(-) "Sesshoumaru" – 'The Path to Destiny' (-)
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Chapter 101 : The Awakening
A surge of heat filtered out through Sesshoumaru's abdomen and speared its way through his limbs, flinging his body in the air and towards one side. His ears were filled with the sound of a carnivorous roar and from the corner of one eye he saw claws that were attached to a large foreleg shred the sandy ground he had been crouching on only moments earlier. There was a splash of water as the attacking creature pierced the river in its attempt to pounce on him.
Pain shot through his leg as the embedded wood in his flesh sparked with holy power. Gritting his teeth, and not fully understanding how his body was reacting to this danger when his conscious mind was still trying to grasp on to what was actually taking place, Sesshoumaru allowed himself to be led by his suddenly awakened senses and the almost involuntary reactions caused by them. Still airborne, with his body twisting in the wind, the drops of water that were thrown up from the river moved past his eyes so slowly that he almost believed that time was slowing down. He followed the trail of the water droplets and his body coiled around to bring him down on his feet with enough force to send him sliding back over the ground until his back hit the trunk of a tree. His instincts warned him of the fact that there was no time to breathe and they sucked all the strength from his knees. His legs folded underneath him and he buckled to the dirt ground. Just above him razor sharp claws sliced the air and the tree behind it, narrowly missing his head. The sound of wood collapsing with little to no resistance under the brutal onslaught assaulted his ears.
In shock, Sesshoumaru caught a glimpse of exactly what it was that he was up against. It was a large demon that resembled a badger. Power surged back into his legs and Sesshoumaru found himself leaping into the air, away from danger. The badger was just as quick, and bared its fangs before snapping its teeth and catching his leg in its mouth. It snapped its head back to bring down its prey with violent ease. Agony flooded Sesshoumaru's entire being as he felt like his leg was about to be ripped off his body. He was slammed into the earth but where he expected more pain, he actually felt a chill enter his body and the restraining feeling he did not know he had was suddenly lifted. A shriek caught his attention and his eyes falling upon the badger that towered over him as it spat out the sparkling wood that it had accidentally pulled out of his leg. The holy wood had burnt the creature's tongue, incensing it.
Sesshoumaru felt his mother's demonic energy force his own to the surface and watched mesmerized as his open wound began to close almost instantly. It would usually take him several days to completely heal from an injury such as this. And yet, here he was, healing at an almost… demonic rate. Now that the invasive holy energy was gone, Sesshoumaru felt power rush through his body and through his demonic blood. Copying a movement he had seen his father's soldiers repeat several times during their drills, he lowered himself on his feet –bending them at the knees, and rocked backwards on his shoulders, intending to place his palms on the ground and flip back up to a standing posture. What he did not expect though was the power that his arms were suddenly capable of generating. Instead of a simple push that would push him backward, he found himself soaring straight up into the air, upside down and awkwardly. It turned out to be a good thing as the badger recovered must faster than he had anticipated and would have bitten him in half if he had landed the distance he sought to.
As he soared through the air his golden eyes caught sight of sparks of blue bursting out from his body in complete disarray. He realized immediately that these were signs of his physical aura actually breaking out of his body for the first time. He had never been able to manifest his aura before and had been secretly envious of his peers and the other royal firstborns for being able to do it so easily and so naturally.
An animalistic and primal rhythm began to beat through his body and his new found power seemed to sing to its beat. When his body began to rotate in mid-air, dramatically increasing in speed, Sesshoumaru felt himself being elevated further up into the sky. By pure instinct he arched backwards and landed on the side of a tree trunk on all fours, his newly protruding claws easily biting into the wood to maintain stability. The trunk cracked below him as the badger smashed it apart with a single swipe of its paw. But the dog prince was already leaping towards another tree. And then from there to another, and another. Without ever meaning to he circled around to the back of his attacker and was spearing towards its behind before he realized what he was doing. Images of the things he had learnt about demons and animal behaviour flashed before his eyes. Golden Iris' swam to one side to take in the sight of demonic blue energy coiling around his raised fist. As if watching something that was not part of his own body, he watched his fist begin to move forward with intention. A shadow of black at the corner of his eye brought him to the realization that he was almost on top of the badger now. With speed he did not know his body was capable of generating, his muscles coiled and then released -throwing his fist forward. At the last moment they opened up and slashed at the back of the demon. He instantly realized he had just aimed at its spine!
His elation at his efforts were short lived. A few drops of blood were pushed into the air, but his attack had barely made a scratch on the demon. Its hide was simply too tough. Too caught up in the failure of his attack, Sesshoumaru could not begin to predict his attacker's movement. A giant paw rammed into him, encompassing his chest and abdomen. A sickening sound filled the air as the dog prince coughed up blood before his entire being was smashed back through the air. Like a flat pebble that would skip over a surface of water if thrown correctly, his body ricocheted off several trees and he came tumbling down.
He finally smashed head first and face down into the middle of a young tree about five feet above the ground, blasting off its top and cracking its core. Half his vision became covered in a curtain of blood as it flowed down from a deep gash on his forehead. He was sure he was in incredible pain at the moment, but he could not feel it. Somehow his mind was supressing it in order to let him focus on surviving. Thundering paws on the ground alerted him to the demon that was scurrying towards him at full tilt. He was barely able to lift his head and look back. He wished he had not. The badger leapt into the air and aimed to slash down into him. Its claws would surely rip right through his body, he realized. Luck was on his side however as the broken tree chose that very moment to collapse underneath him. As he fell towards the ground his eyes caught sight of the underside of the demon as it sailed over him -an underside that looked… vulnerable.
Sesshoumaru would never realize it but at that moment his golden eyes began to crack as veins of crimson erupted from underneath and began to zig zag on its surface. A low growl escaped his chest. Predatory instincts began to consume his mind and body.
The badger screamed in pain as it felt its stomach be sliced open. Lowering its head while sailing over the earth it found the prey it had been chasing sticking onto its underside. Its prey had changed drastically from what it was a short while ago. This prey was not acting like prey anymore. It was actually acting more like a predator now. The badger became uncomfortable with the red that was seeping into the prey's golden eyes. There was now an air of superiority about it that the demon felt most wary of. Its own instincts were beginning to treat this pup with caution.
Spinning around in the air the badger attempted to swipe at the measly dog straddled to its middle but missed as it ducked underneath its claws.
The dark forest had borne witness to many bloody encounters in its centuries of existence. As such, seeing this pup who had just recently fallen into its domain show such potential, it expected his battle for survival to continue for a while longer before he eventually lost. But then, the forest knew not of who this pup's parents were and the secret they kept from their own son. Thus the forest held its breath at the events that transpired next, becoming horrified of the pup that had dropped out of the sky and at the realization of the monster it could become. A monster that could bathe this forest in blood…
A third powerful swipe from the badger and this time it hit its target, tearing through flesh and bone-
The air and the dust that was lifted up fled into the forest from the force of the strike. Blood dripped down the wolverine's thick furry front leg. It took a while but it finally realized that the blood dripping down was not the pup's, but its own. Looking up the length of its paw it found the pup's feeble looking left arm piercing its flesh -having brought it to a dead stop. The golden eyes were gone. Only crimson remained. Pale streaks of jagged purple began to seep out onto the pup's face.
The heavy breathing of its prey slowed to a complete stop.
Sesshoumaru's lips curled back into what could only be described as a smirk or a fiendish smile.
The forest shut its eyes as the blood of the badger splattered on to the earth and the green of its trees when the dog began to tear into the badger.
The Dark Forest made not a single sound as the dog demon then began to feed on the warm flesh of the badger.
This was Sesshoumaru's first kill.
Gone was the feeble Prince of the West …and born was a killer.