she was not a youkai and he had never heard of a miko that could mask their scent, but since he was, this was a moot point. It was obvious that she would reveal herself again as well as her purpose for taking his ward, so he would heal in one of his caves in the meantime.
Damn, where had she come from? And more importantly… what does she want with Rin?
Sesshomaru cringed at the memory of himself battling just minutes ago against Naraku alongside Inuyasha's tachi – a temporary alliance of sorts, until they finally dispatched of the hanyou filth, Naraku and purified the Shikon No Tama. Of course, the only reason he had shown up was for Rin, for he had not been of the mindset to deal with the half-breed on that day.
-----FLASHBACK-----
"Adamant Barrage!" yelled Inuyasha, and a whirlwind of diamonds shards slammed into Naraku's barrier, none making it past.
"Lower your sword, Inuyasha. How many times do you need to be reminded that that won't work," Sesshomaru bit out sarcastically, his back firmly pressed against the hanyou's, preparing for another onslaught of demons that Naraku continuously unleashed between taunts at the two brothers.
The rest of Inuyasha's tachi rode a transformed Kirara and circled their position from above. The miko, Kagome, constantly pulled her bow taut and released pink sacred arrows that streamed through the air, which had already dispatched quite a few demons, and continued to dispatch more of the growing hordes that were closing in on the brothers.
"Keh, whatever. Just don't get yourself killed by someone else," Inuyasha spat back, as he wildly swung the Tetsusaiga, unleashing the Wind Scar that ripped through the assailants on his side, as a result of the sword's inherent magnificence, and not a result of any outstanding ability on part of its wielder, Sesshomaru mused.
Sesshomaru allowed his demonic energy to build and dispatched the demons that were coming towards him. His movements so effortless, he looked almost bored.
"Father," his perfectly arched eyebrows drew down, and his handsome face took on an even darker look, as was habit when his thoughts turned to the inheritance that should have been his. He shook his flaxen locks to clear his head, reminding himself that now that Tetsusaiga was comprised of his brother's fang, he no longer had any real reason to covet it.
Sesshomaru inclined his head slightly at the sound of the monk yelling, "Sacred Sutras!" which would attach themselves to unsuspecting demons and dissolve them instantaneously. The slayer had a death grip around the monk's middle, her faced pressed against his back, as tears poured from her eyes.
A now teenage, Kohaku, lay dead about ten paces from Naraku. Cruelly, he had acted as if he was going to release him before driving a tentacle through his chest and removing the boy's jewel shard. The wail the taijiya had emitted as her brother's lifeless body fell to the ground was so heartrending that even the void within Sesshomaru's chest, which would have consisted of a heart, had he had one, twinged in response, just as Inuyasha's dog ears laid flat on his head in obvious empathy.
Sesshomaru fumed at the fact that Naraku had once again forced his hand by capturing his ward, Rin. It had been eight years since Rin had stumbled upon Sesshomaru lying on the forest floor, nursing his wounded pride more than any egregious wounds at the hands of his father's fang. After eight years, he admitted, begrudgingly, that the teenager had somehow found a way beneath the barriers he had erected between himself and the rest of the world, as was necessary for survival as a taiyoukai, who must constantly be on the lookout for those who sought to take what was his.
Case in point, the kumo, Naraku, who sent another writhing mass of tentacles his way as he easily deflected them with a blast from Tokijin.
"Hit the mark!" Kagome yelled, dispatching a line of demons headed his way.
Sesshomaru frowned. Had he not told her before never to interfere in his battles? Did she honestly think that he, one of the most powerful youkai ever to walk the Earth, needed help from a pathetic human such as her?
A gust of wind churned up from Koga's spinning kick clashing with Kagura's wind attack and lifted the miko's indecently short skirt even further up her frame.
Sesshomaru scoffed, it seemed like adding insult to injury. His inner beast supplied if that was true, why was he still looking?
Sesshomaru snarled, effectively quieting his inner beast, for now. The damn thing always seemed agitated when the miko was within close proximity, and he didn't even want to ponder the implications of that.
Sesshomaru sighed. His baka half-brother Inuyasha continued to uselessly batter against Naraku's barrier with attacks from his fang, leaving he, Sesshomaru, to protect the ookami, who seemed determined to lose the shards in his legs, not to mention his life.
Sesshomaru directed a mild attack from Tokijin at the ookami, flinging him out of harm's way, just as Naraku's tentacles were about to make him into an untried variety of swiss cheese.
Preoccupied with the ookami, Sesshomaru did not anticipate the attack coming from behind him, which slammed into his back and sent him hurtling through the air, splintering his sword arm as his body crashed into the mountainside. Vaguely, he heard what sounded like choruses of human women scream his name. When he opened his ocher-hued eyes, he immediately narrowed them at the sight standing ten feet in front of him.
His ward was being manhandled by a human woman in a black, form-fitting kimono with a purple obi. His ward looked frightened, but physically unharmed. He grimaced at the look in her big brown eyes. She was frightened, but not for herself. She was frightened for him.
Ridiculous.
Sesshomaru slowly rose to his feet, not at all intimidated by the force that was the ningen before him, who managed to attack him from behind and injure him. It mattered not. She will die by this Sesshomaru's hand. In fact, she will die now, he thought.
Sesshomaru lifted his injured arm, not showing any indication of the pain he felt as he did so, and centered his youki, forming his infamous toxic flower claw attack; the tips of his claws glowed a bright iridescent green.
Her mouth curled into a smug smile, "Hello my prince, do you remember me?"
Sesshomaru's stoicism cracked the tiniest bit, and his mouth turned down into a slight frown in puzzlement, which did not go unnoticed by the ningen.
"Release my ward now, unharmed, and this Sesshomaru will deliver you a quick death."
A tinkling laugh was the response he got, and Rin's eyes grew wide at the woman's audacity.
No one insulted her beloved Sesshomaru-sama and got away with it: No one. Rin wasn't worried for her life, but instead concerned about this woman's intentions towards her Sesshomaru-sama. The woman happened to be very curvy in all of the right places with a lovely face, mesmerizing green eyes, and shockingly red hair that fell in waves down her back. No, Rin wasn't afraid; she was jealous.
"Rin," Sesshomaru intoned, "Come here."
Rin being of the persuasion of always following Sesshomaru's commands and to ask questions later (well maybe, if she was lucky, and Jaken was around), took a few steps towards her lord, but a warm hand was suddenly placed on her bicep, holding her in place.
"Uh-uh…I don't think so," the woman said in a singsong voice. "Do not worry Sesshomaru-sama, the girl will be fine. I see my powers have injured you,"she said looking at his arm pointedly.
Sesshomaru growled, almost homicidally livid that this woman thought she had beaten him one-on-one. She had attacked him when his back was turned, and stolen his ward. She obviously had no honor.
"Come now, don't be like that," the woman laughed. "Heal; feed, and then I will find you."
She grabbed Rin around the waist and pulled her to her, then pulled something out of the folds of her kimono and threw it on to the ground. A purplish cloud filled the area, reminiscent of Naraku's miasma. When it cleared, they were gone.
Sesshomaru waited for the cloud of gaseous substance to disperse, and pursed his lips in contemplation. The woman did not smell like one of Naraku's incarnations and she was definitely human, but that only left one possibility, a possibility he was loathed to consider.
A kuro miko, then. He shivered involuntarily.
He heard Inuyasha curse from a distance of several hundred yards away. Naraku must have escaped again.
---END FLASHBACK---
Sesshomaru had set down near one of his caves on the outskirts of his land, just as the half moon rose high into the sky. He rubbed his mokomoko on the walls to refresh his scent, reminding any demons of a belligerent disposition just whose territory they were encroaching on.
He sat down on a few furs, opposite the entrance of the cave, so that he could keep watch. He assumed his usual position of repose – right knee raised with his right arm resting casually on top, his left leg extended. His arm was broken in three places. Now, he just needed to rest and his strong taiyoukai blood would handle the rest.
The last dark miko, he knew of, Inutaisho had dispatched personally, as she had become obsessed with the handsome, powerful young lord and tried to kill Izayoi. Of course, she only tried to kill the ningen after she had already killed Sesshomaru's mother. His mother died shortly after his birth as a result of the miko's spell that led his mother to take her own life. Something his father only learned of many years later when the kuro miko had turned her animosity in Izayoi's direction. At one point, she even lived within the castle of the West, disguising herself as a youkai and acting as a surrogate nursemaid and nanny for the infant and toddling young Lord Sesshomaru.
He was only five in human years, when Inutaisho became suspicious of the dark miko's involvement in Sesshomaru's mother's death, but had no evidence against her, so he sent her away. Many years later she returned with a new face via an improved concealment spell, which Inutaisho did not detect at first. Working as a servant within the castle, she tried to get close to Izayoi, but Inutaisho discovered her plan and killed her.
What was her name? It mattered not. If it was another dark miko of that whore's line, he would finish the job where his father left off.
