Note: This is possibly the shortest chapter of RWI: Inuyasha.

Chapter 7: Tetsusaiga

As the five of them touched ground inside the skeleton of the demon dogs' father, the pit of where his stomach had once been was filled with the bones of lesser demons. Sesshomaru couldn't help but smile as he approached the altar where his father's sword Tetsusaiga lay in wait for the one that would claim it.

"I've finally arrived here," Sesshomaru said as he slowly approached the sword, "To the treasured sword kept within father's corpse…" slowly he held his hand out, reaching for what had seemed like a fabled sword, "A sword that can kill a hundred demons in one swing, the demon cleaver, the fang sword Tetsusaiga…" Sesshomaru continued as he slowly reached for the handle of the sword.

"I hear the Tetsusaiga was forged from the fang of your father," Jaken said as he walked to beside Sesshomaru, "That is to say, the one who wields Tetsusaiga in their hands… will wield the power your father once possessed." Jaken said as Sesshomaru gripped the sword.

As Sesshomaru's skin made contact with the sword a brilliant white flash erupted as sparks of electricity permeated the air shocking the elder of the dog demon's children. After a few seconds Sesshomaru removed his right hand, even with the majority of the flesh temporarily burned away by the electricity, he still felt as if his sister's blood were stained into it.

"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha yelled worried as she ran to her brother's side, "Are you all right?" she asked as she looked at his hand.

"I'm fine," he grumbled as he turned away, "It figures there would be a kekkai around the sword." He said as the skin on his hand regenerated, 'I don't understand why it would turn me away though.' The demon lord pondered as he looked at the sword his father had hidden to protect his sister, 'If the sword is to protect Inuyasha why can't I pull it, wasn't I the one who was supposed to protect her father?'

"Why wouldn't the sword come out?" Jaken asked as he looked at the sword.

"Wait a minute!" Myoga said as he hopped onto Inuyasha's shoulder.

"Myoga…" Inuyasha said as she turned to the flea.

"Sesshomaru maybe the sword wasn't meant for you," the flea said as it looked at the elder of his old friend's children, "Inuyasha was the tombkeeper, and you weren't able to draw Tetsusaiga from the stone."

"What are you getting at Myoga?" Sesshomaru asked as he glared at the elderly flea.

"I think he's suggesting that Inuyasha draw the sword," Kagome said speaking up for the first time since entering the tomb.

"Of course!" Myoga said in response, "Think about it, the fact that she was entrusted with the job of tomb keeper should be proof enough that she is the one to draw the sword."

"You are suggesting that Inuyasha be her own protector?" Sesshomaru asked wary about the thought of Inuyasha using Tetsusaiga, "I don't think she is ready for that." He said unsure of whether or not his sister was capable of protecting herself.

"I can protect myself just fine!" Inuyasha said as she slammed her fist into the back of her brother's head, "I managed to defeat Yura and Mistress Centipede on my own. I even managed to keep Kagome safe as I did so."

"Hey I helped defeat Yura!" Kagome yelled at Inuyasha for taking the credit for defeating Yura of the hair.

"Your attitude and fighting style are childish and you expect me to believe you can wield Tetsusaiga?" Sesshomaru growled at his sister, "That sword is not a toy. It is one of the most powerful demon swords ever constructed!"

"And other than you everyone here believes that I should be the one to have it…" Inuyasha said trying to remain control to prove to her brother that she was capable enough to wield Tetsusaiga.

"You aren't ready for such a weapon," Sesshomaru yelled as he realized that he had raised his hand to attack her. Slowly he dropped his hand, 'Again my right hand was about to harm her,' he thought as he realized that he had almost hurt her with the same hand for a third time, "Take the sword," Sesshomaru said dejected as he turned and began to leave the tomb, "Do with it what you can, and should you ever need training I am more than willing to teach you."

"Thank you brother," Inuyasha said as she bowed to her brother as he headed towards the opening of the tomb.

"It's nothing," he said without turning back around, "Jaken! Come!"

The two girls never saw the troubled look on Sesshomaru's face as he left the tomb. In his mind he knew it wasn't Inuyasha that needed training, it was him. Despite his vow and his love for her, in the course of a day he had nearly killed her, torn her eye out, and lashed out at her when she said she didn't need his help. It was more troubling than he would have expected. The demon lord kept his face hidden from all, even Jaken, as he headed for the exit of the tomb through his father's mouth.

"My lord?" Jaken asked as Sesshomaru stopped in his father's mouth out of sight from prying eyes.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru said quietly as he grabbed his own right arm, "What I am about to do you can never tell anyone. And you must remain silent until we leave the tomb"

"Of course my lord," the small green toad-like demon said as Sesshomaru took a deep breath.

With one swift motion it was over. Sesshomaru had grabbed his right arm and severed it from his body. With the arm gone, he felt as if a weight had been lifted from him. As soon as he dropped the arm, the birds flocked to it, picking apart the flesh, leaving nothing but the bones behind. With his arm gone, Sesshomaru left the tomb, his mind focused only on training his aggression so that he would never harm his sister the way he had that day again. His missing arm would be a permanent reminder of this new vow he made as he left his sister to draw the sword Tetsusaiga.

Back down in the pit Inuyasha gulped as she approached the sword. She didn't know if she was ready for the sword, she had only said that because she was angry at her brother for saying she couldn't defend herself. As she stared at the sword, time seemed to stop; she wasn't sure whether or not she should grab Tetsusaiga.

"Just grab the sword already!" Kagome yelled the suspense bothering her more than the way Sesshomaru acted as he left.

""I'm going to," Inuyasha replied back as she grabbed the sword and prepared to be hit by the kekkai that had denied the sword to her brother. As she waited, the Kekkai never struck, the sword had actually accepted her.

"The sword has accepted her," Myoga said as he held onto the beads of Inuyasha's necklace, "As I suspected, the Tetsusaiga was destined to fall into the hands of Lady Inuyasha!"

"With this sword I'll do more than protect myself," Inuyasha said as she prepared to pull it out, "I'll show Sesshomaru I'm capable of protecting others like Kagome, and the old bat as well!" she yelled as she pulled the sword with all her strength. As she pulled the sword out of the altar, the rusted sword briefly transformed, but the strength that she used was more than needed, causing it to go flying right past Kagome's head and into one of Inuyasha's father's bones transforming back into a rusted old sword.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled as she grabbed the sword from the bone behind her, angry at how close the sword had come to killing her just then, "How can you protect me if I'm dead! Sit girl!" As Kagome yelled those words, Inuyasha dropped to the ground due to the magic spell on the bead necklace. "Now, I expect you to be true to the vow you made on this sword," Kagome said as she handed Tetsusaiga back to Inuyasha.

"I will," Inuyasha said as she climbed back to her feet, the sword in hand smiling at her friend despite her anger for being slammed to the ground a second earlier by her words.

"So, do you know how to get out of here?" Kagome asked as she looked at Inuyasha.

"I guess the same way we came," Inuyasha said as she stopped for a second. She recognized the smell coming from the entrance to the tomb. It was blood, her brother's blood. "Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha yelled worried as she ran to the mouth of the tomb. She could only wonder why she smelled her brother's blood as she reached the opening. Lying on the ground she saw the source, there was the skeleton of an arm, wrapped in Sesshomaru's sleeve. Inuyasha could guess what happened, and the only logical one was that Sesshomaru had removed his own arm for hurting her. "Idiot brother," Inuyasha said as she fell to her knees, "I had forgiven you, you didn't need to do this." She said as she grabbed the sleeve that lay on the ground.

As Inuyasha stuffed the cloth inside her coat, Kagome had managed to catch up with her, "Is your brother okay?" she asked as she approached her friend.

"Yeah," Inuyasha said as she looked out at the sky in the world between life and death, "He just did something incredibly stupid."