Icy Barrier of The Heart
Luna Silvereyes
A/N: I do not own InuYasha. This was simply inspired by the show and a song I heard. It isn't a songfic, it's just a Oneshot. I hope you enjoy and please don't hate me if you don't like it. I also wrote a poem like this because it kind of reflects. Here you go.
Sesshomaru, only eight years old, sat outside the village, staring into the sunset. It was getting dark and soon, he would be able to return. He wanted to go back more than anything, but the risk wasn't worth taking. Not now, anyway. Not while Father was away.
" There you are." A harsh voice barked behind him. Sesshomaru turned, dreading what he might see. Two other demon children, hiding incognito in the village just like he was, approached from the tree cover. They were older than he was, and possessed far more magical intellect than he did. Their favorite hobby: chasing him down. He stood up, his shoulder-length white hair waving slightly in the breeze. That was one thing they like to make fun of. His unusual looks. Unlike him, they blended in the village more easily and were able to hide their claws, and pointed ears. But his claws, though retractable often sprang out on their own when he least expected it. And his ears were a little more elongated than he would have liked, though Father said he'd grow into them in time. The whole village knew he was different.
" What do you want?" he demanded. The two other kids, a boy with spiky brown hair and black eyes and a girl with fluffy blond pigtails and brown eyes, smirked. " Hey, Sesshy." The girl taunted.
" Don't call me that!" Sesshomaru growled. " My name is Sesshomaru!"
" Yeah, yeah, we've heard it before." The girl drawled. She stalked forward and ruffled his hair. " You're just too cute when you act all tough!" she laughed out loud. Sesshomaru slashed at her hand and she pulled it back going, " Ooh! Someone's in a tizzy today! Hah!"
" Leave me alone, Haruka, Kenta! I don't want to be bothered." Sesshomaru warned. He wanted so badly to return to his natural form. But he wasn't allowed. It took him forever to get used to his humanoid body again after each transformation. Father said that to have a humanoid form was highly useful and kept a demon from becoming a bloodthirsty savage. That's why he'd forbidden Sesshomaru to transform until he could take control of himself. And aside from that fact, he'd never do any damage to these two.
His true form was currently the size of a small pony.
He grimaced. When Father transformed, Sesshomaru had to back up several feet from him just to see his face. And then, all he could see were the prominent red eyes. Sesshomaru hated being small and he hated being weak.
Haruka stepped forward and shoved him backward into the dirt. Sesshomaru groaned and sat up. " What was that for?" he yelled.
" I was speaking to you, runt! I said, you're never going to amount to anything, so why don't you just jump off this little old cliff here?"
Sesshomaru stood up. " I don't want to. Is that good enough?"
" No!" Kenta shouted. He charged forward and slammed into him, sending him flying toward the edge. Sesshomaru's dim reflexes helped him skid to a stop at the very edge of the cliff, but he could do nothing else but watch as Kenta came at him again. The next thing he knew, he was weightless as he was thrown from the ledge into the air.
When his senses returned, Sesshomaru squeezed his eyes shut, too afraid to yell for help and knowing that Father was too far away to hear him.
He opened his eyes as the ground came nearer and nearer until finally, he felt the crushing jar as his frail body collided with the ground. He felt a searing pain jet through his chest and arm as he reeled into a rock and fell still. At first, he was numb. He couldn't feel anything and for a moment, he was sure he was dead.
Then it came; the fiery pain of broken bones coursing through his small body, making him cry out in agony. He could hear Haruka and Kenta yelling something down to him. But as his senses started to dull, he didn't care.
" Father." He whispered hoarsely.
Darkness.
Sesshomaru awoke to find he was being carried. He could tell by the rhythmic motion he felt through what hadn't broken. He opened his eyes a bit. He was shocked when he saw who it was.
It was a woman, one he'd seen in the village some days before. He only noticed her because she lived a miserable life due to an arranged marriage to a man who cared about as much for her as he did demons, for he hunted demons frequently. It was only luck that kept him from finding Sesshomaru.
The woman noticed him awaken. " Oh, welcome back." She said in a gentle tone. Sesshomaru panicked and tried to squirm from her grasp, but hissed in pain and fell limp. The woman shifted him in her arms and stroked his hair. " Ah, ah. You mustn't move. You're badly hurt."
" Put me down!" Sesshomaru growled. He tried to unsheathe his claws, but felt his energy drain from him instantly. He raised his eyes to her curiously. " Who are you? How did you find me?"
" I'm Ainoko. I go down to that ravine several times a day to pray. I came across you and recognized you as one of the children. I know you are a young demon child, but you seemed different. I recognize all of the demon children and personally, I don't like them. But you…." She trailed off.
" Huh?" he asked. She smiled at him. " You are, Sesshomaru, right?"
" Yes." He replied, astounded that this human knew him.
" I know you. I took a silent liking to you when I saw how the other demon children treat you. I can't stand that kind of thing. But all the villagers know you are a demon so I cannot protect you."
" I don't need your help." He insisted.
" That may be, but everyone needs help at some point." She said. " You just seem so lonely."
Sesshomaru looked away.
" Here we are. I believe this is where you usually stay." She said. It was a small cave within the forest where he lived with his mother. Or he had until she left suddenly for parts unknown. Now he was alone.
" Because you are a demon, your bones will heal quickly." Ainoko explained. She set him down. Already, he felt the pain diminishing. He was able to stand. He looked up at her.
" Um…." He said. Ainoko cocked her head. " Yes?"
" Um, can I…can I talk to you…again sometime?" he mumbled. Ainoko laughed, a songlike, happy laugh. " Of course! You're welcome to visit me anytime, Sesshomaru." She said, bending down to his level. She put her hand on his shoulder and looked directly into his eyes. He saw wisdom in her gaze that he didn't believe any human could possess.
" Sesshomaru, I know you are often alone because your father travels often, am I right?"
" Mm-hmm." He replied.
" If you need anything, anything at all, come right to me. I'll help you as best as I can. I don't want you to be lonely anymore."
Sesshomaru suddenly saw his mother's face for a brief second and felt a strange lump in his throat at her memory. He nodded, struggling not to cry. To his surprise, she gathered him into her arms. " I'll be there for you." She said. She pulled back and turned around. " Good night." She called. He watched her until she faded away into the darkness.
" Good night." He murmured.
He smiled.
The next day, Sesshomaru got up early to get a head start to the village. He had finally made a friend and wanted to see her. He rushed about, doing the things he had to do to keep the cave from being invaded by other demons, such as covering the place with leaves to show that it was taken for travelers and leaving strands of his hair all over the place for demons. By the time he finished, he was ready to go. He ran out of the cave, smiling for once as he hurried through the forest toward the village. He knew where Ainoko lived for he'd seen her enter her house many times. He also knew that during the day, her husband went hunting and wouldn't be back for awhile, so he could talk with her. He had a lot he wanted to ask.
As he was making his way toward the village, a strange scent suddenly caught his attention. It smelled rusty. Curious, he abandoned his trek to the village for a moment and followed the scent. It wasn't too far from the path. In fact, he found the scent grew stronger as he got closer.
Sesshomaru closed his eyes, letting his sensitive nose guide him.
All of sudden, he felt his feet collide with something and he toppled to the ground onto his face. Grumbling, he sat up and rubbed his nose. " Ow." He growled. " That's gonna leave a mark. What'd I—"
He turned around to see what had caused his spill. His eyes grew wide in horror and he felt tears of denial welling up in his eyes. " No. No, No, NO!" he yelled.
He'd tripped over the mangled remains of Ainoko, sprawled on the ground on her back, empty blue eyes staring at the sky in an expression of eternal pain. The front of her torso was slashed viciously and he could see bone, even through what remained of her clothing.
Sesshomaru scrambled over and grasped her hand. " Ainoko! Ainoko! No, please!! Please don't die, please!!" he cried, even though she'd been dead for hours. She was obviously killed not long after she'd left him.
Suddenly, he didn't care about pride or honor, or whatever it was Father taught him. He fell to the ground beside her and wept bitterly and angrily, yelling her name and raking the earth with his claws. His whole small body shook in fury and deep sadness, the sadness a parentless child would exhibit.
But within that sadness was also an anger that boiled down to raw power and rage. He slowly rose to his feet, calming the anger for now. He gazed sadly at his friend, the only friend he'd ever had, if even for an hour or so. Then, slowly, he got up. He had no choice but to leave her to the elements, trying to convince himself that it was only her body, a shell and nothing more now. There was no more beautiful soul inhabiting that body, so he shouldn't feel so terrible about leaving her here.
But it was still gut-wrenchingly hard to walk away from her body.
He had business to attend to anyway. He had picked up a scent on her body and all around the area.
Haruka and Kenta had gone too far this time.
Haruka and Kenta saw him coming out of the forest, snarling and retracting his claws in and out. They both smirked.
" You found the human's body, eh? Yeah, thought we'd do you a favor and kill the wench before she ratted you out. Pretty kind of us, if you ask me." Kenta said, stretching. Sesshomaru was breathing heavily, glowering at both of them.
" You…you…You miserable excuses for demons! How could you!?" he screamed. Without warning, he charged forward at lightning speed and raked his claws against the side of Kenta's face. But Haruka caught him in mid-air and slammed him backward against a tree where he lay stunned. As he came to, they stalked over. He braced as they both took punches at him, wincing at each blow, but refusing to give them the satisfaction of tears or pain.
Finally, they stopped beating him and stepped back, watching him bleed silently. He glared at them, unable to move.
" Learn your place, you little runt." Haruka snarled.
" Just because you're small don't mean we have to be nice to you." Kenta growled. "You want to survive, runt, you gotta hate the humans. It's you who's the miserable excuse for a demon. You can't even use your claws and here you are, falling for a mortal. Just like that idiot father of yours. He protects humans. Haruka, have you ever heard of anything so stupid?"
They joked about it as they turned and walked away from him. Sesshomaru sighed and closed his eyes, finally allowing the tears to slide down his face in silence. He made himself a promise.
Today was the last day he would ever cry.
When night fell hours later, he was weak, but he was able to move. He leaned against the tree and crossed his legs. He stared up at the sky.
" Ainoko. Father. I am sorry. For your sake, Ainoko, I will avenge your death. Just wait, Haruka, Kenta. I'll show you what I can be."
He turned and stalked off into the forest. It was going to be a long many years to come.
Haruka and Kenta, now mates and much, much older wandered through the forest at the border of the western lands. The Western Lord had died suddenly and they were steadily attempting to take his lands, now that no one stood in their way. It had been two hundred years since they had been forced to hide in the village and now, both demons were in the prime of their youth and ready to face life.
As they trekked through the woods, Haruka tensed and paused. She sniffed the air warily. " Hey, Kenta, you smell that?" she said. He sniffed too. " No. I don't smell anything." He said. Haruka looked at him. " That's funny."
They both whirled suddenly as something slowly approached them from a shadow of trees. It was a demon.
" Who're you?" Haruka snapped. The demon stared at them both with a look of mild disinterest.
" Answer us!" Kenta yelled. " Answer the new lord and lady of the western domain, now the great mutt is dead."
He raised his sword threateningly. The demon eyed it. " Is that all you would use? A weak sword, against me?" he murmured.
" What're you calling weak? You look like nothing more than a common human!"
" I can assure you, I am no human…Kenta." The demon said icily. Kenta froze. " Hey, how do you know my name?"
The demon took a step closer. Kenta aimed the sword at him. " Stay back! I'm warning you!" he yelled. He jumped up and swung the sword in an arc at the demon's head.
Suddenly, the intruder leapt up, swung his hand back and slashed out a luminous green whip at the sword, shattering it into hundreds of tiny fragments. Kenta landed on his feet, gazing stupidly at the hilt of his obliterated sword. Kenta and Haruka stared at him in horror.
" Who are you?" Haruka cried. The demon lashed the whip again at Kenta, striking him in the chest and puncturing his heart. He groaned and dropped the ground. The demon struck him several more times until there was nothing but bloody ruin lying on the ground. Haruka screamed and fell down beside her mate's body. " Kenta!! No!!!" she sobbed. She glared up at the demon. " You'll pay for this." She snarled. She froze when he suddenly flew forward, grasping her neck and pinning her against a tree. As she clawed at his hand and choked for air, she stared him angrily. " Who are you?" she rasped.
" Why, Haruka. I'm surprised at you." He said. He pulled his hand back, revealing toxic poison within his claws as his hand began to glow. " I will not force you to go on without your mate." He said quietly. Haruka's blood froze in
her veins as she realized she was about to die.
" I'm truly surprised you do not recognize me." He whispered menacingly, a small smile on his pale face. Haruka's eyes narrowed. " What do you mean?"
He smirked. " My name is Sesshomaru. This, is for Ainoko."
He jammed his claws into her throat.
A/N: I know I need to get working on my tenth book soon and I promise I will. I just wanted to publish this before I lost it. Something weird is going on with Siita, my computer and I had to get this story written. Please let me know what you think. I apologize to Sesshomaru lovers for what I do to his chibi self. But he gets his revenge, right?