End of a Perfect Day

Sesshoumaru had learned firsthand just how exhausting looking after an excited child could be for the caretaker. He'd rarely been so relieved when the pup eventually fell asleep, allowing him to sweep the area with his youki so that he could join his little brother. He awoke in the morning feeling immensely refreshed, the scent of his little brother in his nose and without opening his eyes he moved to stroke the puppy ears.

His eyes opened wide instantly when he couldn't find them and he was immediately alert and taking stock. He scented the air for Inuyasha to locate the pup, only to find the freshest trail at least two hours old. He now realised that the reason he felt so refreshed was because it was well into the already hot summer morning. Inuyasha had slipped out of his fire rat clothes leaving them in his brother's lap and had run of in just his juban and fundoshi.

Sesshoumaru spread his youki to see if it touched Inuyasha and he became worried when there was no answering clash against the smaller boy's youki. He then went in search of the pup, not calling out to his brother as a human would have done because it would alert any who would threaten the boy that he was missing and alone. Besides, how far could the child have gone in the two hours or so? Inuyasha was probably only in the clearing.

But of course he wasn't, and after the Taiyoukai had spent a good hour himself looking for the boy he was getting concerned. The pup's scent was all over the place from where they had been hunting and none of it was fresher than two hours and it all intermingled. Obviously Inuyasha had been out and about in the forest again that morning but there was no sign of him now. Sesshoumaru stopped to listen to see if he could hear the boy anywhere, but there was no trace of the noisy pup.

However Sesshoumaru reassured himself that it was not that unusual, if Inuyasha were lost he would instinctively be silent. A youkai pup had inborn knowledge that it would be vulnerable alone and even if too young to have understanding, it would stay quiet until rescued. Sesshoumaru was surprised at how many trails there were to follow and how much ground Inuyasha had covered since he had awakened in the morning.

But following each until it petered out was time consuming and, as it turned out, unproductive. To stave off the onset of a deeper concern that bordered on panic, Sesshoumaru reminded himself that he had heard no death scream and there was no scent of blood, both of which assured him that Inuyasha was not harmed, the nuisance of a child was probably still 'hunting' oblivious to the fact that his brother was searching for him.

Then in an area he had already searched a hundred times or more, or so it seemed, Sesshoumaru noticed a bush that had damaged branches near the bottom and sure enough, a single trail scent led to a gap at the base of the shrub. The older brother followed the new trail; this time it was easy as if Inuyasha had suddenly become single minded about where he was going and it was towards the river.

Sesshoumaru thought that perhaps the pup had decided to try his non-existent skills at fishing and headed swiftly to the river that held unseen dangers even for a hanyou that could swim. Then he started and lifted his nose in the air, the scent of Inuyasha's blood was on the wind although almost masked by the smell of running water. It was not a lot, but it brought out the feral instincts of the youkai and he sped towards the river.

He found the blood, a small pool in the grass next to the river; there was not enough to give concern on its own but as Inuyasha was not in sight and his scent was covered by the blood, Sesshoumaru couldn't tell how badly injured the pup was. For all the fact that the amount was negligible, the pup could have been taken by a predator or fallen in the stream, in either case he could still be bleeding.

Sesshoumaru calmed himself again; there was no scent of a large predator, animal or youkai in the area. The largest animal around had been a fox and that a few hours ago, although he got the feeling that he was missing something important. He was aware that he was picking up almost subliminal signals in the back of his mind but they were elusive.

Meanwhile in an abandoned otter holt further down the stream, the small hanyou being searched for was cold, damp and hungry, and every now and then a violent tremor ran through his body from head to toe. Inuyasha was also scared and part of him was curious, he wasn't sure what he was doing in the lair, except that something told him to keep quiet and make sure he was hidden. The water around him was keeping his scent from being obvious but it also blocked his own nose, and he couldn't tell if he was safe or not.

He also had been thinking that he would have to leave the cramped hole he had pushed himself into to get food, or he could wait until his brother found him which would be safer. Some of Sesshoumaru's teachings had also sunk in and he knew that with the blood of his injured arm, he had now become prey, not predator. He would have to wait at least until he was healed to leave the holt and hopefully Sesshoumaru would have found him by then.

It had seemed so much fun first thing this morning; Sesshoumaru was asleep and his tail had also relaxed enough that Inuyasha had been able to wriggle out of his top clothes which were hot and go about his morning business. Then he didn't want to disturb his brother by climbing back on his lap and besides, he was wide awake himself and there were a great many interesting things to do in the forest. He truly hadn't meant to go so far but the scents around were so alluring he had been compelled to follow them.

In a clearing by the river he had seen some rabbits still playing in a cooler area that the warm sun hadn't yet reached and he had pounced on one of the unsuspecting kittens. To his surprise he had caught it, but not for long as a large fox had also had his eye on the bunnies and made a grab for the one in Inuyasha's claws. Between them both, the kit had died of fright, but the fight went on and Inuyasha had been bitten badly on the arm.

In his attempt to hold onto his prize, Inuyasha was at a disadvantage and had been pushed backwards towards the stream by the experienced and alarming fox, who looked like he was smiling viciously at the hanyou. On the bank edge Inuyasha lost his footing on the dew wet grass and falling backwards into the water, was taken by the swift current far downstream. He had wanted to get back to Sesshoumaru, but as he got out of the water he felt the wash of a strong youkai and instincts made him find somewhere to hide.

Now though he didn't know how long he had been crunched up in the tiny hole, but he was getting scared, apart from aching because of the unnatural position he was forced to adopt to keep his head hidden from the bank and the strong youkai. He couldn't help the whimper although he knew not to cry, even though he was tempted to do so and call out for Sesshoumaru at the top of his voice. The fact that his predicament was of his own making was not lost on the young hanyou either and he knew he would be made to pay.

But the fear of retribution was negligible when placed next to the fear of being discovered not by his beloved brother, but by the youkai whose oppressive youki he could still feel hanging in the air and the even worse fear that Sesshoumaru might be in danger as well if he came to find Inuyasha. That fear was making the great juddering tremors wrack his body.

Finally, Sesshoumaru noticed the bruised grass at the edge of the riverbank and his contained panic became cold fear when he thought of how far Inuyasha might have been swept away. He followed the swift stream for over a mile before he came to the shallows of a wide area. Around the edges of the bank he quickly discerned several places that could hide a small body, hopefully one still alive. Unfortunately he could also now identify the youki in the area, it was his father's and Sesshoumaru felt he had been played for a fool by both Inuyasha and Inu no Taishou.

His genuine fear rapidly changed to anger, and now he was able to scent Inuyasha he bent down to the hole the child was hidden inside and got slashed across his cheek and nose for his trouble. Even though Sesshoumaru knew that Inuyasha attacked out of fright, it was the icing on the cake as far as he was concerned and he yanked the insolent hanyou out and held him up by the back of his juban at eye level.

Sesshoumaru's youkai recognised the abject fear change to great relief in his brother's face at seeing him, but he was not appeased even when his brother called his name. He took the filthy child to the river and dunked him under to clean him, and then he shook him to get off the wet before tucking Inuyasha under his arm and swatting him hard four times. Poor Inuyasha was then dumped on the small gravelly beach with his brother glaring down on him.

"Sooooorryyy Shu; I is Sooooorryyy, I was hunting."

"I tire of your boasting Inuyasha, you are a disobedient pup and I am most angry with you."

"I got a rabbit Shu...look." He went to fetch the bedraggled soaked scrap of fur but Sesshoumaru was very angry and not thinking. Their father's scent was all over the place, now that he could notice it over the water and he felt an idiot for all of his worry. It made him spiteful and he dashed the precious rabbit out of Inuyasha's hand, knocking the pup over at the same time, then he made to leave.

"Shu don't go without me, there is youkai around."

"I shall leave you to your youkai Inuyasha; I am not concerned with him." With that Sesshoumaru flew off, squashing the guilty feeling of abandoning his brother under the layer of hurt he felt himself. He pretended not to hear the desperate cry of his name and was soon far enough away not to notice that Inuyasha reeked of fear.

IYQ Community; May 2009 Week 1: "It ain't braggin' if you can back it up." -Dizzy Dean