A/N: This has been written in response to Forthright's LJ Challenge regarding Aesop's Fables. Hurray!
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of "InuYasha" by Rumiko Takahashi nor the wonderful world she has created. Loosely based off of Aesop's fable, The Little Boy and Fortune.
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The fire crackled painfully through the night. Sesshoumaru had been traveling hard once again in search of the Tetsusaiga to no avail. It was not that he was incompetent at obtaining the almost seemingly useless artifact his father had left his half-brother, or even the possibility that it was his nuisance of a sibling that was causing him much ailing. No— what Sesshoumaru saw as his hindrance were his two followers: Jaken and the human girl Rin as well as the fate that he should be tied to them so.
They had been quite the nuisances to him lately and as much like the previous nights, tonight he pondered his reasons for keeping them as he did. When his father had been alive he had been his own ally, especially once his father had foolishly begun seeing the human woman. He, however, was in no need of comrades, yet why did he save both their lives? He was in no need of the emotion of compassion, so then why then did he care whether they lived or died— why did he not just kill them or leave them to die?
His own reasons for associating with humans and the lower sect of demons bemused him enough, but it was his father and his absurd choice to leave him a useless sword, while this filthy brother was brandished a weapon at birth that even into his adulthood could not master, that filled most of his thoughts at this time of night. Fate had been against him in that matter and it was fate that was to blame for his contemplative mind that refused him rest.
True, as a demon he had no use for sleep, but even he would like to enjoy the silence of the night without entertaining thoughts of such a useless matter. Again he muttered to himself, "Father, why am I cursed among your sons to hold such a contemptible inheritance? Was I not the powerful heir you longed for— it is you who are to blame for your own miserable death, but am I to be expected to believe it is I who am ultimately responsible for your choice? Is it my fate to be second best to a half-breed?!"
The proud demon lord shifted uncomfortably while still attempting to regain his composure while the others slept. The human girl that followed him willingly had by now curled repulsively close to his hakama sleeve, which hid his sword from any onlookers view. Feeling the sword pulse out amiably with the contact, Sesshoumaru scoffed to himself before removing himself from the girl's proximity. Almost immediately he heard the girl whine softly in her sleep, but he only scowled at the sound and the innate sense of protectiveness it brought upon him.
His words of the past echoed through his mind as he remembered the first time he had seen the girl and again to his wielding the sword upon her. He had told Jaken, with much disdain at having being questioned, that his resurrecting her was unintentional: 'a test,' as he had put it. He had not been untruthful to his retainer, for Sesshoumaru had felt the sword calling out to him and had merely obliged to its wish. It had been instinct that had caused him to pull it from its sheath and thus it only seemed right that if the sword had shown him the minions of the underworld that he should blindly cut them down. He was aware his sword did not kill and so it was merely easing his curiosity that he had separated the girl's dead form from those wishing to chain her soul down. 'Yes—' Sesshoumaru confirmed, it had indeed been a test, but now he wondered should he have any right to complain over the girl if he had been the one to cause and extend her infatuation with him.
The girl's unsurpassed trust with him and nonchalant abandonment of fear from his being was enough to irritate him, and it seemed without cause— except for the fact he had saved her life in her eyes. It was his own undoing and perhaps fate that he should be left with a useless sword and a filthy human for a ward— but did he not play a role in his actions and the events to follow? If he had not fought with his brother that day did it ensure that he would not have been injured so severely the next time? Would he have still come across the girl or was her fate as tied to his as his was to hers? There was the chance that she still would have remained slaughtered, but what then? Would these emotions never have surfaced and did he almost lament the thoughts of her death now that he had come to bond with the child— however disgraceful it may seem?
As for his retainer, Jaken, it truly had been his own doing that allowed the small imp to remain in his presence. The bumbling fool had practically been tripping over his own feet to gain sight of him at their first meeting. To this, Sesshoumaru was prideful and sure that if he had turned the demon away then that Jaken would have done so. No— instead he had to feel that perhaps after so many long journeys that an underling, even one such as him, would serve him well. If anything the lord had to admit to himself the strange demon did provide him with light amusement, but only so far as he caused him anger. He had been useless from the beginning, yet he had kept him— used him for his own gain perhaps, but allowed him the honor of his protection, nonetheless. Had he, Sesshoumaru, defied fate— or had it been fate all along?
Surely it was not all fate's doing that he had chosen to do so— surely he had had some choice in the matter, no matter how reckless. Drifting slowly away from his thoughts, Sesshoumaru once again was able to take in the full sound of the fire as it died down to a soft glow. Rin still shivered lowly in one corner beside a deeply sleeping Jaken who intermittently would utter a high-pitched snore. Sesshoumaru's eyes flickered between the two. Flexing his muscles into action, Sesshoumaru forced his tired body to rise and the abrupt sound awoke the two-headed demon nearby the imp. The creatures', beady eyes watched curiously as Sesshoumaru gathered a small blanket and tucked it ceremoniously around the child, causing the awake demon to snort at its master curiously. Instantly the girl's shaking stopped.
"Silence Ah-Un. My business is none of yours. The human is quiet now."
After, lifting himself once more from the girl, Sesshoumaru's eyes turned to the imp. Moving closer, he suddenly gave a quick kick at the demon and griped under his breath for the demon to cease his annoying sounds.
Both heads of the four-legged demon still gave looks of disapproval, yet noted that the night had regained its silent composure once more, except for the silent hiss of the crickets. Thus, the dragons calmed themselves and settled back into rest, as did Sesshoumaru, who returned to his thoughts.
Sesshoumaru thought of what his father had once said to him at a young age about such trials as this.
'My son, you will learn soon enough that often times it is our choices that define our lives, even more so than fate can do so.'
Yes— Sesshoumaru understood, at least to a degree. His father had been correct when he had said, '"Everyone is more or less, master of his own fate."'
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As always, I would love and be honored to have any reviews/comments/suggestions that my fantabulous readers may have. I treasure them all! Thank you for reading and especially thanks to Forthright, for her creation of this loveable LJ Challenge.
Truly yours,
Mickey-the-Mouse