A/N: This fic was written on Memorial Day May 28, 2007 and incorporates the time when Inu no Taisho first fought the Panther Demon Tribe.
Every Petal
The spring breeze blew gently as Sesshomaru rested under a tree, Rin hopping in front of him.
"Now watch me carefully, Lord Sesshomaru." Rin displayed her empty hands, heedless of Sesshomaru's phlegmatic stare. "'Kay, nothing up this sleeve or the other, but I think...Aha!" With a quick flourish, Rin whipped out a bouquet of vibrant flowers. "Here, I - uh - conjured these for you, my lord!"
"Pah!" snorted Jaken, shuffling up behind Rin. "Doubtless, Lord Sesshomaru smelled those weeds on you well before they were 'conjured.'"
"Hey! Don't give away the trick!"
"Tch, what trick?"
While the quibbling proceeded, Sesshomaru's attention was drawn to the brilliant red spider lilies in Rin's cluster. They reminded him of the first time he'd seen the illusion performed.
(Several centuries ago)
"Go. Away. Akamaru."
"Oh, but my young lord," Akamaru feigned a sulk causing the red circle on his forehead, his namesake, to crinkle. "I think you misunderstand me; perhaps because your ear is clogged." Before Sesshomaru could protest, he tugged at the inu-yokai's ear and withdrew a coin. "Ah, so here's your problem!"
Sesshomaru's irritated frown clashed with Akamarus irritating laugh. Despite not even being a third his age, Sesshomaru could have sworn he had more composure than this alleged thousand-year-old weasel-demon.
"What? Mortal currency not good enough?" Akamaru was slowly coming to terms that he wouldn't get a smile out of this kid. "Well, uh, I suppose something from nothing is much better, hm?"
The older yokai shook his empty sleeves and bared his arms. "Not a gimmick concealed and yet," Akamaru clapped his hands together, "something from nothing!" As he slowly parted his hands a spray of crimson spider lilies sprouted between them.
Amber eyes rolled as the plant was set on the spectator's lap.
"Captain Akamaru!" Inu no Taisho marched toward the demons; not a moment too soon, Sesshomaru's eyes were starting to glow the color of the flowers.
"My lord." Akamaru stood when his general arrived.
"It's dusk and we'll be leaving soon. Gather your men and lead them in the direction of the setting sun. The false front will keep the Panther Tribe diverted until my force strikes at the flanks. Dismissed."
"Yes, sire." Akamaru bowed and, just when Sesshomaru thought he would make a dignified exit, snapped his fingers and presented the Dog General with a fresh sprig of lilies.
Inu no Taisho accepted the gift, smiling as the weasel strode off.
Sesshomaru gave a disgusted snort. "Father, you're actually going to let that scatter-brained twit lead a platoon? I could do better! Akamaru'll be plucking coins from ears while the cats pluck his army to pieces!"
"Sesshomaru," Inu no Taisho warned.
"Well, really, whered you find him? And what good will he be on the battlefield?"
The daiyokai knelt by his son, holding out the spider lilies. "Do you see how the petals make up a single blossom?"
"Yes." Sesshomaru grumbled, he'd had his fill of vegetation.
"Well, on the field every soldier is like a petal; each one is necessary to compose one flower."
"But Akamaru's a weed."
Inu no Taisho rubbed his temples. "Then so much the better as he will choke the life out of the enemy." He stood. "I must go now. Obey your mother, eat all your cattle - "
"I know you'll return soon."
"All right, then keep this with the rest of your collection." Chuckling, Inu no Taisho pressed his own spider lilies into the bouquet Sesshomaru had forgotten he'd been holding.
The young dog-demon growled aloud after his father left. He'd been impressed that he hadn't scented the lilies before Akamaru produced them. Sesshomaru made sure no one saw him stuff the foliage into his haori; perhaps later he could fling it in the fool's face.
-
Four suns had passed since his father had set out and impatience gnawed at Sesshomaru's innards. He grew sick of pacing the palace grounds.
"Where are you going?"
Sesshomaru whirled around to see his mother standing in the foyer.
"I'm going to see Father."
"I don't think he would be pleased with that." The Western Lady studied her talons.
"I'll keep a distance from the field, I just want to observe."
"Fine, but try not to get killed." She strode back up the palace steps.
Could she be any more apathetic? Sesshomaru wondered as he took the sky.
It wasn't long before a blazing conflagration warned Sesshomaru he should descend. Making slightly less noise than a night owl, he settled in a cliff's cavity and scanned the premises for his father.
Suddenly, a magnificent dog-demon burst through the flames, leaving broken neko-yokai in his wake.
Among the rest of the Western defenders, Sesshomaru spotted a limping weasel with a circle above his eyes in the brush.
Figures, he thought. That craven idiot Akamaru would slink off to nurse an injury in the middle of battle.
Nauseated, Sesshomaru reverted his attention to the Dog General. Inu no Taisho was fighting in fine form as scores of cat-demons fell.
Its almost too easy. Where's their - ?
A vicious roar sliced through the air as the Panther leader lunged for Inu no Taisho. A crunch of foes still in his jaws, the Great Dog couldn't react fast enough.
Sesshomaru gasped to see his father splattered in blood…Akamaru's blood.
"Pleasure to take one more for you, m'lord," the lesser yokai shuddered through gritted fangs. His body was discarded with a flick of the Panther Demon's claws.
Inu no Taisho was lightening upon his adversary, charged with every volt of vindictiveness.
Sesshomaru sat through the rest of the war, saw his father seal away the Panther Demon, and send the cats packing. And prepare to bury the dead.
"Coming to help?"
"I think I owe your life to one of those soldiers."
"I think I owe my life to several. It was every petal that allowed us to bloom into victory."
The body count was fewer than Sesshomaru had expected, but as he reached into his robes for a final offering, he couldn't help wish there was one less.
(Present)
"See how quiet he is, pest? Lord Sesshomaru doesn't care!"
"Well, I wasn't performing for you, Master Jaken!"
Sesshomaru blinked back into the present. Rin still held her bouquet...and the spider lilies.
"Rin," he said, standing. "I shall take those flowers."
Somewhere across Musashi's western plains he knew there was a place for them.
-
Author's Note: This fanfiction is written in memory of my great-uncles – Joe, Dave, Andrew, and John (World War II) – my uncle, David (Vietnam), and every U.S. soldier who died defending his nation. Thank you.