Chapter One
Kagome, Inu-Yasha, and Myoga watched as Sesshomaru and Jaken disappeared into the darkness.
"The portal! We must move quickly, before it closes!" Myoga yelped, then added, "Do you want your brother to take sole possession of your father's treasure!"
"Let 'em. What do I care?" Inu-Yasha retorted.
"But Inu-Yasha-sama!" Myoga shouted, dismayed by the younger son's apparent lack of interest in chasing after his half-brother.
"Shut up. I never said I wasn't going back in there, okay?" Inu-Yasha grumbled, then shouted, "Say your prayers, Sesshomaru, because you're dead!" As Inu-Yasha, Myoga, and Kagome (who was also going, despite the danger to herself; much to Inu-Yasha's chagrin and consternation) passed from the mortal realm and into the realm of the dead, they were immediately struck by the silence and foreboding of the land before them.
"You do realize that Sesshomaru's there?" Inu-Yasha asked, as he and Kagome fell through the chill air.
"That's why we've gotta go! No one does that, no matter who he is!" Kagome replied, angrily, as they landed on the back of what appeared to be a skeletal bird and flew in the direction Sesshomaru had gone in. Within moments, they came within sight of a massive set of armor.
"Oh wow….." Kagome thought, wonderingly, as she stared at the immense, ancient armor.
"Something isn't right." Inu-Yasha mused, as he looked down and spotted Sesshomaru standing stock-still before the armor.
"There he is!" Inu-Yasha stated, as he deftly leaped from the bird's back, carrying Kagome with him. They landed a few feet from the current Taiyoukai of the Western Lands, and almost immediately could sense that something was off. Sesshomaru was standing there, staring vacantly at the empty armor; shock and disbelief etching themselves onto his handsome face.
"Hey, Sesshomaru. What're you starin' at?" Inu-Yasha asked, trying to get his elder half-brother's attention.
"They aren't here……Father's remains are not here….." Sesshomaru muttered, as Kagome boldly stepped up to him, reached up, and lightly slapped his face to bring him out of his shock somewhat; her anger at him overridden by concern.
"What do you mean by that?" Kagome asked, as she looked up into his formerly impassive amber eyes.
"Even if he had died on the Continent, his body should have come here after death…..It just doesn't make sense….." Sesshomaru muttered, as Inu-Yasha looked to both Myoga and Jaken for the answers.
"So? What does this mean? Is the old man still alive somewhere?" Inu-Yasha asked. All he got were shrugs from both of the retainers.
"I have no idea, milord. I am just as bewildered as Sesshomaru-sama about this, since we had both assumed that your mutual father had died that night, two hundred years ago." Myoga murmured, somberly.
"I don't know either. In any case, what should we do now, Sesshomaru-sama?" Jaken asked, as he turned to look at the stunned Lord of the Western Lands.
"Let Father's will prevail, I suppose. As it is, if he is still alive, even I do not have the power to oppose him." Sesshomaru said, with defeat in his voice, as he gave Inu-Yasha a look of scorn.
" 'Father's will' ? What the hell does that mean?" Inu-Yasha asked, as he turned once again to Myoga.
"Your father left you a sword, Inu-Yasha….A powerful sword that can kill one hundred youkai with one swing. The Tetsusaiga." Myoga replied, noticing when a surprised look entered Inu-Yasha's eyes. Yet, before anything more could be said, something huge charged onto the scene, scattering those gathered near the armor like bowling pins.
"What the hell is this!" Inu-Yasha yelped, as he grabbed Kagome and dodged a huge, bony paw when it swatted at them.
"The Guardian of the Dead! It sensed us as we were coming through, and it knows that we are not among those that lie here!" Myoga replied, as he desperately clung to a strand of Sesshomaru's silver hair.
"How do we fight against something like this?" Kagome asked, as she hung on for dear life to Inu-Yasha's kimono.
"Simple. Use the Tetsusaiga to drive it back." Sesshomaru replied, as he tried to leap onto one of the giant skeletons nearby; only to get knocked back into Inu-Yasha for his efforts.
"That would be all well and good, if I had the sword in my hands." Inu-Yasha growled, as he and his half-brother regained their footing and gazed up at the thing.
"The sword should be somewhere inside of Father's armor. You two go in there and find it, I'll hold this thing off." Sesshomaru said, as he shoved the pair in the direction of a gap in the metal plating.
"You're bein' awfully helpful, all of a sudden. Why?" Inu-Yasha asked, suspicious of Sesshomaru's actions.
"Like I'd said, I don't have the power to oppose Father's will…..But I can still hang around and make sure I inherit the sword after you die." Sesshomaru retorted, as Inu-Yasha gave him an unreadable look.
"C'mon! We can discuss this later! Let's find that sword!" Kagome shouted, when it looked as though the two were about to start fighting again.
"Listen to your wench, Inu-Yasha. Hurry and find the Tetsusaiga, before this bone beast decides to make us all fit in here." Sesshomaru ordered, ignoring the rather offensive gesture he got from Inu-Yasha, and returning his full attention to the ominous foe before him.
"This battle is not going to be easy." Sesshomaru mused, as he leaped into the fray once more; transforming into his true form as he did so.
…………………………….
Kagome gazed in wonder at the immense interior of the armor as she and Inu-Yasha walked deeper into the shadowy recesses. She jumped when a loud roar emanated from outside, and looked to Inu-Yasha for an answer.
"Seems Sesshomaru has just transformed to take on that thing outside….Guess we'd better hurry, then." Inu-Yasha muttered, as he sniffed the air to see if he could catch the scent of the sword. To his amazement, despite the overwhelming scent of death and decay the underworld seemed soaked in, he could just barely detect the scent of something metallic somewhere close by.
"This way." Inu-Yasha said, as he took Kagome's hand and led her in the direction the scent was coming from. Within moments, they came upon a rather unusual sight; there, standing before them, was an ornate stone dais. Imbedded in the dais itself, however, was an old, beat-up looking sword.
"What the hell? Is this the sword Sesshomaru was after? The one my old man left me! It's a piece of junk!" Inu-Yasha shouted, irritably.
"No kidding…..It's no Excalibur, that's for sure!" Kagome silently agreed.
"That sword is not a piece of junk! It is your inheritance from your father!" Myoga retaliated, as they got closer to the dais to get a better look.
"Pretty crappy inheritance, if you ask me." Inu-Yasha grumbled, then added, "I'll bet this thing can't even cut hot butter cleanly, let alone one hundred youkai."
"Pull the sword out of the stone, and see, milord. It'll prove you wrong, trust me." Myoga argued.
"Feh." Inu-Yasha snorted, yet walked up to the dais, anyway.
"Might as well. Got nothin' to lose, otherwise." Inu-Yasha thought, as he reached out to grasp the handle of the sword…..
……………………………………….
Sesshomaru grunted as he was pushed back against one of the other skeletons in the underworld. The battle had started going badly for him in the few moments since his brother and the young woman with him had gone into the armor to retrieve the Tetsusaiga.
"I'm not doing as well against this beast as I had hoped….I'm almost completely winded." Sesshomaru thought, as he gasped harshly for breath. He could feel that at least two or three of his ribs had been broken by the relentless attacks by the 'bone beast', and felt the bruises of the near-misses keenly.
"Sesshomaru-sama! Please hang on!" Jaken shouted, when he saw how tired the Taiyoukai was getting, and how much abuse he'd already taken. But things were about to get much worse. Jaken watched in speechless horror as Sesshomaru leaped in for another assault, only to get grabbed by the left foreleg by the beast.
"Sesshomaru-sama!" Jaken yelped, his reptilian blood almost freezing when he heard the thunderous sound of the bone within the foreleg breaking, and the howl of pain that followed it. He could only watch, frozen where he stood, as his lord was forced to the ground by the beast, and as Sesshomaru's shoulder was dislocated as well. No sooner did that happen that Sesshomaru resumed his false form, and lay motionless on the bone-littered ground before the beast.
"This does not bode well…..Please be alive, milord!" Jaken thought, as he rushed to Sesshomaru's side, gripping the Staff of Heads tightly in his clawed hands as he did so….determined to defend his master to the bitter end, if need be.
…………………………..
"Ow, dammit!" Inu-Yasha snapped, as the Tetsusaiga once again repelled his hand. Several times already he'd tried to remove it from its' place on the dais, with no luck.
"You still can't move it?" Kagome asked, anxiously, as she listened to the sounds outside; noticing when Sesshomaru's roars fell silent, and correctly assuming that something had happened.
"Does it look like I've gotten anywhere with this damn thing?" Inu-Yasha asked, peevishly, also having noticed how quiet things had gotten and feeling anxious about getting the sword out.
"No. Not really….Want me to try it?" Kagome questioned, getting a snort of derision from the hanyou for that idea.
"Sure, why not? Maybe you can use this thing instead of me." Inu-Yasha retorted, sarcastically, as he moved aside to let the schoolgirl try. As carefully as she could, Kagome gently grasped the sword's hilt; feeling some surprise when it didn't repel her hand.
"Maybe I can get it out!….Hold on, Sesshomaru-sama, help is definitely on the way!" Kagome thought, as she pulled strongly on the sword itself, and grinned when it came free of the stone.
"Well I'll be……" Inu-Yasha and Myoga muttered, in unison; returning to reality when Kagome handed the sword to Inu-Yasha.
"We'd better hurry, since I think Sesshomaru might be in trouble out there." Kagome said, getting another 'Feh' from Inu-Yasha, but no argument as they raced to get back to the battle at hand.
……………………………..
Sesshomaru uttered a pained groan as he struggled to remain conscious and get to his feet. His left arm was mangled and hanging limp at his side; a severe injury, even for him.
"I may even lose this arm….Of all the cursed, rotten luck!" Sesshomaru mentally growled, as he glanced at his arm and quickly assessed the wounds; then dodged another blow from the beast.
"Sesshomaru!" a female voice called, getting his immediate attention.
"Over here! Quickly, milord!" Myoga's voice shouted, from a now-visible Kagome's shoulder, as a red blur dashed over to him.
"Do you have the sword, Inu-Yasha?" Sesshomaru asked, breathlessly.
"Yeah……But damn, you got chewed up." Inu-Yasha stated, noticing the ragged condition his elder brother was now in, and knowing that he could not continue fighting the monster that guarded the dead.
"Is that concern you have for me, little brother?" Sesshomaru again asked, his expression deadpan.
"Feh, you wish." Inu-Yasha replied, then stood and faced the monster. Sesshomaru started when he felt someone shoulder his weight, and was rather surprised to see that Kagome was trying to lead him to safety.
"What are you doing, girl? Do you have a deathwish?" Sesshomaru questioned, bewildered by the teenager's selfless attempt to get him out of there.
"No, you do. If you stay out here, you'll probably wind up dead…..I know you don't like anyone saying this, but let's let Inu-Yasha handle this one, okay?" Kagome said, as Sesshomaru growled, then winced.
"Unfortunately, the human wench is right, milord. You are too badly wounded to continue." Jaken stated, hesitantly; cowering slightly when Sesshomaru gave him a scathing glare. Then the Taiyoukai reluctantly sighed, and nodded.
"Lead the way then, girl." Sesshomaru ordered, as Kagome nodded and started helping him limp back over to the armor, and the relative protection it offered.
"Okay, now that Kagome is out of harm's way….." Inu-Yasha thought, then shouted, "Let's see what this thing can do!" With that said, Inu-Yasha leaped directly at the undead monster's face, swiping at it with the Tetsusaiga when he was close enough…..but, to his dismay, nothing happened.
"Why hasn't it done anything!" Kagome yelped, when they'd reached the shelter of the armor; watching with worried eyes as Inu-Yasha dodged another blow from a massive bone paw.
"The Tetsusaiga hasn't acknowledged him as its' master, yet…..And we have very little time until it decides to do so." Sesshomaru murmured, hissing when he bumped his wounded arm against the rough inside of the armor.
"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, unnerved by that statement.
"That beast out there is the Guardian of the Underworld….in other words, it guards the resting place of the dead. When living beings intrude upon and disturb the dead, the beast tracks them down and kills them. If Inu-Yasha doesn't get the Tetsusaiga to transform soon, not only will the beast kill him, but it will also seek us out as well. This armor is only a temporary haven, at best." Sesshomaru replied, as he sat down against the 'wall' with a sigh.
"So we're all gonna die here? Should we just give up hope?" Kagome asked, as tears gathered in her eyes; was she really not going to make it out of there alive?
"Hey! You're not cryin' are you, Kagome?" Inu-Yasha asked, angrily, then shouted, "No cryin'!"
"Oh, should I just laugh! In case you haven't noticed, we're in trouble here, buster!" Kagome retorted, ignoring Sesshomaru when he muttered something about humans and hanyou both being 'loud and obnoxious beings' under his breath.
"No! You should shut up and let me protect you!" Inu-Yasha snapped.
"Huh?" Kagome asked, taken aback by what Inu-Yasha had just said. As she watched him go back into battle, Kagome tried to figure out whether it had been her imagination or not.
"Feh, I never could understand why Father chose to protect mortals….It's completely beyond me." Sesshomaru murmured, getting a scowl from Kagome in response to that jab.
"You protected us earlier, didn't you? Why did you do that?" Kagome questioned, getting a half shrug from the Taiyoukai as an answer.
"No idea." Sesshomaru muttered, as he gripped his injured arm with his good hand and doubled over slightly.
"Sesshomaru-sama!" Jaken yelped, breaking his unusual silence and rushing to his master's side just as quickly as Kagome did. It was then that Kagome could see just how serious Sesshomaru's wounds truly were.
"This looks bad….Really bad….He's lost so much blood already, and his arm has been broken and dislocated….Even he won't last much longer, at this rate!" Kagome thought, as she started tearing the blood-soaked sleeve off of Sesshomaru's kimono.
"What do you think you're doing, wench! Defaming Sesshomaru-sama!" Jaken shouted, enraged by Kagome's audacity.
"No, I'm gonna see if I can make a tourniquet with this sleeve….Try to stop him from losing any more blood….You don't want your lord to bleed to death, do you?" Kagome in turn asked, rhetorically.
"N-no…." Jaken replied, dumbfounded by the girl's courage in the face of such odds.
"Then shut up and let me do this!" Kagome said, repeating almost word-for-word what Inu-Yasha had just told her a few moments before. As she tore the sleeve into strips to be used for the tourniquet and bandages, Kagome's thoughts then turned to Inu-Yasha.
"Please hurry, Inu-Yasha….and please be careful."
……………………………………..
Inu-Yasha glared at the bone beast as he strode back into battle.
"Let's get this over with." Inu-Yasha mused, straightening when he felt the Tetsusaiga throb in his hand.
"What the……! Tetsusaiga is….pulsing…." Inu-Yasha muttered, as he stared at the sword in his hand. Just what did this mean? Was Tetsusaiga about to awaken? He didn't get the chance to think any further on the subject, when the bone beast lunged at him; renewing its' mindless attack.
"Now! Strike!" a voice shouted, in the back of Inu-Yasha's mind.
"Now!" Inu-Yasha repeated, as he charged at the beast and slashed valiantly at it. To his amazement, the sword responded; cutting through dead bone and blowing the monster back a good distance before Inu-Yasha landed directly opposite it. With wonder in his eyes, Inu-Yasha gazed up at the blade that was his inheritance; and was stunned to discover that it had indeed transformed. No longer was it the rusty, derelict blade he and Kagome had found on the dais….now, it was a mighty fang.
"The old man really did leave something worthwhile!" Inu-Yasha mused, quite aware that Sesshomaru had seen the blade's transformation, and was a bit put off by it.
"Now, all I've gotta do is drive this thing back enough for us to get the heck outta here!" Inu-Yasha thought, as he attacked again; driving the beast back down and making sure it stayed down till they could all escape.
"Kagome! Get Sesshomaru ready to go! We're getting out of here right now!" Inu-Yasha shouted, hoping the schoolgirl could hear him. To his relief, he saw Kagome help Sesshomaru get to his feet and rush to his side as quickly as she could go, with Jaken close behind the both of them.
"On my back, both of you!" Inu-Yasha ordered, getting a dry look from Sesshomaru as a reaction to that command.
"You sure you can carry us, hanyou?" Sesshomaru asked, his deadpan expression from before returning with a vengeance.
"Feh. Watch me." Inu-Yasha replied, as he waited for them to grab onto his shoulders and carry them to safety. Without another word, Sesshomaru quietly followed Kagome's lead and got onto the hanyou's back; gritting his teeth when the move sent brand-like pain through his lacerated arm.
"Milord!" Jaken said, concerned when the pain actually appeared in Sesshomaru's eyes.
"I am fine, Jaken…..Hurry up, hanyou, before the beast gets its wind again." Sesshomaru stated, getting a growl that sounded distinctly like 'Bite me' before Inu-Yasha took off running.
"Over here, Inu-Yasha-sama! Over here!" Myoga's voice shouted, getting their attention.
"What the heck…..!" Inu-Yasha said, as he looked that way. To their surprise, three bone birds waited.
"Looks like you won't have to carry us after all, hanyou." Sesshomaru muttered, smirking slightly when his half-brother snarled a few unsavory words under his breath and headed over to where the flea waited.
……………………….
Kagome sighed as she and Kaede finished treating Sesshomaru's wounds. The Taiyoukai was now resting on a futon a villager had brought over for that purpose; his arm having been stitched closed, and the bones snapped back into alignment.
"Even for a youkai as powerful as he, these wounds will require time to heal….He's fortunate that he didn't lose his arm in battle, but infection could still claim it." Kaede murmured, gravely, as she watched the pale features of the sleeping Sesshomaru carefully.
"Yeah…..Do you think he'll be able to use that arm, even if it does heal?" Kagome asked.
"No telling. It will be sore and painful for a while, but I am certain he'll come out all right." Kaede responded, knowing that Kagome wanted to hear at least some good news.
"He'll be happy to hear that, I'm sure." Kagome murmured, as she placed a cool, damp cloth on Sesshomaru's brow, then stood and started to gather her things.
"Headin' out?" Kaede asked, as she watched the reborn miko heft her almost overstuffed knapsack onto her back.
"Hai. Still have a lot of Jewel Shards to find, after all…and Inu-Yasha isn't one of the most patient of people." Kagome said, with a slight laugh, as the impatient voice of the hanyou demanded for her to hurry up.
"True enough…..Yet, what shall I tell the elder brother when he wakes up and finds you both gone?" Kaede asked, as she glanced at Sesshomaru warily for added emphasis.
"Just tell him the truth, and which direction we went in. It'll ultimately be his decision what he wants to do after that." Kagome stated, calmly.
"True enough. Have a safe journey, child." Kaede said, as she watched the girl step outside.
"You bet. See you soon." Kagome replied, before she jogged outside, got on her bike, and rode off; with Inu-Yasha alighting on the back of it and riding with her; not realizing that their future had just been drastically changed….as well as the meaning of their quest.
Author's Note!
Yeah, I realize that this fic is going to be off on so many levels (as far as the Inu-Yasha purists are concerned, anyway) but for those who can imagine it, it's an idea as to what could have happened. From here on out, I have no idea where this story is going to go…..But Sounga is going to play a much larger role in future events. Stay tuned!
Gemini14