He couldn't believe it; he didn't want to believe it! His beautiful fire haired Celt laid bleeding and choking in his arms and he was unable to stop it. His heart constricted with each pain filled gaze she gave him, he shedding tears just as she did. With all thought rushing from his mind Sesshomaru gripped the arrow tightly and yanked it from her neck, earning him a gargled scream and a flow of scarlet to splash against his face. Tossing the arrow away with a low metallic clunk, he wrapped his large hand around his love's soft neck, hoping to stifle the flow of crimson but deep in his mind he knew that she would never survive this and at that thought, a bellowing heartbroken yell escaped his shaking lips.

Sesshomaru's eyes snapped open with a throaty snarl as he jolted from the tree he was lounging against, throwing his eyes this way and that as if searching for something that wasn't there. A deadly clawed hand flew to his chest to feel his raging heart against the skin of his palm; the hard thumps sending shivers of weakness through him with each beat.

Breathing a calming sigh he settled back against the trunk and moved his palm from his chest, staring at the smooth skin that has been stained with much bloodshed over the centuries but only one he could still see no matter how hard he tried to wash it away. Even though his skin was clean, it would never be free from the certain red that has stuck to it like cement.

The blood of the woman he loved most.

Shutting his fist tightly he laid it back where it was before, slung lazily over his abdomen and where he couldn't see it. Fixing his eyes toward his left arm that bore the dragon's claw, he winced at the uncomfortable but powerful feeling that it radiated. Inuyasha surely couldn't defeat him with this as his arm. No, He would finally have an opportunity to prove himself to the great sword; to show that it is he who is its true master.

He would finally complete his conquest of being a supreme demon.

Tenseiga, which had fallen silent long ago, bustled to life with pulsing beats that plucked the demon from his thoughts to gaze upon the sword. Sesshomaru was always confused by this blasted thing. He had no desire for the sword, only seeking the Sounga and Tessaiga but this; it was this useless paper cutter his great father left him with.

Why? He was always yelling in his mind when he thought of the issue. Why did his father leave him something so unwieldable when his useless half-breed of a brother received Tessaiga? The great fang of destruction! It was a question that has burned him for almost two hundred years and through those many years he possessed a sword that he had no use for.

Tenseiga continued to pulse wildly against his hip and soon it was becoming bothersome, making Sesshomaru snarl and grasp the hilt, ultimately quieting the sword with just his touch. He knew his father had a purpose for everything he did but he still didn't know what purpose the Tenseiga held for him.

"That conniving bastard." He growled as his father's face flushed through his mind but soon another face appeared. Green eyes filled with so many emotions that they always swirled when he gazed upon them and a fair face surrounded by fiery curls. Sesshomaru's heart became erratic as the image of his love was still ever clear in his memories, his heart aching and thumping familiarly as Tenseiga began to pulse again only this time much softer.

Pulling himself to his feet and flexing his dragon's claw, he pushed the memories back to oblivion when a scent caught his nose. Inuyasha was near and he could smell that Totosai was among them. A smile crept up to his lips at the thought of the old sword smith. He created the Tenseiga for his father many years ago and knows the secrets that the blade holds and yet even he refused to share them or forge a sword that fits his purposes.

Oh Well. There is only one way for Sesshomaru to get what he wants; take it with force. Forming into his fastest form, his energy surrounded his body and shot into the sky to follow after his targets and finish his quest once and for all.

Totosai halted his cow and stood still for moment when a wave of uneasiness flowed through him like ice. The overwhelming aura of the one demon he had no business in dealing with was zeroing in on the swordsmith. With a forceful whackto his steads head, the one eyed cow turned on a dime and ran like a bat out of hell back toward the group he had just left.

"Oh dear, Sesshomaru's aura feels more agitated than usual. That brat is going to be the death of us all; all because of a damned sword quarrel. I hope your plans come through soon, my lord."Totosai prayed as his cow hightailed it back toward Inuyasha's group but with his stead at full speed and the group only yards away, Sesshomaru would always prove fastest and soon a blinding light erupted behind the swordsmith, flinging himself and his cow through the breeze to land in a heap before the group he tried to warn.

Inuyasha snarled at Sesshomaru as the dust cleared around his form. "Sesshomaru." Was the only word he could fit through his teeth at the sight but it did not faze the demon lord.

"Stay where you are, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru snarled toward his brother and ghosted his eyes down toward the stumbling swordsmith. "Or I'll tear you bothto shreds." The threat made clear on one as Totosai scrambled to his feet and hid behind the only person near to shield himself from the pissed demon.

"Inuyasha I think we are in bigger trouble than before." Totosai mumbled as he gripped the red sleeve of Inuyasha's robe and locked eyes with their enemy. From Totosai's position behind Inuyasha, he could see the Tenseiga pulsing wildly against Sesshomaru's waist but the haughty demon paid it no mind and continued to ignore the only pleas it could give. Knowing the reason behind the swords erratic jostling, Totosai could only stare sadly at the blade he created.

"Old man, do you have any intention of making Sesshomaru a sword or not?" Inuyasha asked as he looked toward Totosai and took note of his sad gaze toward the sword at Sesshomaru's side.

"No, I do not." He yelled toward the larger demon but when narrowed eyes met his, the swordsmith ducked once more behind Inuyasha and hoped for protection.

"You hear that you bastard? I've had enough of the bad rap over the Tessaiga and now I'm itching to use it and fight!" It was true, Inuyasha has had enough of this competition over Tessaiga and he was finally ready to prove to Sesshomaru that he was not true owner. Pulling the large sword from its sheath and giving Totosai a push toward the group, Inuyasha pointed the blade toward his brother.

"Now let's finish this once and for all!"

Sesshomaru took the challenge and charged his half breed brother at full speed and grasped the blade with his dragon claw before Inuyasha could react. The claws of the deadly appendage gripped the blade with ear splitting scrapes as Sesshomaru forced the blade lower and locked eyes with Inuyasha through the sparks of raw energy.

"You'll never be able to beat me." He snarled and gripped the blade tighter earning a wail from the great sword. "Not without the wind scar."

Bringing his other fist up, Sesshomaru covered it with his poison and slammed it into Inuyasha's cheek and reveled in the sizzle of the acid burning his skin. With Inuyasha momentarily blinded, Sesshomaru attacked again, striking the Tessaiga over and over again while blasting his brother back.

This was what he wanted. He wanted the Tessaiga to suffer just as he had. Sesshomaru spent the last two centuries wandering alone with a useless sword at his side as a sign of betrayal from his father where as his scum of a half breed son wielded his birth right. With every slam against the blade Sesshomaru sent every ounce of power he could into each thrust of the claw. If he himself could not wield the Tessaiga to its ultimate power, then nobody would! With a loud bellow, the claw slammed into the blade harder than before, sending Inuyasha tumbling through the dirt and the blade crying loudly.

Sesshomaru stared at the Tessaiga and its master lying in the dirt together and scoffed at the weak sight. Is this what you wanted, father? To see your sword used so poorly?

"Why don't you roar Tessaiga?" Sesshomaru taunted toward the great blade and upon hearing no answer he scoffed. "Then you can die along with your pathetic master."

Charging once more Sesshomaru proved too fast for Inuyasha's swing and grasped the blade again in the dragon's claw and wrenching it away from his sight. Inuyasha groaned and jerked his arms to the side still grasping Tessagia and growled at the feeling of his skull crunching under the pressure of Sesshomaru's punch with his other hand. Blood seeped out from Sesshomaru's knuckles and smirked at the half breed's scent that came with it but something else caught his attention. Sesshomaru snarled and pressed his fist harder into the open wound.

"You're protecting your sword." Sesshomaru snarled at Inuyasha's smirk.

"Why would I let you beat up my sword before I learned how to control it?"

Narrowing his eyes toward the half breed, Sesshomaru let his acid seep from his fist and into the eyes that mirrored his own, blinding the hanyou in seconds. Inuyasha flew back toward the ground with loud grunts but soon was back to his feet but no light reached his eyes, total darkness consumed him and he could no longer see his enemy.

"Dammit, I can't see." He growled as he rubbed at his eyes but to no avail, his sight never returned but something did make itself known. Without the use of his sight, his nose picked up a change in the air and soon swirls of energy appeared that crackled and sparked and it was then that he and Sesshomaru knew what was happening.

Sesshomaru could smell the formation of the wind scar but before he could dodge the danger, a blinding flash erupted on his body that shattered his armor and sliced his skin. No! I am not to die by his hand!Was his final thought as the attack consumed him and he could feel the agony of being torn apart but it stopped as soon as it started.

Throughout the battle with Inuyasha, Tenseiga never stopped pulsing but it never pulsed harder than it ever has until this moment. He could feel the forceful jabs at his side and before the attack could obliterate him, he swore he could feel arms around his being and a soothing presence take hold of him. When the dust cleared the only thing that could be seen was the claw like marks that destroyed the ground.

Sesshomaru had disappeared.