Vanishing Art
A flare of yoki was all it took. Even in this battle-wracked state, Sesshomaru hadn't lost his edge. Tails between their legs, the simpering wolves disappeared into the wilderness.
I could make anything disappear if I truly wanted, Sesshomaru recalled.
It was after a successful siege, the Dog General called for a lavish banquet, welcoming every ally to partake in the spoils. Heralding the festivities was a variety of entertainment, among them a lone magician.
Bowl after bowl materialized on empty tables, each seemly larger than the last and filled to the brim with water and goldfish. And, at wave of a silk, they vanished. Even at a young age, Sesshomaru's wonder might have curbed if the magician had been yokai. Despite his flamboyant attire and foreign scent, not a single crackle of demonic aura interrupted his routine. He was entirely human.
"How do you do it?" Sesshomaru demanded after the performance, behind closed screens in the magician's guest chamber.
The wizened human smirked. "A magician never reveals his secret, not even to the Western heir."
"Then I shall persuade you." Magenta stripes flushed along the dog-demon's wrists for a compelling argument.
The magician only chuckled, one gnarled hand stroking his wispy beard. "How about this, young lord? I'll let you in on one illusion…"
In time Sesshomaru mastered the technique. It was deceptively simple; there was no sleight to it, no smoke and mirrors, no ledgermain in the least. Although the magician had been correct to call his secret "an illusion," Sesshomaru was determined to perfect it to magic. Once the Dog General was dead and gone, there was no difference among the props – rivals, enemies, pity, pain…
Or wolves.
Once the feral canines had cleared, Jaken prodded the lifeless form with his staff. "Lord Sesshomaru, did you know this girl?"
"No."
He turned to leave the corpse. For now it would be a blip on his long memory, but in no time the image would vanish from all recollection. Like true magic, Sesshomaru could have made anything disappear if he truly wanted…
Anything but that girl's wretched smile.
.
Admittedly, Sesshomaru never had learned the magician's trick completely, or at least he had never performed it all the way through. Until now. As that roving entertainer had taught, you can't just make something disappear. For the act to be complete you had to bring it back.
She has dimples, Sesshomaru observed.
.
A/N: Originally written for iy_themes contest: Magic. Limit 350 words. To alleviate any misconstrue notions this version has been extended to 400 words. The purpose of this story was t show the first step in Sesshomaru's relationship with Rin, from stranger to protector. To read the original fanfic without the extension please find this link and remove the spaces before use: http://community(dot)livejournal(dot)com/iy (underscore)themes/111069(dot)html