Chapter 12: Truth and First Blood
Sesshoumaru was deep in thought as he entered a forest somewhere in the western lands. His mind was on the strange woman, Kagome, whom he had learned to respect for her strength of will, which was impressive for a ningen. She had died, betrayed by his half-brother, who had promised to save her, yet broken that promise to save an old love.
'She must have died in bitterness, and that bitterness has come with her into her new life.' The daiyoukai also wondered about her strange new powers, and the means of her return. 'I know of many ways to return the dead to life, the Tensaiga being one of them, but I have never heard of a way that would have the effects she displays.'
He was currently on his way to Bokuseno, an ancient tree youkai and friend of the Inu line. He held much knowledge about many things, including rituals and spells of both youkai and ningen. Sesshoumaru hoped that Bokuseno would know something to help him understand the situation. He was woefully uninformed, and the daiyoukai who always liked to be in control didn't like that one bit. Also, an instinct or premonition or something like that caused the Inu lord to be wary. Something about Kagome's return disturbed him deeply, and warned him to be on his guard.
As he came closer to the clearing the ancient tree resided in he slowed, listening. What had caused him to hesitate was that he had heard two voices within the clearing. He quickly recognised the seconded and smiled to himself. 'So,' he thought, 'the cowardly flea has decided to visit his old friend, has he?' The other voice belonged to another longstanding advisor to the western Inu line, the flea youkai, Myouga.
Sesshoumaru had never had much patience for Myouga, annoyed by his cowardice and infuriating semi-loyalty to Inuyasha. 'Even Jaken is braver than that coward. And that says it all.' Myouga had known of Sesshoumaru's dislike and had chosen, probably wisely, to avoid the dangerous inu whenever possible. But now he was within easy reach. Bokuseno definitely knew about Sesshoumaru's presence already, but from what the daiyoukai could tell, had not yet revealed this to the flea.
Hiding his aura, the aristocratic assassin advanced on his target, making not even the slightest sound. He stopped when he caught sight of the flea. "It was a terrible shame actually," he heard Myouga say. "The young miko was starting to have an effect on the brash young master." The aged Bokuseno, a face that seemed to grow from a tree's trunk, smiled sadly. "Yes, I know. I never met her, but the winds, trees and birds spoke fondly of the girl." The flea nodded. "That does not surprise me. She was gentle and kind, but could be hard if she had to." Myouga grunted and frowned. "The news of the girls demise shocked me, I had been so sure that the two would mate someday," Myouga whined, wringing his hands.
"That girl was magnificent," he continued. "Not only was she a promising miko, she was also helping to close the breach between the master's sons." He looked up at his old friend's face. "The children of that union could have been a blessing to the western lands and the house of the moon." Sesshoumaru smirked inwardly. Once he had had similar thoughts, wondering just how those children might be, and if they might be an asset or a threat. But the miko's death had ended all thoughts in that direction. Even if Inuyasha were to produce children with the other miko he would not accept them. Inuyasha had proven that he was not worthy of trust.
"I heard that the girl had even earned Sesshoumaru's respect, and that alone is quite an achievement, considering the lord's narrow minded hate of ningen." Myouga let himself fall on to his back, folding two of his arms behind his head and the other two on his chest. He gazed up at Bokuseno's boughs and let his gaze wonder, looking at the flecks of sunlight among the green sea of leaves, the grass moving in the wind's grip, the fluffy clouds gliding across the blue sky, the fluffy youkai lord glaring down at him, the birds and squirrels that were right now leaving the area due to the angered Sesshoumaru...
He shot upright, staring at Bokuseno's smug expression. He rubbed his eyes with all four arms, and slowly -very slowly- turned. When he saw that Sesshoumaru was really there, he spun around and bowed deeply, his long beak practically digging into the ground. "G-Greetings, Seshoumaru-sama. I hope you are doing well," he stuttered. "I presume that you wish to speak with Bokuseno-dono. I shall leave immediately my lord, so that I do not disturb your privacy." Myouga turned and scampered of, completely forgetting his little pack and hat. "Myouga." He froze when he heard the daiyoukai's icy voice. "You will stay." Myouga turned, an expression of strained obedience on his face. "Y-Yes of c-course, my lord, If it is your w-wish."
Sesshoumaru watched the flea slink back to the place he had vacated and sit down, before he addressed the Bokuseno, not missing the ancient tree's apparent satisfaction. "This Sesshoumaru has need of your council Bokuseno." The old youkai smiled. "Of course my lord, on what do seek this old tree's advice?" Sesshoumaru told him of the events of the last few days, Naraku's attack, Kagome's return, and his own encounter with the changed woman. "Before she fled, this Sesshoumaru noticed a sudden change within her aura and scent. She appeared to be changing, maybe into some kind of youkai though it is difficult to be certain."
Bokuseno was silent, his eyes closed. Myouga spoke up instead. "Please my lord, are you certain that this woman really was the lady Kagome?" Sesshoumaru glared at Myouga, making the flea fear for his life again. "Do you question this Sesshoumaru's abilities?" Myouga was quick to prostrate himself. "No, no, no of course not!" was his quick answer. "I merely find it hard to accept that the kind lady Kagome could do the things you told of, your lordship, that is all."
"People can change Myouga." It was Bokuseno's sonorous voice. "There are many things in this world that can facilitate that change, but none are as powerful as love." Sesshoumaru stared at the old man, wanting to scoff at his words, but old memories told him that they were too true. "Kind as she may have been, you must remember that she was still a woman. The young masters constant betrayal will have slowly eaten away at her kindness."
His eyes opened but he did not appear to be looking at anything in particular. "It would be truly naive to believe that she would always be forgiving for Inuyasha's transgressions." He looked straight at Sesshoumaru, the strange old eyes seemingly piercing his soul. "Love between a man and a woman, between a child and its parent, love to one's country, or even love of power and wealth, in whatever form, love is a powerful force that can change even the most stubborn souls and warm the coldest hearts." He closed his eyes and sighed, the sound sending a rustling echo through the entire forest. "But the change is not always good. If the love is broken and trust betrayed, the wonderful thing that is love may change into something terrible."
A deep silence fell across the clearing, only disturbed by the wind in the leaves. Finally Sesshoumaru spoke. "Can you tell this Sesshoumaru anything concerning the miko's resurrection? How she came into her new powers." The tree youkai just looked at the inu lord with a strange expression before closing his eyes again. "I am not sure." For a while the tree remained quiet his eyes closed. Sesshoumaru felt his patience wavering, and an old desire he often felt crept into his mind again. It was hard to resist that drive. He just wanted to step up to the annoyingly silent tree and knock on his head as if he were a door. The one thing that always stopped him was that it would be something that Inuyasha might do.
Finally the old tree spoke again. "I have lived for a many millennia, and have seen or heard many things, many of them I still find very strange. I have a theory about this resurrection, but unless I can be sure that I am right, I am forbidden of revealing anything to you." Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "And on whose command are you forbidden to do so?" He wanted to know who Bokuseno believed to have a higher authority than him, for he could think of no one, aside from the kami maybe.
The grizzled tree youkai stared at him before answering. "I am bound by the order of Yukawa, the first of the western lords, and your ancestor. He forbade me to speak of this matter until I have distinctive proof that it truly..." He paused, his eyes widening in surprise. "What?" asked Sesshoumaru, still slightly shaken by the invocation of his ultimate ancestor, a youkai of such power that none of the western inu line had been able to equal him as of yet. That was one of Sesshoumaru's ambitions as well.
When Bokuseno spoke again, his face wore an expression of deep unease. "It appears that it is necessary that I tell you after all." Sesshoumaru stared at him, listening intently. "It was over three thousand years ago, when Yukawa was one of the first cardinal lords. At that time the lords where tied together in a powerful alliance, the Pact of the Four Lords." Sesshoumaru nodded, having heard of this pact but never truly believing in it. "Nowadays the lords try to do each other in to take the other lands for themselves, but then your ancestor and the other lords, whose lines have been broken as other ambitious youkai overthrew them, were true allies and even friends."
Bokuseno sighed, apparently lost in memories. "That was the first time we ever heard of the spark." Sesshoumaru looked at him quizzically. "Spark?" The ancient tree blinked. "Yes, the spark. Unto this day I am not entirely sure what it is, but I think that it is a small part of the big flame, the enormous bonfire from which all of creation was made." Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, not sure if he understood. "It is said that some beings, ningen in particular, have a small ember, a spark, of this great power within their souls, and even fewer, apparently exclusively humans, manage to use it in one way or another."
"These few," Bokuseno continued, "could use the power of this spark of true creation to become anything they desired, anything they could imagine within their minds." Again Bokuseno gazed at Sesshoumaru, seeming to search his soul. "You must understand, young lord, the spark is a great power, and through it many things, some evil, some good, were brought into this world. You yourself have been confronted with this power." Sesshoumaru lifted both eyebrows this time, genuinely surprised. "I believe I would remember such a meeting."
Bokuseno smiled. "Only if you knew what you were looking at, pup." Sesshoumaru would have killed or at least maimed anyone else if they would call him a pup, but in this case he accepted it. Compared with the ageless tree, he truly was a mere pup. "Enlighten me then," he asked, "when did I come across this 'spark'." Bokuseno's smile turned into a raspy chuckle. "Why, my lord, have you never asked yourself where the Shikon no Tama's power comes from?"
_
Back in Edo, Inuyasha sat in his favourite tree, staring at the sky. His and Kouga's wounds had healed, but Sango and Miroku would still need a lot or rest before they could carry on with their quest. He winced a bit when he thought about how Sango and Miroku had reacted to the news of Kagome's resurrection and behaviour. The elation they had felt first had quickly turned to fear and worry. Like him and Kouga, they preferred to believe that it hadn't really been Kagome, but Kikyo and Kaede's insistence that it really had been her, unsettled them deeply.
Sango had burst into tears, crying into the monks chest as he held her. For her it was Kohaku all over again. Inuyasha was deeply worried about her, and he knew that Miroku shared that worry. Neither of them wanted to lose her, Inuyasha saw her as a dear friend, no matter how she treated him for Kagome's death, and to Miroku she was much more.
Inuyasha was deep in thought, so deep that he almost didn't notice the attack. He only barely managed to get out of his tree before the attacker collided with it, ripping through the branch Inuyasha had been lying on. Inuyasha landed with his sword drawn and transformed, determined to protect his friends at all costs. His eyes widened when the dust cleared and he caught sight of his attacker. Next to the tree, among the splinters of the shattered branch, stood a man in black and green clothes, cold silver eyes regarding him from an emotionless face framed by slightly pink hair.
"You!" Inuyasha couldn't believe his eyes. "But we killed you."His attacker didn't answer, but shot forward with incredible speed. Inuyasha just barely managed to get his Tessaiga up to deflect the blow, and the strength behind it astounded him. The strange man dodged his blow with a backwards jump, and stared at Inuyasha with those unsettling silver eyes. A small ripple in the ground was all the warning Inuyasha had, but it was just enough. He leaped to the side, just as something small shot out of the ground, grazing his leg.
Inuyasha cursed at the pain of his newest wound, but managed to stand, his sword held high, waiting for the next attack. Instead something spoke. "I must say I am almost flattered that you didn't forget about us." Inuyasha remembered that voice and his eyes quickly sought out its owner. It was a disgusting, worm like creature with curved sickle like blades for hands and a human head. Its face was a mirror image of the larger attacker's face. "How could I forget two sick bastards like you and your brother," Inuyasha growled at them.
The little monster smiled at him. "Looks like you haven't changed at all," it said with a smirk. "Juuroumaru and I couldn't wait to see you again, Inuyasha. We desperately wanted to thank you for giving us that amazing opportunity." The smirk grew wider. "And it appears that you gave other people the same opportunity. Our new mistress wants to thank you as well, you know." A cold feeling gripped Inuyasha's heart. "And who is that?" He asked the question loudly, even though he didn't really want to hear the answer. Kageroumaru answered anyway. "Why, I believe you know her Inuyasha. After all, it was through your betrayal that the lady Kagome died."
Despair rammed its deadly claws into the hanyou's body and ripped at his heart. "I don't believe you!" With a feral roar he attacked, wanting nothing more than to lose himself in battle, to forget why it was that he was fighting, forget that it was his former best friend who had sent these monsters after him. Kageroumaru laughed and disappeared in a flash of light.
On the tree Inuyasha had lain in, two crows were watching the confrontation intently, and through them, their mistress watched as well.