[Irises I]
At hearing her stomach growl, the other two paused and looked at the sheepish she-wolf.
"You can't be hungry at a time like this…" He resisted mopping his hand over his face at her ill timing.
She huffed and scowled at him, "Well excuse me for smelling cooking toad! It's not my fault your nose isn't as sharp as mine."
"We haven't eaten cooked newt in years… Besides, if worse comes to worse we can feed Jaken to whatever idiotic demon crosses our path. Cooked toad is pretty good next to newt." Her sister lamented as she gestured to the imp who'd gone ahead to look for the smithy.
Sesshomaru chose to stride after the imp's lead instead of get into another argument with his fiancé and heard both sisters follow. "I don't think that would be a good barter, Kori." He would admit she was easier to get along with than her sister, ironically.
Getsu stuck her tongue out when he turned his back on her, looking ahead at the clearly-vacant skeleton of a demon that had been fortified as a shelter, musing, "Guess he's not home…"
Korihime rolled her eyes when Jaken flinched at their arrival and began apologizing to his master, sniffing the air with a raised brow. He can't be far off, then, she thought.
"…The smithy Totosai is a funny man, as I've heard he won't make a sword for someone he doesn't like." Jaken admitted.
"Hence there not being a new shiny sword for you… I think Totosai-san and I'll get along just fine!" Getsu said brightly, earning a stifled snort from her sister before she turned to gather their steed. "Come on, he can't have gotten far." She added as she too had caught the smithy's scent.
Sesshomaru smiled ruefully, earning a wince from his servant, before he followed the sisters. Unpredictable as ever, he thought as his gold eyes fell on her head of ebony in the lead.
o0o
The flea looked on his friend, "I've never heard this! Describe him."
"He's got white hair and wears a big furry stole, and nice clothes…" the smithy answered thoughtfully.
He deadpanned, "So he's another old geezer like you?"
"Well he didn't look old to me!" He scoffed.
She poked her head in, "Hang on, if he's not old and he wants a sword stronger than the Tetsusaiga…"
"You forgot to mention that he's an ass." She lamented, making everyone startle to which she snickered at, waving when six sets of eyes rounded on her. "Been a while!"
Bristling, he stomped up to her, "What the hell was that for? Ya scared the crap out of me, Korihime!"
Conking him between the eyes with her bow, the younger she-wolf regarded him calmly, "I see you're as loud as ever too, InuYasha. Nearly yelled my damn ear off with your barking…" She said.
"Kori-chan, what brings you here?" Kagome asked as the brained half-breed grumbled behind her and rubbed his head gingerly.
Korihime smiled when she received a hug from the kitsune and answered, "We went to look for some old smithy and followed his scent here… Okay, me and Onee-chan, given our noses are sharper than his." She raised a brow when the old smithy near her stiffened as three out of the four of the odd group shared a look. "What's that for…?"
"He's here!" Totosai said grimly as he looked heavenward, making the others look as well to see said awaited dog demon descending towards them astride Ah-Un.
"Sesshomaru!" InuYasha bristled on reflex at seeing his brother present.
The demon slayer frowned, "Who is he?"
"InuYasha's older brother… and my fiancé." Getsu lamented as she came to join them, pretending she didn't startle the three humans. "I thought my sister had spooked you lot already…"
Sesshomaru briefly raised a brow, "So, Totosai, you decided to betray me by dealing with that half-breed."
"To punish you, yes!" Totosai amended, earning a glance from the older she-wolf.
He was either insane or crafty to mouth off to Sesshomaru like that… She hoped on the latter.
"You sound like you're wanting to die early, Totosai!" He accused calmly as the smithy ducked behind his brother again.
Said smithy remarked from behind his shield, "W-well not really… Maybe after you beat InuYasha I'll make that sword for you after all..."
"Seriously?" The younger she-wolf demanded as she and his shield rounded on him whereas her sister mopped a hand over her face.
He scoffed as he hopped off the dragon, "Don't forget what you just said, Totosai… Did you hear, InuYasha? He'll forge a sword for me in the imminent event of your death." He then descended to strike at his brother.
"It's imminent that they're both idiots…" The older she-wolf said as she and the humans plus her sister had decided to stand clear of the two siblings.
The younger she-wolf nodded sagely, "I'm pretty sure it's hereditary... Can't help but wonder if the great general was as foolhardy as his sons at one point. Father never said anything, either…" She mopped a hand over her face when the older of the two moved out of the way of the younger's blow before knocking him back in time to punch him in the stomach and send him flying. "… Maybe you were right from the beginning, Getsu."
"Huh, he's not good at all. Oi Myoga, has InuYasha honestly mastered the Tetsusaiga?" Totosai wondered as he looked at the vassal on his shoulder.
Myoga replied sheepishly, "Well he's trying…"
"Of course he has! Besides, every time they duke it out, Sesshomaru is usually the one being beaten by InuYasha!" Kagome defended.
Totosai looked at her, "Are you quite sure you're not the one who's dreaming, miss?" He then apologized when she conked him with his own mallet in response.
Sesshomaru looked at the smithy, "Don't you feel an ounce of pity for the Tetsusaiga, Totosai? It's been reduced to a giant club that InuYasha swings around. A sword can live or die depending on who wields it."
Unfortunately, he has a point, Getsu thought as InuYasha got back up to rush at his brother with the heirloom sword swinging.
"You still don't intend on making a sword for me, Totosai?" Sesshomaru wondered blandly as he stalled his brother by letting the poison in his claws burn the other's wrist.
"No way!" Totosai declined as he spouted a wide flamethrower from his mouth, missing one brother and unfortunately burning the other.
The former landed nimbly on the other side of the small firewall and asked again, "So you refuse to make me a sword?"
"Keep your mouth shut, you overgrown dog! I've already fashioned a fine sword for you, the Tensaiga. That sword was one I made from one of your father's fangs. The Tensaiga for the older and Tetsusaiga for the younger, that was his last will! That is a sword of swords, no greater or less than the Tetsusaiga, so you should love it more than you currently do." Totosai stated pointedly.
Miroku looked at the priestess, "That's odd, given in previous battles before now I've never seen Sesshomaru draw the sword from its scabbard."
"Totosai was the one who forged both swords, though… Getsu-chan, you know more about Sesshomaru than any of us, why doesn't he use the sword he was given?" Kagome agreed before looking at both sisters.
Getsu looked past the flames and frowned, "Well, it's kind of a long story…"
"Are you saying that I'm only worthy of this useless sword that can't cut?" Sesshomaru demanded coldly of the smithy.
"Well if you're that angry, then I guess I'll take my leave!" Totosai laughed nervously before he slammed the mallet down on the ground and created a wide pond of lava that separated them from the dog demon.
Korihime looked at her sister, "I'll stay with them, go deal with your husband-to-be." She smirked.
Getsu made a face and nodded, "Have fun dealing with the old sod." She then whistled for the dragon and hopped up when it hovered above, disappearing into the smoke-filled sky.
o0o
"She should choose a side, you realize."
"She's not my child, she can go where she pleases. Why is that such a problem with you?"
"It isn't, I'm only saying because you're older… as well as head of your clan."
She almost stopped walking and instead bristled as she remarked, "What clan… They died with my parents, remember? Korihime and I are the only ones left in the north."
"Regardless you were born to be the head of your clan when your father passed on… To the world, you're still Getsuei Lady of the West." He said matter-of-factly, choosing not to add that she would inherit the entire west when they were to marry. "Your pedigree exists even if you run from it."
She exhaled shortly, "As much as I loved my father and mother, I can't see being poised and primped and combed like a damned doll. Despite what you've been led to think since your father told you you'd be marrying me." She wouldn't conform to what he wanted, to what anyone wanted of her, not a chance in hell.
"I would've thought that exact thing if I had never met you before fifty years ago." He huffed, noticing she calmed slightly when hearing him, "I wager not even your father knew how unpredictable you were." Of course he would admit he was beginning to like that about her… As long as it wasn't at his expense.
Getsu's eyes briefly softened before she closed them and sighed, "That was the nicest thing you've said within the last fifty years… Of course, it's not that easy. Can't bed me with those sweet words of yours, my dear lord." She opened her eyes to catch the somewhat flustered scowl he had on his face and she smiled serenely before bouncing ahead of him along the green bar of the marsh.
Closing his mouth, Sesshomaru pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. "It would be easier…" Of course, both sisters were hardly that loose from the stories he'd heard in the past.
"I had all-but forgotten about your sword being forged from your father's fang, Milord. Although I'm extremely curious about its true power! It's almost like both swords are brothers… O-oh, but I in no way meant to compare the swords to you and InuYasha…!" Jaken declared nervously.
"You truly want to know, Jaken…?" Sesshomaru wondered as the imp turned to him while he drew the sword from its scabbard.
Getsu huffed, "I've actually heard little about it myself…" Her ears perked when hearing the sword swing on the imp and she turned to see him be felled with a shocked look on his face. "Oi, I know he's an irritant sometimes but you didn't need to act so rashly, Sesshomaru…"
"Get up, Jaken." He ordered calmly as the imp balked at realizing he wasn't dead and watched him scramble to his feet.
"That's interesting; Totosai-san mentioned something about the Tensaiga, that it can't cut. But I've never seen a sword that can't kill." She pondered before her ears twitched as bubbling sounded from the pond on their right, and she raised both brows as a slithering dragon rose up from the churning waters with a roar. She huffed as the imp flailed and scrambled behind his master, drawing her sword before leaping out of the way of its tail. "You're rather noisy, aren't you!" She swung the blade sharply from the left.
A wide arc of teal energy screamed at the beast and ripped the left side off with the head included. Both demons landed nimbly on the marsh bank as the dragon's sliced remains dropped into the shallow water before them.
"My father told me a handful of times about that sword. Forged from your great-grandmother's fang, she called it the Mangetsuga in reverence to your clan's glory." Sesshomaru mused as moonlight winked off the silvery blade, his gold eyes traveling from the sword up the arm to rest on her suddenly pensive silver eyes.
Getsu afforded a tiny smile and returned the heirloom to its place at her hip, raising a brow when he approached the dead dragon.
Lifting the severed left arm, Sesshomaru looked over at her, "At least one heirloom has been of use tonight."
Maybe slaying the dragon wasn't such a good idea.
o0o
Wincing when the blade rang like a shrill chime, she sharply looked at her sister. "What possessed him to grab a dragon's paw, and where did he get it anyway?" She asked.
"Long story short, I got rid of a pest." Her sister explained dryly before watching as their leader knocked his brother back again and then again to send him skidding into the ground yards away. "He'll break the sword if he keeps striking it like this, though…"
"InuYasha!" The demon slayer started to go to his aid when a clawed hand grabbed her arm and she looked at the younger of the two sisters, "Korihime…"
"Let him fight with what honor he has, Sango! He's gotten this far without any help, he'll be okay." She assured patiently, looking past her at the fighting siblings. I hope, anyway, for his sake.
"Or die trying, you mean." Her sister agreed before she watched with surprise as the younger of the brothers blocked a strike from the older using his forehead. "Holy… He's protecting Tetsusaiga from being broken…!"
There were times when she didn't have an ounce of faith in his ability to be more than what he had born to be, but this was not one of those times.
"I can smell the wind scraping…!" The hanyou's voiced thought perked both sisters' ears as everyone watched in amazement as he sent a blast of yellow energy screaming at where his brother was.
"He did it, he saw the Wind Scar!" She said in awe, perking up when her sister broke away to rush into the battle, "Getsu!" She exclaimed.
"Sesshomaru!" Unsure if it was her emotions or lesser half commanding she go to him, the older she-wolf latched onto his arm just as they disappeared in a dark blue ball of light.
you guys... you guys are the BEST! 10 follows already? wow i mean... s/o to Squishy97 for the first review, and also to just-go-with-it7 and coeurdetenebre too for the latest follow(s) and fave! i'm glad you guys love this fic :)) elsewise not much to put but that this chapter has a second half. lates!