Shoda's Vengeance

Title: Shoda's Vengeance

Summary: A ferocious youkai from the eastern lands kidnaps Rin in an attempt to murder Sesshoumaru. /Rated R for killing and rape/ (Sess/Rin)

Elements: Drama/Suspense

Rating: R

Prologue: "Shoda's Realm"

Shoda Sugimoto, the most vicious and sadistic youkai of the eastern lands, sped through the forest for almost half an hour, his body gliding swiftly through the wind, his feet never touching the ground. His movement was so swift and precise that the surroundings seemed to be a mere blur to the human eye. His hanyou servant Emiko clung tightly to his kimono with her eyes firmly shut. He had a concrete grip around her waist and her fear was growing immensely strong.

He had recently rip two hundred samurai warriors into shreds of human flesh in sixty seconds flat without using any forced effort. Two minutes later, he was half way through the forest heading into the mountains. Shoda had never used his full power until he met the lord of the western lands, Sesshoumaru-sama. The memory was still vivid in his mind as if it had happened yesterday. 90 years ago, a younger Shoda encountered Sesshoumaru in a infuriated battle. Unfortunately, he lost his right arm and his superiority to Sesshoumaru. Sixty years later he still searches to reclaim his superiority from Sesshoumaru.

The breeze was strong that day, and it blew his long, silky black hair around his head in swirling tendrils, as buoyant as if supported by water. He wore his newest kimono, black with intricate silky white embroidering along the sides and chest, ruffled slightly in the wind, letting in a small amount of air to cool his body, which was getting a bit warm in the day's heat. His bare feet finally touched the softness of the grass as he landed a few feet away from a tree.

He released his iron grip on his servant and placed her gently on the ground. She had been asleep the whole time he was traveling through the forest. Raindrops began to fall and he put on his hooded cloak and tightened his kimono. He covered his servant's body with a blanket and moved her under the tree. He then huddled there beneath the tree eating the fresh carcass of a deer and listening to the raindrops fall with increasing regularity. But something else was mixed in with the steady patter of the rain. Shoda stopped chewing and listened more closely.

Yes, there was another rhythm, something much deeper. Horses? Shoda got to his feet picked up his servant and quickly leaped into a tree. Squinting through the rain he saw a dozen samurai on horseback approaching from the direction of a nearby village. A few moments later he heard the sound of hooves splashing in the mud.

The horses trotted by unaware of Shoda's presence—twelve of them. Shoda noticed that the two forward riders held standards, one for the local Daimyo and the other bearing a human he had never seen before. Two of the riders were obviously local samurai, officials from lord Masamitsu no doubt, but the others were strangers. Something strange was definitely going to happen and it wasn't satisfactory to Shoda.

Lord Masamitsu and Lord Yoshimasa had been fighting each other for the past sixteen years. He took a giant sheath off his shoulder and unwrapped it, staring at the blood-soaked blade. He had easily killed a few samurai several miles away and killing the rest wouldn't be a problem. Being the powerful demonic youkai he was, Shoda didn't mind the constant fighting amongst the humans unless it involved his peaceful forest.

He actually determined who won each battle if he got apprehensive of the blood-shed. His feet were normally bare and almost never touched the ground. He also wore a thick plate of armor over his chest that weighed at least ten pounds. It wasn't summer yet, but Shoda could smell it coming in the air but a greater battle was taking place about five miles away from the forest. About half an hour before sunset, Shoda had stopped near a hot spring.

The year was 1550 A.D.

Five hundred samurai warriors were lined in formation. Archers, swordsmen, and spearmen supporting them from the flanks. When the had battle begun, commander Takeshi's unit was the first ordered to charge. Takeshi galloped through his unit into the open field. His legs felt heavy as he charged a large group of samurai armed with spears.

He unsheathed his razor-sharp katana and skillfully begun stabbing several samurai. Soyokaze cut his way through the enemy to get to his brother. Several of his own men, seeing this display, formed behind him and began clearing a path towards Takeshi. Soyokaze turned quickly, and saw that a small unit of horsemen was charging behind them towards their enemy.

Suddenly, Soyokaze's horse jumped at the sight of something moving through the battle. Shoda zip through the crowd of soldiers, each time ripping them in two. Soyokaze watched as numerous samurai fell limp from their horses, blood splashing everywhere on the open field. Within ten minutes the whole battle was over, leaving only a few injuried samurai alive. The colors of the carnage were grotesquely bright: the crimson wetness on the rough and dusty fabric of countless dead samurai.