Chapter Sixteen:

Showdown In The Forest

Two days.

Takara had two days to prepare for her battle with Michiomaru.  She spent most of that time in her basement, working furiously on an old piece of clothing she was attempting to restore to a wearable condition.  She knew she should be practicing, but she felt that the smaller battles she had been through in the past days had been enough.  So she sat, and she worked, determined to complete her project.

Saturday arrived with a tight, impatient feeling around it.  As dusk approached, Takara flew to the site she had named.  There she waited, tall and proud, confident in her own abilities, yet at the same time, cautious, for even now she remembered watching Sesshoumaru fall before this daija she was about to fight.

And wouldn't Sesshoumaru have been proud of her.  She stood wearing his own white clothing with red print on the sleeves and left shoulder, completely restored after hundreds of years of storage.  It had barely needed altering, for she was nearly his height, and a bit thinner, with feminine proportions of course.  She had chosen not to wear his armor, for it had been a bit too big for her, and besides, she was a taiyoukai.  She didn't need any armor.  She did have the yellow and purple sash Sesshoumaru had used to tie his armor on, for the outfit didn't feel complete without it.

At her side was Tenseiga, thought she doubted she would use it.  Beside it, in the place Toukijin would have occupied, was another katana, a special sword Sesshoumaru had made for her in an attempt to copy the Tetsusaiga.  It was the Tetsutouga, and, just like Tetsusaiga, it had been created out of her father's own fang.

Takara watched as the sun's golden rays sank beneath the horizon, wondering to herself, ~Will he come?  Will he accept my challenge?~  It was beginning to get late.  The last rays of light disappeared, and she saw the first star twinkle.

~Cowardly daija~, she thought.  She leaned against the trunk of the tree she was standing in, and then straightened up and prepared to depart.

As the muscles in her legs tensed to jump, she suddenly froze, her ears being the only part of her body that moved.  Quietly, she inhaled deeply through her nose.  A small smile formed on her face.

She waited, her energy coiled up like a spring about to pop.  Then, the muscles in her legs fired, and she shot straight into the air spinning, her hair flying wildly about her.  She stopped at the tops of the trees and looked down at the daija youkai who had very cleverly attempted – and failed – to sneak up on her from behind.

Takara landed softly in the forest clearing, and Michiomaru stood farther in the trees, hidden partially in shadows.  She could see his narrow green eyes shining in the darkness, and they glittered as he took note of what she was wearing.

"How very clever," he hissed.  "You intend to not only defeat me, but avenge your senpu's [deceased father] death as well.  Tell me, mesuinu – how long did it take to get the blood out of that white cloth?"

"Do not attempt to provoke me, Michiomaru," she responded.  "I, Takara, am of noble blood; your attempts at stirring emotions within me are merely insulting."

His fangs glittered as he grinned.  "I can feel Sesshoumaru inside of me.  I can feel his strength, and his power.  I can even feel his cold mind stirring within my own.  His essence, his very soul is within me.  You cannot defeat your own senpu's power.  All that you have was inherited from him, and I have all of that."

Her golden eyes narrowed.  "That's where you're wrong, daija."

Takara held her right hand up, palm out, towards him.  She then quickly twisted her wrist, and the trees at either side of Michiomaru violently tore apart.  He leapt away quickly, avoiding the destruction.

"You have my otousan's strengths and powers," she spoke.  "But you do not have my taiyoukai okaasan in you.  And she had powers you will never achieve."

She swung her arm around, and every tree she pointed at was uprooted and torn apart, leaving a massive scar of destroyed forest.  But every time it came close to him, Michiomaru leapt away, and remained unharmed.

Suddenly, he moved faster than she could see, and within a split second he was standing behind her.  He raised his hand and held out his index and middle fingers, and from them appeared a long energy whip.  He twirled it around his head, and then snapped it at Takara.

The whip hit her ankle, and she began to stumble, but turned the fall into a leap and landed facing him.  She then created her own energy whip, and the two identical whips clashed together, astounding quantities of light coming from where the two whips hit each other.

Michiomaru held up his other hand, and a blue glow emitted from it.  He flung his hand out towards her, and a pulse of energy shot out.  Takara saw it at the last minute and dodged, but it hit her left shoulder, forcing her backwards and momentarily distracting her.  Her whip disappeared, and his began to make a wide circle around his body.  She leapt back as he struck her with it again, and realized that the pulse of energy had left her left arm numb and unresponsive.  She could no longer feel it, nor could she move it.

"It looks like you'll be taking after your one-armed senpu in more ways than you think," Michiomaru goaded.  "Shall I cut the arm off now, or would you like to wait until the energy dissolves it painfully?"

Takara glared at him, and drew Tetsutouga.  "Allow me to introduce you to my otousan's fang, Michiomaru."

The sword didn't have any transformation, for it was magnificent enough on its own.  She blocked the whip with it, as well as another pulse of energy, before slicing through the air with it, sending a rush of power surging towards him.  Michiomaru was thrown backwards, and the next time he looked up at her, his eyes were red.

"My Tetsutouga has an ultimate attack as well," she informed him.  "You will not enjoy it."

He held up both hands, palms towards her.  "You will not have the chance to use your ultimate attack, mesuinu."

From his fingertips flew blades of wind. The circled around her, and then came in from every direction.  She managed to block most of it with her sword, but her limp left arm and her right side received a few nasty gashes.  The white material of her clothing soon began to turn red with her blood.  A split second after that attack, Michiomaru was right in front of her, attacking her with his claws.  She leapt backwards, and then stumbled.

~His attacks have injured me worse than I first assumed,~ she thought.  ~At this rate he will soon triumph if something is not done quickly.  It is time to allow Tetsutouga to show its full power.~

Takara raised Tetsutouga above her head, and wind began to swirl around her...