A Warrior's Past

Chapter one

Our lord, Sesshomaru, is quite different from the ones that came before him. He is swift and direct, and although soft-spoken his words are cold and lifeless, like ice. He is cruel in manner, especially when it comes to punishment. He seems to have a knack for distributing the most erotic and effective torture methods.

Sesshomaru could not comprehend his father's tolerance, almost affection for humans. It still irks him that his father would degrade himself and family bloodline to mate with a human. To him they were nothing but lowly, defenseless creatures that were not worthy enough to eat, let alone copulate with one of them.

As a result of his disgust, Sesshomaru especially despises his younger half-brother Inuyasha, who was the product of his father's illicit affair with that wretched human. During the reign of their father, the brothers grew up together hating each other. One for their tainted blood and the other for being cruel and unforgiving. They never saw eye-to-eye and usually their arguments would end bloody.

Once again they're found in the heat of battle . Their squabbles started to intensify when Sesshomaru found out that Inuyasha was given the Tetsaiga and he was given the Tensaiga. Both swords were formed from their father's fang but have very different powers. Tetsaiga is the sword of death, with it one could slain 100 demons in one stroke, while the Tensaiga is the sword of life. It holds the power to heal anyone, demon or human, the wielder desires and bring them back from the dead before their soul passes on. Such a sword has the power to save the world while the other can only destroy. Any other person would see the value in such a remarkable sword but Sesshomaru, blinded by greed for strength and power and hatred for his brother, can only see it as a weakness and completely useless to him.

It seems Sesshomaru's obsession can not be eased even with the addition of a new, more powerful and dangerous sword, Tokijin. It was forged from the fang of the demon who snapped the Tetsaiga in two. Said demon was also an incarnation of the elusive half-demon, Naraku. Now he fights Inuyasha to test his new-found strength. These battles soon become bloody and if not ended quickly both brothers could end up dead.

Again, our quarreling brothers are found together in a blacken valley where the trees, charred and splintered, show the evidence of battle as well as the strain on their bodies. Inuyasha, now weakened from hours of fighting , strained to hold up his sword. His chest heaved and ached from bruises delivered by Sesshomaru's spirit-powered fists. Inuyasha wasn't so lucky. He hadn't been able to lay finger on his older brother. After each round of punches he was thrown to the ground, further heaving the earth from her peaceful rest. Inuyasha pulled himself from his recently made crater, weak and frustrated that he was getting such beating from his brother with his bare hands. The taiyoukai was just playing with him, inflicting pain and damage with the flip of a wrist with his poison whip, but never enough to actually deliver a fatal blow.

This realization angered the hanyou and he began taunting the older demon, questioning his strength and integrity as a fighter. The inu lord's cold expressionless exterior remained the same. The only indication of his irritation was the slight narrowing his eyes.

"Is that all you can do, little brother?" Sesshomaru sneered. "Belittle my honor with your pathetic words?"

"Who said I was trying to belittle your honor? Maybe I was trying to distract you!"

Inuyasha leaped into the air and unleashed his Tetsaiga's Windscar. Waves of demonic power came tumbling towards Sesshomaru, but he gracefully jumped from the line of fire to safety. However from the bushes came a sing-song voice of a child calling Sesshomaru's name. Out from the shrub came Rin, a human child Lord Sesshomaru had saved from wolves and has been traveling with the demon lord ever since. The usual carefree smile on her face fell at the sight of the oncoming attack. Her body, gripped with fear, stood still in line of the destruction. In desperation she made a shrill cry. "Lord Sesshomaru! Help me!"

At the call of his "daughter", he was by her side. He shielded her with his body taking the full force of the blast. The demonic auras clashed and repelled, rebounding their energy to the forest surrounding them in a ring of fire. Inuyasha leapt high into the trees some feet away from the battle with Rin in his arms having grabbed her at the last minute before the flames engulfed her, and protected her from the flames that would reach them with his jacket made from the demon fire rat.

In the last throes of the blast, a bright orb flashed from the center, then soon vanished. As the power died down, huge deep crevices were etched into the ground as a reminder of the destructive power once laid upon it. In the Tetsaiga's destructive path however, something was missing....Sesshomaru. All traces of him had been erased off the planet only the scent of blood reminded splattered on the ground.

There's no way he could have been destroyed by that. Inuyasha thought. But where is he?

Inuyasha pondered this for a while, his eyes racing across the scenery for any physical trace of his brother. He was pulled from his search when he noticed the bundle in his arms was shaking. Uncontrollable sobs raked through Rin's small body as she called desperately for Sesshomaru.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru, please come back. Please don't leave Rin alone. Lord Sesshomaru!"

Rin's cries grew louder as her calls came back unanswered. Inuyasha started to worry that her cries would draw attention from other demons in the area and tried to soothe her. Unfortunately his ministration only seemed to upset her more so he was forced to wait out until she calmed down. He didn't have to wait long. Within fifteen minutes she had cried herself to sleep. Sighing in relief, Inuyasha began his way back to his companions. With one last glance around the area then to the girl snuggled against his chest, her face still wet from her tears, he felt a heavy weight placed upon his heart. He had taken away this girl's protector, her guardian, the person who gave her shelter and companionship for what? For pride? How selfish could he be? To only think of himself when many people would be affected if one of them were to actually die in one of their fights. Now Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands is gone. Who knows what will happen now to their territory. He, being a hanyou, could not lay claim to ruler even if he would be next in line to the throne if Sesshomaru were to die. Now an all out war will breakout between the royals to decide who will be the next ruler. This chaotic world just got more dangerous and it was all his fault. Inuyasha berated himself for being so inconsiderate of his actions. He should have known better. The grief-ridden hanyou lowered his head, his bangs hiding his eyes as they filled with tears of shame, and made his way towards camp carefully gripping the sleeping girl in his arms. He would have a hard time explaining why he had his brother's charge but he knew he couldn't leave the child alone in the woods, his heart would not allow it. But he was not looking forward to when the girl woke up, his heart grew heavier as he thought of it.

"What have I done?"