A/N: howdy ya'll! Hope everyone's doing well lol thanks for the awesome reviews left for the last chapter! I hope to hear what ya'll think of this one too :)
ALSO! For this chapter, the song 'The Coming of War' from the Memoirs of a Geisha soundtrack was a big inspiration.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
This chapter was edited by my beta and re-uploaded on 6/30/2018.
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Chapter six: The Coming of War
The room, opulent and weighted with centuries of proud heritage, had never been as intimidating or overwhelming for Sesshoumaru as it was in that moment. He stood tall and impressively stoic before a gathering of his Inu-Youkai brethren, as well as royal figures from the other three Youkai Kingdoms. Beautiful faces, which all seemed to belie the deadly abilities lying dormant behind them, were turned towards the newly anointed Inu-No-Taisho, whom by all accounts was still considered but a pup in comparison to his elder peers. In all the years of Youkai history, there had never been a Taisho as young as Sesshoumaru Tsuyo. It was unprecedented and broke tradition, which unnerved the boy-king with such intensity that he now suffered from all-consuming anxiety during his every waking moment, not that it ever showed on the cold veneer of his mask.
Touga's death had been abrupt and jarring, betraying all sense of decency where it concerned the ways of war and politics. Youkai Lords now feared for their own lives, with good reason, as Touga had been the undeniably strongest among them. If he could succumb to the Ningen, what sort of hope did any Youkai have now? Though Sesshoumaru had only just reached his seventeenth year, he was approaching the same milestones of one day growing as strong as his father. Unfortunately, he was decades from attaining the life experience and maturity that were integral to be considered a respected and successful Taisho.
Without a father to teach him, the responsibility fell onto the Koshitsu Nyotei, Touga's dowager empress, Kimi Tsuyo. Though she was suffering a great deal from the loss of her mate, who was meant to be at her side for many more centuries, Kimi knew that the Inu-Youkai needed a strong pair of leaders to see them through the remainder of the War and into a brighter future. At night, as they lay in their respective beds, both Kimi and Sesshoumaru were plagued by their own unique mixture of sadness, frustration, and fear. Whatever affection Kimi once had towards a select few Ningen had been dashed with the assassination of her mate, and now she thirsted for revenge. Her son battled with his own conflicted feelings, and he now had to decide which direction to take. While he carried the same thirst for vengeance as his mother, Sesshoumaru also could not so easily forget his affections towards Kagome Higurashi, for his damned beast wouldn't let him.
Kimi and Sesshoumaru took to wearing mostly white, as was appropriate for mourning the death of a loved one, and she looked ethereally beautiful without the extravagant colors and jewelry that usually adorned her body. Sesshoumaru appeared beyond his years now, and he seemed poised and ready to strike down anyone who might dare stand against him. The Koshitsu Nyotei knelt behind her son on their dais, cushioned by silk pillows, and kept her saffron colored eyes cast towards his imposing form. Had she not known better, Kimi might have thought that it was her dearly departed mate addressing the crowd. Sesshoumaru carried himself with the same cold detachment that usually pervaded the space around Touga when he was in public like this. It made her chest swell with both motherly pride and sorrow; though none of that inner-turmoil affected her indifferent persona.
"Well, Inu-No-Taisho…what are you going to do?" A blunt and disruptive Neko-Koshaku spoke out through the quietness, giving voice to the question everyone had on their minds. Sesshoumaru's goldenrod eyes cut across the room to stare the older Youkai down, meeting his challenge with a wordless threat of what would come from more disrespect. It was a question that had to be addressed, but the answer he gave did nothing to settle the raging anger inside him.
"We will return the slight against us tenfold. It was foolish of us to believe the Ningen would refrain from directly attacking a Taisho, but I refuse to let them go unpunished. As of this day forward, we will increase our efforts to subdue and dominate them. We will not stop until they no longer possess the strength to even get up off their knees. They will buckle beneath the heel of my boot and regret ever taking up arms against us." The words were not his own, but those of his embittered mother. However, they were exactly what the Youkai Kingdoms needed to hear as a rallying cry. Sesshoumaru watched the other three Taisho nod in agreement, and a general sense of excitement and desperation thickened the air; the Youkai wanted blood for blood.
There was one individual, a thirteen-year-old bastard Hanyou seated next to the woman who merely tolerated his existence, who had to bite his cheek to hold back his vicious opinions on the matter. Fierce amber eyes refused to leave his brother's determined face, and Inuyasha could not wait for the first opportunity to rail against Sesshoumaru's near-sighted decision.
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"What about Kagome?! She and Tora-sama had nothing to do with Otou-san's death! If you attack the palace and kill her family, she'll never forgive us!" Inuyasha pleaded with his elder brother in the safe confines of the office their father once presided. It was stocked with scrolls and ancient weapons, serving as a secure place to discuss military and political strategies. The entire palace had been designed and built to account for heightened Youkai senses, making it possible for the residents to have secrecy and anonymity in their discussions and activities. It was early in the morning, when the night was at its darkest, when the visiting Youkai from other Kingdoms finally took their leave; they had been deliberating for the past day and night about the best course of action. With his demanding guests having vacated, Sesshoumaru finally had a moment to collect his own thoughts in the privacy of his father's, now his, office. He had just broken the wax seal of an unread missive when Inuyasha came unceremoniously barging in.
"She's of no concern to us. They may have been our allies in the past, but they now side with those who murdered him. I cannot sacrifice the safety of our own for two insignificant Ningen." Barely able to keep a check on his own temper, Sesshoumaru spoke in a clipped tone as he stared accusingly at the scroll unraveled in his lap. He did not want to lash out at his younger brother, but the remains of his patience were dwindling to almost nothing. Inuyasha, who would be turning fourteen in just a few weeks, was not yet wise enough to know when to pick his battles.
"Insignificant? Kagome grew up with us! She was our closest friend and was gonna mate one of us! Why is it so easy for you to have her killed?!" With each word, Inuyasha's pubescent voice lifted higher and louder with his growing outrage. Though he had been rejected from participating in the day's military discussions, he was smart enough to eavesdrop on it and stay abreast of their plans. The four Taisho all came to the agreement of eradicating every member of the Higurashi family, including Kagome. With no true royal for the Ningen to rally support behind, the rabble of human civilians would be that much easier to subdue.
"Otou-san was blinded by his lust for that Onna-Ningen you called Oka-san when he agreed to that arrangement. I'm all too glad to be freed from that dreadful contract, as should you. You're too old to still hang onto whatever childish affections you had for Kagome. It's time to pick up his sword and use it as intended, to protect our kind." Sesshoumaru was in the process of laying out a fresh parchment to begin writing when one of Inuyasha's clawed fists slammed into the surface of his desk, splintering the wood and offering Sesshoumaru a flash of his brother's growing Youkai strength.
"I'd die before using that sword against Kagome…you can't make me fight." It was a challenge that could have been ignored when they were children, but the situation was drastically different now. Sesshoumaru's inner-beast railed at the disrespect and howled to put Inuyasha in his place. Following his instinct, Sesshoumaru released a guttural snarl as he lunged at his unprepared brother, pinning his head into the floor with unyielding strength. Inuyasha cried out in fright and pain as he crashed against the hard surface. Trapped between it and his brother's rock-solid body, he thrashed and cursed while attempting to free himself. However, the deadly look in Sesshoumaru's blood-red eyes forced the younger brother to still himself.
"I can make you do anything I want. I am the Taisho now. My word is law!" Sesshoumaru brought his face within inches of Inuyasha's flat-pressed ears as he hissed his next words. "You are just the illegitimate bastard that Otou-san forced everyone to accept. I do not have to uphold his decree…I do not have to acknowledge you as an heir to his legacy." The force of Sesshoumaru's grip on his younger brother's head caused the dangerous taper of his claws to dig into the soft flesh, triggering a sharp pain to shoot through Inuyasha as a red liquid began to seep through the roots of his hair. He was afraid to move, afraid to breath, lest it temper Sesshoumaru's beast any further. Tears welled in the younger sibling's wide, expressive eyes as he waited out the rest of Sesshoumaru's threatening behavior and traumatizing words.
"I allow you to stay so long as you serve me like the obedient mutt you need to be. Otou-san is not here to protect you from your own stupidity, so take my advice and kill those pathetic feelings you have for Kagome…like I have." There was a moment when the brother's locked eyes, with just a breath of space between them, and they conveyed what words wouldn't. Inuyasha saw a hint of the pain Sesshoumaru experienced with saying such things, and Sesshoumaru could see just how naïve and scared his brother was by what was being demanded of him. The next moment could have transpired differently, there was even the possibility of it ending with the brothers coming to a mutual agreement. However, neither was mature enough to initiate such a conversation; instead Sesshoumaru resumed threatening Inuyasha.
"If you won't, I have no qualms with sending you to fend for yourself in the Neutral Lands. If you thought our Kingdom was unfriendly, how do you think the outside world will treat you?" Letting those words sink in, Sesshoumaru watched as Inuyasha shut his eyes in defeat. "Is that understood?" His tone was monotonous and low, hardly considered emotional or irrational, but it served to terrify Inuyasha more than he thought possible. Swallowing hard, the younger brother nodded his head and turned his face away in rueful submission. He waited until Sesshoumaru removed himself to sit back up on the floor. Inuyasha's head continued to bleed, and a thin ribbon of red trickled down his cheek.
Sesshoumaru returned to his seat behind the desk, trying to regain some composure as his inner-beast began to calm down. All the while, Inuyasha remained quiet and introspective. His eyes stayed downcast, but he couldn't help but touch the tender area of his head where Sesshoumaru's claws had dug in. Blood continued seeping through his silver locks, and at the sight of it on his fingertips Inuyasha curled his upper-lip in a ferocious expression of defiance. His eyes cut at Sesshoumaru from across the room.
"I understand what you're saying…but I won't do it." This sealed his future indefinitely. At the indication of more insubordination, Sesshoumaru's eyes bled dangerously red and his body went frigid. The air around him began to swirl with dark Yoki energy.
"Remove yourself. Now." He snarled angrily, and the tension in the room became thick with the promise of danger. Inuyasha stood up brashly, showing no signs of submission or reproach before his brother, as he knew that there was no going back from this.
"I won't stand by while you kill Kagome and her family. Otou-san would not have wanted that!" Again, his voice rose with defiance. While only half of him could claim Youkai genetics, Inuyasha still acted with all the same conviction that their father was known for.
"He wouldn't have wanted to be dead, either!" Sesshoumaru remained seated, trying to reign in his desire to cleave Inuyasha's head from his body. Huffing angrily, the younger brother sent his sibling a disappointed and bitter look.
"At least he was strong enough to stand up against the other Taisho. You let them walk all over you!" This was the final straw. Sesshoumaru shot up from his spot once again, claws at the ready, with the intent of ripping into Inuyasha's jugular. Inuyasha reflexively threw his hands up in defense, which triggered something unexpected and astonishing. As his left arm arced up with great force, red crescent blades danced forward from the blood-coated fingertips of his hand directly towards Sesshoumaru. They cut into him with surprising precision and lethality, drawing blood and catching the new Taisho off guard. Though it all happened in mere seconds, it felt as if time moved at a snail's pace.
Inuyasha didn't have a chance to realize what had just occurred, which was his first use of a Youkai attack, before he wisely bolted from the room. To attack a Taisho meant certain death, no matter the circumstance, and no one was willing to defend Inuyasha against his raging older brother. Knowing that he had to leave the safety and security of the Palace in order to live, it also meant denouncing any claim to his father's legacy. Inuyasha refused to leave behind the only thing in the world that truly belonged to him. Tessaiga had been forged by their father, from his own body, to be wielded solely by Inuyasha. Any Youkai that dare touch it incurred the deadly consequences, making it useless to anyone else besides him.
Adrenaline and terror fueled Inuyasha to run and evade the guards at every turn. He may only be a Hanyou, but he was an offspring of Touga Tsuyo nonetheless. Without a second to lose, as he could hear his chasers not far behind him, Inuyasha scrambled over the Palace's protective wall with Tessaiga strapped to his waist. It was large and cumbersome, as it didn't feel natural at his side yet, but that sword would be the deciding factor between Inuyasha living or dying. As the thirteen-year-old fled across the open plains of their kingdom, the palace growing smaller in the background, Inuyasha heard the faint howl of his raving brother calling for his blood.
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When Inuyasha finally came to a stop he was on the border between the Inu and Neko Kingdoms. A thick forest surrounded him on all sides, disorienting and confusing the exhausted teenaged Hanyou. He knew he was vulnerable, but thirst and a need to catch his breath overpowered his fearfulness. The sounds of his surroundings and of the blood rushing in his body mixed together in a cacophonous noise, making it impossible to discern one thing from another. With one hand against the trunk of a tree, steadying the boy from collapsing, Inuyasha clutched the red haori in front of his chest as he gasped for air. Sweat drenched his skin, causing snowy hair to cling against his bloody forehead, cheeks, and neck. Air would not get into his lungs fast enough, and soon the hyperventilating began to make Inuyasha's vision swim dizzily.
Bringing his forehead to rest on the rough textured bark, Inuyasha forced his eyes to shut so he could attempt to calm down. No one had been chasing him for the past two hours and finally there was an opportunity to stop and gathering his bearings…as well as realize the gravity of his decision for the first time. Inuyasha's furry ears swiveled in the direction of each new noise that permeated the area around him, always alert of any possible dangers. There were no walls or parents to protect him anymore; he was completely alone.
Before the thought could become overwhelmingly depressing, Inuyasha caught the sound of an unfamiliar animal crashing through the bushes. Was it coming towards him? Or maybe circling him? The mysterious beast continued its confusing rampage through the forest, it's noises echoing and bouncing off the trees as branches snapped and the ground shook. Inuyasha's breath hitched fearfully as he looked for a safe place to hide, somewhere that he wouldn't be seen or taken from, but no such place seemed within his reach. Though his body was still drained of energy and strength, Inuyasha knew his only chance of avoiding conflict was to get up into the tree's camouflaging web of branches.
Using whatever stores of energy that remained, Inuyasha scrambled to reach the lowest branch of the tree he had been leaning against. His Youkai strength was not at the point that he could call upon it on demand, or for long periods of time. At this point, he was more of a Ningen than a Youkai. As the unknown beast continued getting closer and closer, snapping sticks and rustling bushes in its path, Inuyasha was filled with renewed terror and desperation. His claws dug into the bark, and he ignored the cuts and bruises he was incurring during the climb. Eventually, after a final burst of frantic strength, he was perched atop a thick branch that hung high above the ground.
With his stomach pressed into the uneven surface, Inuyasha hugged it with his arms and legs as if he had no faith in his ability to not fall. Whatever had been searching for him remained unknown, as the darkness was too intense to allow Inuyasha to see further than a few feet in front of him. Fatigue began to overtake the young boy, beckoning him to the warm comforts of sleep. The Tessaiga still hung precariously from his hip, dangling over the edge of his branch, but steadfastly remaining attached to him through the night of restless sleep.
Updated 4.4.19