Within the cave of the all but forgotten miko, where her form stands in a statue for two centuries, Senzuru sat in front of the statue and gazed up at the frozen miko. Her beauty was still apparent, even in her still-life. He held what were several of the Shikon No Kakkera and he scowled. He needed the whole Tama in order to detonate Apocalypse. In order to bring an end to the human race that littered the earth.
He looked down to the Kakkera and flipped one carelessly within his fingers before standing up. He looked once more at the frozen Midoriko and gave her melancholy face a cold grin.
"Serves you right, stubborn bitch." He snarled before exiting the cave, not noticing her stone-encased body begin to pulsate.
Sesshoumaru flew through the air, a white mist swirling beneath his feet as he made his way through the mountains of Japan. Past Mount Fuji, past several villages that was oblivious to the demon in the air. Sesshoumaru tried to smell out Senzuru, but he found nothing for some time. He continued past the open plains and rice fields until he reached the old city that he had devoured just two centuries a go. The one he so savagely slaughtered after finding Midoriko was dead. He could almost still smell the blood through the earth's soil as he made his way past the ruins and into the temple that had her scent in it long a go. He entered the moss filled room, vines covering every crook and crevice of the place as a large Buddha still stood firm.
Why was she in here in her last day of living?
Sesshoumaru could not answer that question so he exited the temple and stood back on the forever-bloodstained street. He left the large village and into the forest. There was only one last place to look. Only one last clue.
Sesshoumaru stood in front of the mouth of the cave. Her scent was still thick in the air as it came pouring out of the cave, making him dizzy and intoxicated. He covered his nose and entered the cave. When he reached the very end of the cave, he stood there, transfixed. Her statue…was gone.
Kagome cradled the little girl in her arms as she sobbed for some time. Inuyasha had his ears crushed to his skull at the sound. They entered the hut that belonged to Keade and Kagome sat by the blazing fire and rocked Rin until she had fallen asleep. All seemed calm for once as Inuyasha sat beside Kagome as he fed the firewood and then lay back on the tatami mats.
"Damn, about time she shut up." Inuyasha whined, though he was quiet so as not to wake the distressed Rin. Kagome scowled at him as she then picked up Rin and set her down on a futon.
"You know how attached she is to Sesshoumaru. He is the only one that takes care of her. It wouldn't surprise me if she called him Dad." Kagome replied as she sat back down in front of the fire.
"I wonder what's going on with him." Inuyasha grumbled. "He has never asked me for a favor before."
"May be it's because he trusts you now." Kagome said, always the optimistic one.
"Keh, that's not why. Probably because he has no choice." Inuyasha sat up as he gazed into the burning flames. "Whomever he is about to fight with must have a ton of power if he is willingly entrusting me with Rin."
"Ah, yes he is most powerful." Said a tiny voice from Kagome's shoulder as it jumped up and stuck to her cheek. Kagome slapped whatever critter had bitten her only to find Myouga flat in her palm.
"Myouga-gigi!" Inuyasha exclaimed in surprise, but then gave the flea a cold stare. "What are you doing here?"
"Is it not proper for I to be checking on my lord?" Myouga said defensively. "But as I overheard your discussion, I could not help but reveal myself."
"Do you know why Sesshoumaru left Rin in our care?" Kagome asked curiously. The flea nodded all-knowingly as he began his story.
"It all began two hundred years a go with the powerful priestess Midoriko." Myouga began. "She was rather stunning if I may say so myself."
"What does Midoriko have to do with Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha said, becoming impatient.
"Everything."
When he finished the story, both the teenage miko and the hanyou's mouths were wide open.
"You're kidding right?"
"No, of course not. Sesshoumaru would have my head if I even said her name in front of him." Myouga exclaimed. Inuyasha couldn't help but laugh his head off at this newfound information.
"Sesshoumaru was…in love?" Kagome whispered and Myouga nodded.
"She was so beautiful…too bad." Myouga said as he hopped from Kagome's palm and settled in front of the fire. As they all sat before the fire, they were unaware by the round brown eyes that stared up at the ceiling of the hut. Rin could not believe it either.
Sesshoumaru rushed out of the cave and tried to catch any whiff of any scent that lingered in the air that was even remotely similar to Senzuru and a small trace hovered through the air like a small passage to the demon. Sesshoumaru sped after the scent, missing the woman who stood, leaning against a tree, hiding, not too far away.
Senzuru stood at the very edge of the cliff that overlooked the horizon, his long brown hair shimmering in the afternoon sun as he fingered the Shikon No Kakkera in his hands, not noticing how brightly they glowed until they suddenly burned his hands.
"What the hell?" He instinctively dropped the hot Kakkera and watched astonishingly as they hovered over the ground. He tried to grasp the Kakkera, but a barrier erected from the shards.
"No!" He tried once again, this time burning his hands to the point where he was beginning to blister. He watched hopelessly as they drew up into the air and began flying to the west.
"Shit." He could only grumble when his eyes suddenly widened. If the shards were reacting in such a way, then…
He didn't want to finish the sentence. All that he had worked hard for would be for naught if such a thing occurred. He turned away from the horizon, about to investigate the matter when a presence hit his aura.
"Once again we meet, Senzuru." Sesshoumaru's icy tone hit his ears like a cold dagger stabbing his ears. Senzuru could only grow frustrated at the turn of the circumstances. But first thing's first, to save his own hide for the time being.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, I am surprised to see you here. When it is to the girl you should be tending to." Senzuru said in a mocking tone. Sesshoumaru, whose eyes were blinking from crimson to gold in a matter of a millisecond, froze all motion.
"Girl?"
"Your woman."
"You lie." Sesshoumaru rushed toward the demon and their blades sang at the contact of the blades. Senzuru grinned slightly as his dark green eyes examined Sesshoumaru's blazing golden eyes that threatened to bleed crimson.
"I may be woman-killer, human-hater, even a crazy-bastard, but I am no liar." Senzuru replied coolly before pushing Sesshoumaru back with his blade. Sesshoumaru's fit slid against the earth ground, but he did not loose his footing as he stabbed his sword into the earth soil to stop his sliding.
"You killed her, you would be the first to know that she is alive or not." Sesshoumaru seethed as he raised his sword. "And for that act, I shall punish you."
Blue encased the blade as it spiraled around Sesshoumaru's sturdy form.
"Souryuha!" Sesshoumaru raised his blade over his shoulder and sung it diagonally across his body as the blue and white aura launched towards Senzuru. The demon grinned as he launched something of his own. His green aura launched from his blade and crackled with Sesshoumaru's Souryuha. A large explosion hit as the winds that compared to a hurricane swirled around the explosion, causing the trees to be uprooted and the atmosphere erupted in blinding light.
Sesshoumaru had his eyes covered with his kimono sleeve as the hurricane hit, but ever conscious of Senzuru's aura. When he felt Senzuru move, Sesshoumaru removed his kimono sleeve from his eyes and leapt over the explosion toward Senzuru. Their blades sang once more, but it was almost impossible to hear over the roaring of the explosion. Senzuru met Sesshoumaru's fierce gaze and the demon once again grinned.
"I never told you what type of demon I was." Senzuru said casually, as if they were both not consumed by the roaring of the blast and their blades clashing.
"Does it matter?" Sesshoumaru snarled and Sesshoumaru punched Senzuru across the mouth, sending him back. Sesshoumaru hovered in the air as he watched Senzuru land within the center of the explosion, disappearing within the flames of the clashing blue and green auras.
Sesshoumaru could not sense Senzuru's aura as he continued to hover over the explosion, his eyes searching through the harsh light that encased about a mile radius. As he waited almost patiently, he could not help but think, is it over? Was all this pain going to stop once Senzuru was defeated?
No, the regret was always to be with him. As if it were branded into his skin, he will never recover from his failure to protect something so vital to him. Maybe he was not meant to live an immortal life of happiness. It seemed that immortality and joy do not come hand in hand. To him, it was better to be mortal and have even a single moment of happiness than this eternal remorse.
His thoughts ceased when his eyes widened for a split moment. The explosion shot outward, knocking over any trees in sight and burning them to ash. All Sesshoumaru could see was the burning of the trees below him, for a split moment, he thought he had died and was sent to the doors of hell when a black figure moved below him. Sesshoumaru could not dodge the attack as his whole body was encased with light. Burning him until he fell limply to the floor. He lied there for a moment, his body completely spread out as his form had steam flowing from his clothes and the pores of his skin.
The dark figure loomed over him, his dark crimson eyes glaring down at the fallen demon lord. What Sesshoumaru could only assume as Senzuru in his true form. His large shaggy black fur and snarling jaws clarified that this demon was a black dog demon.
"What the-?"
"Does it surprise you, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Senzuru growled not in their usual human tone. "To know that you and your brother are not the last dog demons known in Japan."
Sesshoumaru shakily got up onto his feet, using his sword to keep him level as he glared up at Senzuru in his transformed state.
"You are still a mongrel." Sesshoumaru snarled despite his weak condition. His own aura built around him as the red fog came pouring around his form to shot upward. His eyes bled over, blood trickling from his crimson eyes down his left cheek as his talons lengthened, his mouth forming into a snout. Sesshoumaru erupted to red flame and the aura shot out towards Senzuru, almost knocking him over. When the red flame dispersed, Sesshoumaru stood in his silver-white dog form. Both dogs facing one another, the same size of towering demons.
Sesshoumaru attacked first as his jaws snapped at Senzuru's throat, but the black dog smacked Sesshoumaru's white snout. Blood trickled from the side of Sesshoumaru's snout, contrasting to his pure white fur as the taiyoukai snarled at Senzuru. Senzuru swiped his paw once more, but Sesshoumaru bit into his leg and knocked the demon down onto the ground. The weight of the demons as they landed caused the earth to shake as Sesshoumaru bit down into Senzuru's shoulder, blood sprayed outward, splattering over Sesshoumaru's shaggy white coat and pouring down Senzuru's black fur when Senzuru bit into Sesshoumaru's neck. Blood was mixed and conitued to pour between the demons, but they still held on, hoping that the other would let go first. Their large dog forms rolled over the earth as the ground rumbled like a small earthquake as the flames danced around them and grew nearer.
"Why don't you give in, Sesshoumaru, then you can be with your precious Midoriko." Senzuru snarled through the choking amount of blood.
"Only when I see you dead before me!" Sesshoumaru snarled in return.
As they were bleeding the life from each other, they had failed to notice the coming presence that had stepped into view.