A/N: I'm back! ^.^

Hugs and cookies to all my wonderful, wonderful reviewers:

FMAOHSHCSC i.e. Lexi, BadButt94, A Single Fragile Rose, AnimeGurlTillDeathAndOn, Kenn-chan, Kyuubiluver, Golden Dragon Girl, Sae Ayameko, secret25, pumpkinpi, syron, Snowfall1, lil joker, TigerDemonOwnz, Mulanzu, Terror'23, TripleJXX01, niceladysakura, ohmy, Lovely-Master, Angelic95, Kitty-Twin89, KAYBOP1, cherry fantasy, Reaping-Vampire, lee, musme, Torn Apart Paper Dinosaur, Ice Queen and Hero, Fireotaku18, Stonerose55, Dragonzombie333, gypsydancer529, usaki, Twilight Emo Wind Goddess, rawr, lisademonicangel.

Special thanks to:

Usaki – Your review came just at a time when I was down and helped me pick up the story again

Dragonzombie333 – for listening to my rantings and for writing the most awesome fanfic

Rawr – For not giving up on me and for forbidding me from giving up ^.^

Syron – For poking me at regular intervals

lisademonic..angel – For reviewing when you read the story the second time around

I had a writer's block these past few weeks though I hope that's gone now so I probably won't take forever to update. Also, I was a little sad that I seem to have lost some of my readers because of my bigass hiaitus. But hearing from those of you who still enjoy this story was a great pick me up :D A Single Fragile Rose, great to hear from you again! ^_^

But enough ranting. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!


Chapter 29 – Nightmare

I, once upon a time

Carried a burden inside

I sung a last goodbye

A broken rhyme I'd underlined

There's an ocean of sorrow in you.

-Opeth lyrics

Inuyasha ran, as fast as his feet would go, past the dark cold rooms of his old slave quarters. The rotting wooden floorboards creaked under his feet as he fled and his heart thumped loudly in his chest at the dank, stale smell all around him, at the feeling of returning to a place he had thought he had left behind for good.

But fast as he was going, there was still warm air on his neck and the slavers' stinking, alcohol-laden breath. Inuyasha shuddered, panic clenching in his chest. His feet were too heavy...his pursuers were closing in.

The red billowing red sleeve of his fire-rat haori caught in the corner of a splintered door-frame and Inuyasha stumbled, staring despairingly behind him. Oily laughter sounded behind him and he could make out leering eyes, lit sadistically because of alcohol and lust. High, throaty female laughter could be heard from somewhere, the cheap whores hired by the slavers also getting themselves as drunk as possible.

There was a sweaty, beefy hand on his arm and he was spun around roughly. The stinking drunk man picked him up by the front of his haori and then, it wasn't the fiery red fire-rat kimono but tattered grey rags.

A sake bottle shattered somewhere and Inuyasha jumped, instinctively glancing over the man's shoulder.

He whimpered softly as the vice-like grip on his arm tightened and the man dragged him off towards the end of the hall…

he was watching from a distance as he was dragged in the midst of the man and his buddies. There was an iron hold on his arm and his captor threw him down in the centre of the room. The slavers and their whores glanced at him amusedly as mild entertainment.

A drunk slaver waddled over to him, sake cup in hand and before the hanyou's frightened eyes, dropped it to the floor. The crude cup broken into pieces and the man slowly picked up one of the pieces, holding it up for the others to see, saying something that Inuyasha watching from above could not understand but which nevertheless frightened the slumped grey figure on the floor.

The sound of clothes shredding was loud in the night and Inuyasha cried put, staring in fear at the sharp object in his tormentor's hand. Two more men came forward to hold his arms in place while the other placed the sharp fragment against his open back and made a thin cut, carefully drawing a lewd shape on the hanyou's unprotected back.

The whores laughed and then marvelled as the wound began to heal because of his demon blood.

There were shrill voices once more and again the man descended. However, the alcohol made him unsteady and he slumped forward, pushing the piece in deeper than he had intended. Blood spurted from his back and Inuyasha screamed –

Strong arms came up to envelope the screaming hanyou and Inuyasha opened terrified eyes, straining against the grip that held him fast.

"Inuyasha," a familiar deep voice whispered, pulling him flush against a hard chest, warm breath tickling his ears.

"You are fine, puppy. It was only a dream," the demon Lord murmured.

Inuyasha breathed hard, still smelling the suffocating scent of alcohol and sweat. He could almost feel splinters digging into his feet as he ran on the old rotten wooden floors.

But Inuyasha blinked his eyes rapidly and all he could see was beautiful palace walls. The surface under him was soft , not hard and cold. He was still in his Master's chambers. He was not back with the slavers.

Relief surged through his body and Inuyasha sagged, clinging to his Master, allowing the reassuring arms around him to keep him upright. With sharp, short breaths, the hanyou took in the familiar, calming scent of his youkai master. The skin Inuyasha's nose was touching, was warm and deceptively soft and clutching at him with weak hands, Inuyasha allowed the sensations to slowly replace the horror of the nightmare.

Sesshoumaru frowned as the snowy head burrowed in his chest. His pet's cries of distress had awakened him from slumber. Though his first instinct had been to skewer whatever had been audacious enough to disturb his sleep, the scent of his frightened puppy sounded warning alarms in his head and within seconds, he was alert, poised to destroy whatever it was that had threatened his property.

But a quick examination revealed that there was no one else in the room besides the two of them and Inuyasha seemed to be screaming in his sleep. The puppy was drenched in sweat, his entire body tensed as if in battle. The boy had curled in on himself as if trying to shield himself from attack, arms wrapped around his own torso, holding himself. The hanyou had looked so heartbreakingly pathetic and vulnerable that it had taken no thought on Sesshoumaru's part to hold the sobbing puppy tightly to himself and offer the comfort and protection he so obviously required.

And now, slumped limply in his embrace, Inuyasha began to cry, clinging to him with trembling arms as though Inuyasha was afraid he would disappear if he let go. Sesshoumaru frowned thunderously, tightening his grip on the small boy. This just would not do.

Inuyasha did not object as he was effortlessly lifted and deposited in the demon Lord's lap. Sesshoumaru propped one knee up to help support his slave's back against it and held him as, with a huge shuddering breath, anguish wracked through his body all over again.

It had been a long time since Inuyasha had even thought about his time with the slavers. This particular incident had occurred long, long ago. Long enough that even the deep scar on his back had also healed completely. It had also been a long time since he had had a nightmare so frightening. In fact, he could remember no more than one or two occasions on which he had woken up screaming from a nightmare when he was with the slavers; then, being comforted for his fears had not been an potion. His captors would have punished him for disrupting their sleep. Even those rare times when he had woken up screaming, he had been quick to muffle his sobs in a pillow as soon as he awakened.

Maybe the nightmare had been his mind's way of letting him know what awaited him when he carried out his plan of sneaking out of the castle before the sun set on the night of the new moon. He had thought that he was strong enough to face the consequences to spare his master the humiliation of having to hide a human slave in his chambers but now, shaking with the onslaught of sensations he had almost forgotten, he was not so sure. Was he really strong enough to go out into that world alone, without his master? The dream had brought back memories of the fear and the dread that he had lived with since childhood. Now that he was away from it, Inuyasha wondered how he had survived the experiences without going insane.

He took a huge, shaky breath and the scent of alcohol and the cheap perfume of whores assaulted his nose. Inuyasha felt like he could throw up; the memory of the slavers' touch was repulsive. The dream had been based in reality but there was one major difference. The old Inuyasha had not run; he remembered he had never ever tried to run from his captors after the first few times that they had broken his legs. Besides, he had had nowhere to run to.

But Sesshoumaru-sama's scent and powerful aura were all around him now and there were no harsh whispered comments. Inuyasha felt the demon Lord's powerful , steady heartbeat next to his ear, felt the weight of his Master's collar around his throat, felt long clawed fingers gently smoothing back his flickering ears and his fear subsided.

Sesshoumaru held him quietly as Inuyasha's sobs calmed down to occasional hiccups. The terror from the nightmare had been very real to the hanyou; his scent was still spiked with the fear and adrenaline and the puppy was still trembling. But he was slowly calming, breathing more evenly. The tiny hands on his arms, that had been deathly cold and clammy a minute ago were slowing getting warmer.

The fear from the dream was passing but the hanyou's emotions were off kilter, so close to the new moon. Inuyasha's human blood warred with his demon blood. A youkai had strict control of his emotions; a few seconds were all that youkai required to get a handle on their feelings. Even hanyou recovered their poise quickly and got their emotions under check; it was necessary for their survival that they be ruled by their brains and not feeble fleeting passions.

But the new moon night was close, and it seemed like Inuyasha's human blood was winning. Even as he tried to breathe deeply to control himself, the remnants of the fear and despair and loneliness surged up like an unstoppable tide and, to Inuyasha's horror, he felt tears pricking his eyes again.

The demon Lord watched as the snowy head unglued itself from his chest and teary golden eyes looked up at him. Those eyes had been wide and haunted a little while ago but that look was gone now; in its place was his usual adorable-puppy look. But he watched curiously as tears once again brimmed in his eyes even as the puppy's cheeks dusted pink and he looked away. It seemed the hanyou was unable to control them and was therefore embarrassed.

Unhooking an arm from around the pet, Sesshoumaru extended one finger and caught a glistening teardrop on his finger. Inuyasha blushed and looked away when it was held in front of his eyes.

"Had I known you look so delectable when you cry," Sesshoumaru murmured, watching the shy pup intently, "I would have made you cry myself."

Inuyasha's eyes widened, detecting the spark of mischief in cold golden eyes. "D-delectable?" he asked hesitantly, not sure he had understood him right. Was Sesshoumaru-sama saying he looked good crying? Who had ever heard of a person looking good crying? Was Sesshoumaru-sama making fun of him?

Fresh tears sprung to his eyes at the thought It was probably the demon Lord's way of saying he looked unkempt. With a wince, Inuyasha remembered that he was covered in sweat and his face was sticky from the tears. . Clenching his fingers in his yukata, Inuyasha brought two fists up to his face and began to scrub away the remnants of his tears. He did not want to look dirty and sticky in front of Sesshoumaru-sama.

Striped wrists pinned his arms away from his face.

"You should not be so rough on yourself," Sesshoumaru said. The hanyou really was adorable, face flushed and hair tousled from crying and burrowing into him. The rubbing had done no good except to make his face even redder than it was before and one of his puppy ears was flopping down, looking as dejected as the hanyou himself.

"I-I'm sorry," Inuyasha whimpered, trying to get himself together but his human blood was fighting for control today and it refused to listen to pride or reason. All he knew was that he was frightened and lonely and now depressed because his master thought he looked horrible.

"Baka koinu," Sesshoumaru replied. One huge palm cupped his face gently and a clawed thumb brushed his tears away. The hanyou gasped as soft lips descended on his.

[LEMON]


The entire Western Castle saw change following the arrival of Naraku in the kingdom.

Security was strengthened at the borders and the military trained harder than ever before. Inu no Taisho and Lady Tsukiko were both present at court each day and the progress in the troops' training was reported directly to them. Anyone found to be slacking off or cutting corners with their job was punished severely and publicly. Announcements were made as to the nature of the emergency and the necessity of being cautious.

That was how Sesshoumaru found himself leaving his ravaged, adorable pet in bed and heading for a training session with a section of foot soldiers. He would have liked nothing better than to spend the morning with his hanyou slave but the Lord and Lady of the Western Lands had ordered that he be present to oversee the training of his particular batch and in times like these, the sovereigns' orders had to be obeyed.

Apparently, this particular batch consisted of the 'veterans', soldiers who had earned their place long ago and were now too arrogant to listen to the trainers. The trainers were sometimes newcomers, younger demons who had been promoted through the ranks due to merit. But their disadvantage was that they were inexperienced in dealing with such matters and were therefore forced to complain of the insubordination to the Lord and Lady of the land.

It was vital that all guards and soldiers were up to date on new weapons, techniques and battle formations and since the trainers had proved incapable of reigning in the miscreants, Sesshoumaru had been appointed to…put the point across.

The demon Lord walked leisurely onto the grounds where the batches of soldiers and guards had gathered together. Talking and laughter ceased as the demon Lord entered. Even the most arrogant amongst them were wary of the prince of the Western Lands. Most of them had seen the demon Lord in battle and were not anxious to incur his wrath.

With a quiet command, Sesshoumaru called them to order. The soldiers took their positions and stood alert, waiting for further commands.

Sesshoumaru allowed his gaze to slowly sweep over each and every person present. He could smell aggression and tension in the air, but there was also defiance and nervousness. These soldiers were divided; the unity and discipline to work as a unit was missing, a flaw which could prove fatal during battle. People who fought together against a powerful enemy needed to trust each other absolutely. If that trust was missing, the soldiers could put their own as well as everyone else's lives in danger.

Without comment, Sesshoumaru ordered them to begin some basic training exercises. It soon became apparent that these men were out of practice, even when it came to the most basic routines. The demon Lord's eyes hardened.

"Pathetic," he said.

Though his voice had been barely above a whisper, every person on the field heard him. The hum of aggression in the air heightened and the soldiers tensed.

"Is this all you vermin are capable of?"

Fists tightened on weapons and the tension in the air increased. Sesshoumaru once again swept his gaze over the soldiers, meeting and holding each person's eyes. The men glared, shaking with anger. They had not been spoken to like this they first made their bones in the army. The humiliation stung, but they were not quite brave enough to back-answer their prince.

Sesshoumaru ordered them to perform some more exercises. These were more rigorous, pushing even the hardened soldiers to their limits and beyond. The midday sun, which they had paid no mind to so far, began to take its toll. Soon, every man had sweat dripping from his brow. Their breaths came in harsh pants but after the way the demon Lord had insulted them, they felt it was a point of pride to not show any weakness, to not give in and admit that he had been right.

Sesshoumaru watched them silently, walking amongst them, impassive as ever in the face of their growing agony.

Not long after, a man fell, collapsing on the ground with a curse. He raised his head, panting, to see Sesshoumaru's silk-clad legs in front of him.

"Weak," the demon Lord told him.

The man, a high ranking soldier with a well-built body and numerous scars, clenched his fist and looked up at the demon Lord. Sesshoumaru held his gaze easily.

"Continue," Sesshoumaru ordered.

Jaw clenched, the man looked away at the ground.

"Can't," he gritted out, then sat up with difficulty, blood boiling.

Soldiers around him fell back with cries as the prince's whip unfolded and struck out at the fallen man. The soldier screamed.

The other men who had broken ranks and scrambled away at the sight of the whip were also subjected to a similar punishment. Flesh burning with poison, the men looked up at the demon Lord in terror.

"Get back to your places and continue your training," Sesshoumaru ordered them quietly.

The soldier who had been hit the hardest, stayed where he was. The whip had landed on his back and arm. The man glanced down, horrified at the sizzling wound. The men around were also shocked. They murmured among themselves, throwing furtive glances at their new commander.

Though he could easily hear what the men said, Sesshoumaru turned towards them.

"Do you worms have something to say to me?"

The soldiers fidgeted under his intense gaze. One of them hesitantly began.

"Your majesty, h-he's injured…"

Sesshoumaru settled his gaze on him and raised an eyebrow. "And?"

The man trembled, swallowing nervously. His mouth opened but no words came out. He closed his mouth and lowered his head, looking away.

Sesshoumaru turned his eyes back on the men he had whipped.

"You dare call yourselves warriors when you give up after a mere wound?"

The words, though softly spoken, made the men flinch. Eyes as powerful as the sun above, burned into theirs.

"You may as well decide to beg for mercy when the castle is threatened. Perhaps Naraku will look at your pitiful faces and spare your worthless lives."

Lord Sesshoumaru raised a hand indolently; the whip glowing with poison unfurled swiftly and snapped on the hard ground.

"I, however, cannot promise to be as merciful."


In another part of the castle, Kouga was finding it difficult to keep his promise of not laying a hand on the Inuyasha.

It was surprisingly difficult to not pick him up and put him in chains in Sesshoumaru's chambers till the asshole came back and took care of the puppy.

One of the consequences of the fortification of the castle, was that more ammunition was stocked up. The ammunition was delivered from smiths across the kingdom, since most of it was made of metal, usually iron. It was taken to the castle in carts drawn by lower level demons. The job of unloading the carts was usually done by physically strong demons and therefore, the goods were packed in huge sacks, to make the process of carrying them faster.

Kouga was given the job of supervising the move; it was important to make sure that things did not fall into the wrong hands. And here was where he had found Inuyasha. When he had returned from running some other errands, he had found the hanyou in the chain of demons carrying the goods off the truck and to the warehouses.

Kouga fumed. The sacks were heavy even for full-blooded demons and Inuyasha was a scrawny, half-starved hanyou brat. His first thought had been to demand how the foreman dared to make the prince's slave do such back-breaking work. But the foreman – a moderately powerful bull youkai – had hastily assured him, that it was the hanyou who had come to him and begged to be allowed to do the work. The foreman had been about to refuse but then he thought of how that might be perceived as discriminating against a hanyou and he admitted he had not had the nerve to face Sesshoumaru-sama for that crime.

The wolf-demon ran a frustrated hand through his deceptively coarse-looking long hair. When he'd tried to make the hanyou leave the thing off, Inuyasha had looked up at him with such a dark, desolate look in his eyes, that Kouga had reluctantly allowed him to do the work. There was obviously something wrong; he had never seen that look in Inuyasha's eyes. Heavy as the sack of ammunitions was, Kouga knew it was the lesser of two burdens.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, barely felt the pain as his entire body shuddered under the weight of the immense load he was carrying. The task of concentrating on not dropping it was soothing…it allowed him to plan what was necessary for him to do that night. Sesshoumaru-sama had asked Kouga-sama to keep an eye on him. As difficult as it was going to be to escape under the eyes of the sharp wolf prince, it would have been even more difficult if it had been Sesshoumaru-sama in the place of the wolf demon.

The day was passing too quickly and yet, at the same time, all too slowly.

When Inuyasha had woken up, Sesshoumaru was already long gone. The hanyou had sat up unsteadily, body pleasantly sore from the gut wrenching orgasms. He was still naked and embarrassingly sticky and his face was dirty from tears and sweat. His still sleepy mind registered that he needed a bath and he'd gotten out of bed with that in mind.

It had become apparent as soon as his legs touched the floor that he had about as much strength as wet noodles. It had taken some time to wobble to the bath but as soon as he was under that spray of water, the reality of the situation had hit him; he had to leave the palace tonight on this most vulnerable of nights.

The thought made his legs waver and he had to sit down on the floor of the bath. It made his chest ache to think that Sesshoumaru-sama would not be there to protect him this time. Even after he came back from the bath, the thought swirled in his head, making it impossible to sit still as he usually did while waiting for Sesshoumaru-sama.

That was why he had headed out of Sesshoumaru-sama's chambers, intending to head for the gardens where Sesshoumaru-sama had given him permission to go during the day. It was only by chance that he had come upon the men working at the carts. The sight only made him feel worse. These men were working so hard for their master during the crisis and here he was, whiling his time away.

He was about to disobey his Master, disobey Sesshoumaru-sama who had done so much for him. He had been a slave all his life and he could not even do that well. Truly well-behaved slaves never went against their Master's orders. It was not their job to think; only do as they had been commanded.

Inuyasha flinched at the memory and the sack he was carrying in his arms slipped ominously from his hands. Inuyasha quickly shoved those dangerous thoughts away and concentrated on getting delivering the goods that he was supposed to.

That was what the slavers had always taught him; do only what you're told and don't hurt your brain thinking. They had also told him how he had never been a very good slave. No matter what they did, they could not mould him into a good slave. He had never been good at learning anything, so here he was; weak, dirty-blooded and completely useless to everyone.

But he would not give in to his weakness this time. In this time of crisis, he would not be the added burden that undermined his Master's authority. If the soldiers and the people of the kingdom came to know he had harboured a human pet in his chambers, he would surely be a laughing stock. This way, the others would deduce that the demon Lord had kicked him out for his weakness, though Sesshoumaru-sama was too kind to really do that. Kindness was often perceived as weakness and Inuyasha would not make his master's weakness.

"Inuyasha," Kouga said hesitantly, breaking into his thoughts, "there are men here paid to do that," Kouga said, barely restraining himself from taking the giant load from the boy's arms.

"P-please, Kouga-sama," Inuyasha panted, voice hoarse from the strain on his body. "I-I have nothing else to do. I may as well be of s-some use…"

The tension, the anticipation of the coming night was excruciating; it almost made him wish the day would just hurry up and end so the dreaded night would finally come.

Yet, at the same time, even a passing thought of how he was going to spend his human night alone in the wild made Inuyasha break out in cold sweat.

The wolf prince glanced silently at the south entrance for the hundredth time that day. It didn't help that Sesshoumaru was busy bullying some weak-ass guards. If there was anyone who could jar the kid out of his misery, and make him see sense, it was the boy's master. Kouga was sure Sesshoumaru would have his head for allowing the puppy to hurt himself like this but there was nothing for it. There was something bothering the brat and only Sesshoumaru would be able to get the kid to blurt out whatever was going on in his mind.

Worriedly, he turned his attention back to Inuyasha.

In the meantime, it was up to him to keep the kid from dying of exhaustion.


Years ago, in a small deserted village at the fringes of what would soon be claimed by Inu no Taisho as the Western Lands, a pyre was lit for a priestess. She carried a sparkling jewel in a chain between her fingers held in the traditional triangular position.

The entire village turned up to mourn for the young, heartbreakingly beautiful powerful young priestess whose heart had been filled with kindness and compassion for all mortals, except youkai who sought to harm others. The young woman, barely out of girlhood, had shouldered a great burden - a weight too heavy for anyone's shoulders - and it had led to her early demise.

A small girl, hardly 7 or 8 years old with an eyepatch over one eye watched the pyre burn with tears flowing freely over her cheeks and fists clenched at her side. Even at the young age, it was apparent that her beauty was nowhere near her elder sister's whose body was now burning to ashes on her funeral pyre.

"Kaede," someone whispered from the crowd, placing a hand on her shoulder, gently trying to stir her away from the scene. But the girl watched unblinking, letting the fire burn away all compassion, all weakness for the despicable youkai that took her onee-chan's life. 8 year old Kaede watched her dreams of family and children and companionship burn away with the flames rising to the sky.

Somewhere in the darkness of the adjoining forest, ruby-red eyes watched the scene, the body of the young woman who had tended to him with such compassion…and the young girl who would be so like her sister when she grew up, except for her sister's compassion…without her sister's weakness.

The face, still wrapped in bandages watched young Kaede's anguish, the fire reflected in her eyes, the bitterness that would remain with her till the end of her days…and smiled.

Now, an old, hunched over woman in the garb of a priestess with an eyepatch over one eye hobbled resolutely towards the castle of the Lord and Lady of the Western Lands.


A/N: This chapter has been heavily edited in accordance with the site guidelines. Conversation, thoughts, descriptions have also been edited out. If you would like to read the NC-17/X/lemon version of the chapter, click on my penname - LordYouko. That will take you to my profile. Just follow one of the alternate links provided.

Review, please! ^.^