Chapter Three
Sesshomaru paused when he reached the boundary of the Thunder Brothers' territory; instincts and common sense telling him to remain just beyond it and wait for reinforcements.
"As it is, I am going to have to depend on Inu-Yasha's ability to wield the Tetsusaiga until my arm has healed completely...It is still too weak to take any head-on fighting." Sesshomaru mused, as he gazed at the still-distant stronghold of the thunder youkai and growled softly under his breath. He hated having to rely on anyone else's strength!
"Especially the strength of an otherwise useless hanyou!" Sesshomaru mentally grumbled, turning when he heard the approach of his brother, the kitsune and Jaken .
"Sesshomaru-sama! It is such a relief to see that you are alive!" Jaken shouted, joyfully, before Sesshomaru silenced him by a kick to the head.
"Where's Kagome?" Inu-Yasha asked, angry that the Taiyoukai hadn't done anything to rescue her yet.
"Within the stronghold." Sesshomaru responded, then added, "They didn't get the Jewel Shard the miko was carrying with her, did they?"
"No. Shippou managed to keep it from them. Why? Looking to steal it yourself?" Inu-Yasha questioned, testily.
"Idiot. You should know, just from what the kitsune has already told us, that that shard could mean the difference between victory and being roasted alive." Sesshomaru said, remembering his near-misses in his short confrontation against Manten, and the near-fatal final strike.
"Speaking of being roasted, milord, it looks as though you have encountered some of the lightning of one of the Brothers already." Jaken pointed out, noticing what Inu-Yasha had missed; the scent of singed skin, clothes and armor still clung to the Taiyoukai's person.
"That's because he saved Kagome and me from Manten! Right, Sesshomaru-sama?" Shippou asked, looking to the other youkai for a confirmation. Sesshomaru gave him an odd look, then sighed and nodded.
"The pup speaks the truth. Unfortunately." Sesshomaru muttered, getting a surprised look from Inu-Yasha, and ignoring it as he glanced back at the Thunder Brothers' stronghold.
"I never took you for being the type to go out of your way to help humans, Sesshomaru." Inu-Yasha murmured, a little subdued by Sesshomaru's admittance to that fact...but not too much.
"Think what you will, Inu-Yasha, but do so quickly. The girl may be in danger of being eaten, the longer she remains in their hands." Sesshomaru stated, as realization dawned on Myoga's tiny face.
"That's right! Please hurry, Inu-Yasha-sama!" Myoga urged, then silently added, "And please work together with your brother, for once." Without any further words, the two brothers raced into the thunder youkai's territory; fully aware of the danger of doing so.
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Hiten smirked as he watched the intruding Taiyoukai and hanyou rush into his tribe's boundary. It had been many years since he and his younger brother had last encountered Sesshomaru, and that long-ago defeat still enraged them.
"How we have longed for the day when we could kill the one who had so humiliated us! Luck is finally with us!" Hiten thought, as he motioned to Manten to begin the attack. With a wide grin, Manten nodded and flew off; eager to begin the battle.
"Soon, Taiyoukai of the West...Soon you will feel the wrath of the Thunder Brothers!" Hiten muttered, as he took off after his younger brother; equally as excited to shed the Dog General's sons' blood upon the parched earth.
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Inu-Yasha and Sesshomaru barely had enough time to leap aside when a huge bolt of lightning arced down from the heavens and struck the ground where they had been standing.
"Very impressive maneuver, dodging my brother's lightning bolt just now...I expected nothing less of the great Taiyoukai, but the hanyou's ability surprised me!" Hiten crowed, smirking when he saw that he'd gotten a rise out of Inu-Yasha.
"Don't let him goad you, hanyou. It would do no-one any good if you flew headlong and heedless into battle." Sesshomaru murmured.
"Shut up, I know! Ya don't have to remind me!" Inu-Yasha retorted, then shouted up at the sneering youkai above them, "Where's Kagome?"
"Don't despair!" Hiten replied, with a laugh, "We have done nothing to her, as of yet."
"We cannot take you at your word. Show her to us." Sesshomaru demanded, his eyes narrowing as he said those words; silently wondering why he was so concerned about the girl's safety.
"Fine then. Manten!" Hiten called, as his brother emerged from behind another storm cloud and flew towards him.
"Behold!" Manten crowed, as he allowed Kagome to peek over the edge of the cloud he was sitting on.
"Inu-Yasha! Sesshomaru-sama!" Kagome called, glad to see the former, and relieved to see that the latter was still alive.
"Kagome!" Inu-Yasha shouted, his relief easily seen on his youthful features. And, even though he himself didn't show it on the outside, Sesshomaru felt some trace of relief emerge within him when he saw that the strange miko was all right.
"At least they haven't hurt her yet." Inu-Yasha mused, unaware that Sesshomaru was thinking almost the same thing.
"Judging from your expression it seems the girl had spoken the truth! Now, hand over the Jewel fragments to me or you'll never see your lover again!" Hiten shouted, not expecting the reactions he got from the brothers below him. Inu-Yasha's expression deadpanned, and his eyes widened; while Sesshomaru hid a smile behind one hand and laughed softly at Inu-Yasha's expense.
"See my lover...?" Inu-Yasha muttered, not hearing when Kagome murmured something under her breath about 'some people not being able to take a joke', nor Sesshomaru's soft laughter.
"Uh, there must be some kind of misunderstanding...Let me get this straight; you and me are supposed to be lovers?" Inu-Yasha asked, giving Sesshomaru a dirty look when he finally heard the Taiyoukai's snickering at his discomfiture.
"This is no time to get shy!" Kagome retorted.
"Yes, hanyou. Admit it." Sesshomaru sneered, actually showing some humor in his amber eyes as he teased his half-brother.
"Shaddup, Sesshomaru!" Inu-Yasha shouted, then, returning his attention to the Thunder Brothers, added, "And you actually think I'd hand over the Jewel Shards as a ransom to get you back? You've gotta be kiddin'!"
"What's this? Of course you would, 'cause that's what a lover would do!" Kagome retorted, as Manten backpedaled away from her (or, as far away as he could get, considering how small the cloud they were sitting on was). Sesshomaru sighed and shook his head; they were getting nowhere fast. As amusing as the argument was, they were still no closer to rescuing the miko.
"I can only hope that I will be able to move quick enough to avoid their lightning." Sesshomaru mused, looking up when the Hiten spoke to them again.
"I believe I have heard my fill. It's clear that you do have some jewels for us, Inu-Yasha. Jewels that will be mine!" Hiten shouted, as he dove in for the attack. With a quick leap, Sesshomaru left Inu-Yasha's side, and made for the cloud where Kagome was being held.
"Not so fast, Taiyoukai!" Manten bellowed, as he fired another bolt of lightning at him. Snarling in pain as the bolt burnt his skin, Sesshomaru boldly charged through the electricity; crossing his arms in front of his face to shield his eyes as he went.
"Sesshomaru-sama!" Kagome, Jaken, and Shippou yelped, watching in stunned shock as the current Lord of the Western Lands deftly plucked Kagome from the stormcloud and then descended to the ground with effortless grace.
"You wretch! Come back here!" Manten roared, furiously, as he flew after the Taiyoukai and miko.
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Kagome looked up when she heard what sounded like pained gasps coming from between Sesshomaru's lips, and felt alarm when she saw blood trickling from the corners of his mouth.
"Sesshomaru-sama?" Kagome asked, voicing her concern, when he took cover behind a stony outcrop, and carefully set her down onto her feet again.
"It is nothing, miko...Do not concern yourself over me. Concentrate on the battle at hand." Sesshomaru replied as he wiped the blood from his mouth, then thought, with an almost imperceptible wince, "I must have inhaled some of the lightning..."
"I wish I had my bow and arrows! I could probably help in some way if I had them!" Kagome said, frustrated by her lack of weapons in this battle.
"There is the arrow that is in the younger brother's nose..." Sesshomaru suggested. Kagome's features brightened.
"You're right! But...I don't have a bow to fire it from." Kagome said, remembering that particular 'loophole'. She'd lost track of her bow and quiver some time before she'd been knocked unconscious and kidnapped by Manten
"That's where I can come in! I can transform into a bow, Kagome!" Shippou volunteered, eager to help his rescuers out of their tight spot.
"Then we had better implement our plan soon, if we are to help the hanyou get out of the situation he's in now." Sesshomaru muttered, gritting his teeth when the sound of metal grinding against metal shrieked across the battlefield; signaling that Inu-Yasha was still in mortal combat with the elder of the Thunder and Lightning brothers.
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Inu-Yasha stood poised as Hiten pulled back for a moment; the Tetsusaiga gleaming in the afterglow of Hiten's lightning. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Sesshomaru and Kagome considered their next courses of action; feeling something akin to alarm when he saw them leave the supposed safety of their hiding place.
"What're you doin' ! Have you lost your minds!" Inu-Yasha shouted, just seconds before Hiten attacked again. Neither the human nor youkai lord responded, but he did get a momentary glance from Sesshomaru that said 'Worry about your own skin' a few seconds before another lightning bolt obliterated the ground between them.
"You have power, but no style! This should be an interesting battle, indeed!" Hiten crowed, eager to continue the fight.
"And hopefully your last...Hurry and get Kagome outta here, Sesshomaru." Inu-Yasha thought, as he glared at the elder Thunder Brother; knowing that the outcome of this battle was far from certain...
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"So, Taiyoukai, are you ready to die?" Manten asked, as he faced the current Lord of the Western Lands.
"Not quite...Besides, I have every intention to die in battle against a powerful opponent. Not an ugly, demented, half-powered cur such as yourself." Sesshomaru sneered, knowing that every word was hitting Manten in just the right places within his ego.
"You arrogant wretch! Feel the wrath of the skies!" Manten roared, as he let loose a powerful blast of lightning in Sesshomaru's direction.
"Now!" Sesshomaru shouted, as he leaped to avoid the attack; wincing as his breath seared throat and lungs that had taken the brunt of the earlier attack.
"Fox Magic!" Shippou shouted, as he unleashed what appeared to be a top onto Manten's head, and as it enlarged and ground the ugly brother into the dirt. With a quickness that was more along the lines of desperation, Kagome rushed from her hiding place, snatched the arrow, climbed onto Sesshomaru's back, and raced away so they could implement the second part of their plan.
"Nice move down there." Kagome commented, as she gave Shippou a quick 'thumb's up' to show her approval.
"It was nothin'" Shippou replied, with a grin.
"Don't get...too cocksure yet...pup. Manten...is still too close...for comfort." Sesshomaru gasped. And his point was proven, not too long afterwards.
"EVERY LAST ONE OF MY HAIRS HAS FALLEN!" Manten's voice bellowed, as he sent a huge bolt of lightning skywards, following the sounds of Sesshomaru's footsteps with frightening accuracy.
"Curse him! His madness has made his senses even sharper!" Sesshomaru thought, as he leaped behind an outcrop that still had some trees, and allowed his two 'passengers' to get back on the ground.
"Are you all right, Sesshomaru-sama?" Kagome asked, when she'd noticed that the youkai lord was wheezing painfully.
"Do not...worry about me...miko. Be more concerned...about your own skin." Sesshomaru growled, coughing when talking irritated his burnt esophagus and lungs; and managing to get a look of alarm from Kagome and Shippou when he choked up more blood.
"We're not leaving you behind, no matter what you say." Kagome said, stubbornly, as she used her handkerchief to wipe the blood from Sesshomaru's lips and face; effectively surprising him. Then his shocked expression became a thoughtful one.
"You are a very strange woman...miko. You don't fear me... and you hardly even respect me... What is it that makes you so bold?" Sesshomaru questioned, getting a whimsical shrug from the girl before him, and a bit of a smile.
"It's just part of who I am, Sesshomaru-sama." Kagome responded, honestly.
"I'm inclined to believe it." Sesshomaru muttered, as he listened closely for their enemy, and ushering both girl and fox kit to him when Manten's footsteps and grumblings got even closer.
"I want you both to hang on to me." Sesshomaru ordered, keeping his voice low, so it wouldn't irritate his internal wounds. Kagome and Shippou both nodded, and gripped his armor. Steeling himself for another mad dash, Sesshomaru steadied his painful breathing, then took off; just seconds before the copse was destroyed by Manten.
"Get back here! Die like the wretch you are!" Manten roared.
"Feh. Not a chance!" Sesshomaru retorted; not caring, at this point, that he'd sounded like Inu-Yasha in his response. He was in too much pain, and was far too angry, to actually give a damn.
"Miko, I certainly hope your aim is up to the challenge!" Sesshomaru stated, as he skidded to a halt, lowered Kagome to the ground, and watched as Shippou assumed a...snail-like shape.
"A snail?" Kagome asked, bewildered by this development.
"I thought you'd told the miko that you could change into a bow." Sesshomaru grumbled.
"I am a bow!" Shippou retorted.
"Well, be that as it may...fire when ready, Miko." Sesshomaru ordered, as he readied himself for an attack, in case she missed. A chance neither of them would not get, since Manten had somehow sensed what was in store for him.
"You actually think I would fall for the same trick twice, cur?" Manten sneered, as he rushed them, backhanded the Taiyoukai away from the young miko and kitsune, blasted him with another lightning bolt, then turned his attention to strangling Kagome.
"I-Inu-Yasha...Help me!" Kagome choked, when she heard Sesshomaru's body hit the ground to the right of her, and go limp.
"And please forgive me for not being fast enough, Sesshomaru-sama." Kagome thought, bitterly, knowing that, even though he'd been a powerful youkai, there was no earthly way he could have survived a point-blank blast like that.
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"Sesshomaru...Is there someone...you wish to protect?"
"Father...I don't know...what you mean..." Sesshomaru responded, as he floated lifelessly in the nothingness; in too much pain to do much more than think...and remember.
"I believe you do." Inu-Taisho's voice replied, calmly, as images appeared before Sesshomaru's mind's eye; Inu-Yasha at the mercy of Hiten's Thunder Pike, Shippou leaping up and sinking his fangs into Manten's thick, fleshy neck in a vain attempt to get Kagome free, Inu-Yasha throwing blades of blood at Hiten in an attempt to distract him and get the Tetsusaiga back, then throwing said sword, and impaling Manten with it's length, freeing Kagome from his grasp.
"Not a bad throw, for a hanyou." Sesshomaru idly thought, briefly wondering how it could be that he was seeing these things, since he was currently barely even conscious.
"Sesshomaru. Those you have just seen are the ones you can protect with your own strength...and, in so doing, make yourself stronger." Inu-Taisho murmured, as he appeared before his eldest son and gave him a sad smile.
"Make me stronger? But wouldn't having someone to protect make me weaker? Look where it got you, Father. I'm not even sure you're still alive." Sesshomaru stated, his bitterness and grief easily heard and seen. Inu-Taisho gently shook his head, reached out, and ruffled Sesshomaru's silver hair; an action that caused a bittersweet nostalgia to arise within the current Taiyoukai.
"I don't know exactly where I am sleeping right now, my son, but I can assure you that I am indeed alive. When I will awaken, is anyone's guess really. All I can tell you is this; do not die here, Sesshomaru-taisho. You are still needed by those you are now traveling with...and others you will meet along the way." Inu-Taisho said, sternly, then added, "Don't let me down, my son."
I'll try not to, Father." Sesshomaru replied, as his mind struggled to return to consciousness.
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"Inu-Yasha-sama, you must be even more careful than you were before! Hiten bit into his brother's head to fuse the Sacred Jewel Shards with his own body." Myoga stated, then added, "And we no longer have the aid of Sesshomaru-sama in this fight." They could see where the Taiyoukai's body now lay; and even Inu-Yasha felt remorse for the way everything had happened.
"How dare you strike down my beloved brother? I shall not stop till I have repaid the deed!" Hiten snarled, as he approached them; his eyes blazing with grief and fury.
"And I'll pay you back for killing my brother, as well." Inu-Yasha heard himself mumble, as he strode forward with only the sheath of the Tetsusaiga in hand.
"His Thunder Pike is even stronger than before...and I have a real fight on my hands..." Inu-Yasha mused, knowing by instinct that the stakes were much higher than before...and more costly than he could imagine.
Author's Note!
I have no idea why this chapter turned out this way...All I can say is that I'm not exactly pleased with it. If it doesn't make any sense, please, let me know!
Gemini14