He turned my own attack against me? Takara thought. She attempted to stand, and a felt a jolt of pain. I cannot go on much longer.
Her golden eyes turned red, and she forced herself to her feet. Summoning her strength, she prepared to transform into her true youkai form.
Suddenly, she felt a pulse at her waist. Looking down, she realized the Tenseiga had come to life, and was beginning to pulse.
What? There is no death around here. Why has Tenseiga awoken?
She looked back at Michiomaru, and the sword continued to pulse. Suddenly, she could hear his words echo in her ears.
"Sesshoumaru's essence, his very soul is within me."
Every youkai he's ever defeated has had their essence absorbed into him, She thought. Their powers and strengths are in him. Even their souls.
Takara's eyes returned to gold. She sheathed Tetsutouga, and then drew Tenseiga. The sword pulsed in her hand, demanding to be used. Nodding slightly, she knew she had to accept what the sword was telling her.
"You are nothing without the strengths of the youkai you have defeated," Takara told Michiomaru. "You are a coward, calling upon the powers of others in order to win your own battles. I shall fight you now, not them."
She ran towards him, and brought Tenseiga down in a large slash across his body. Michiomaru stumbled backwards, and then cried out, falling to his knees. His body began to glow brightly, and the glow intensified until it shot away from him in every direction. Suddenly, Michiomaru transformed into his true youkai form – a giant snake.
"How pathetic," Takara spat. "You are nothing but a low life daija youkai. Without the souls of those you have defeated, you don't even have the power to sustain a humanoid form. And to think, it was you who defeated the great Sesshoumaru, and nearly defeated me as well."
She returned Tenseiga to its sheath, and then once again drew Tetsutouga. "You don't deserve to feel the true power of Tetsutouga, but because you have caused me so much trouble, I will let you feel it."
She once again raised the sword above her head, and the winds began to swirl around her.
"No!" Michiomaru bellowed. "You cannot defeat me! I am great! I am Michiomaru, destroyer of all! You will never defeat me!"
Takara felt the winds reach the correct power.
"Sankon Kaze!" she yelled, and brought the Tetsutouga down. The winds turned into a horizontal tornado, and Takara heard Michiomaru cry out as he was torn apart by the Tetsutouga's full power. The winds slowly died down, and nothing remained of the great daija that had caused so much trouble.
"It is over," she breathed. She sheathed Tetsutouga, and turned to go.
"Takara…"
Her ears twitched, and her eyes widened slightly. She spun her head this way and that, looking for the source of the voice. She was alone. A gentle wind ruffled her hair from behind, and she heard the voice again.
"Takara…"
With a trembling voice, she replied, "Who's there?"
The voice was silent, and the wind began to die down again. She looked down at the healing sword at her side, and she remembered what she had done. Tenseiga had released the souls Michiomaru held in his body. But Tenseiga was a healing sword that brought life.
Takara gasped.
"Otousan!"
Chapter One: New BreathIt took a week for Sesshoumaru's body to be completely restored.
A week, before his chest began to rise and fall for the first time in hundreds of years. Another day before his mind began to function. Consciousness came slowly, and he began to become aware of minor things. The air he was breathing was stale and musty, and he was lying on a hard flat surface. His ears picked up no sound; at first, this didn't matter, but as he grew more and more aware of himself, he began to question the lack of sound. Once he had taken in all he could with his other senses, he slowly opened his golden eyes.
Darkness. All around him. His sight was blurred; as it adjusted to the darkness he became aware of a surface above him, just inches in front of his face. His eyes adjusted more, and he realized it was made of wood.
Slowly, he moved one hand, and shortly came in contact with more wood on either side of him. Confusion set in.
What is this? he thought. Am I in a box? Why would I be in a box?
Certainly not the most intelligent thing he'd ever thought, but his mind wasn't working all that well yet. His body felt horribly weak; his raised hand trembled and he realized for the first time just how hungry he was. Starving was a better word; his body ached for food. He knew he needed to hunt, and quickly. Otherwise, he'd grow even weaker.
But…he was in a box. The air was quickly becoming even staler; he was beginning to feel light headed as he used up the little oxygen around him.
Can't…faint. Must get out.
His breathing became short, frantic gasps, and his body began to scream for fresh air. In the darkness, it would have been impossible to see how his eyes began to turn red. His expression grew fierce, and his body trembled.
Suddenly, with a loud cry that sounded more like a dog than a voice, Sesshoumaru broke through the top of his wooden prison, sending splinters of wood flying. He sat up and quickly fell back as blood rushed to his head. He gasped, and glorious fresh air filled his aching lungs.
Shakily, he pulled himself up so he could see out of the broken remains of his little prison. He was in a dark room lit with candles, and it took him a minute to realize where he was.
The burial chambers under my castle? he thought, confused. Suddenly he realized there was a sound…a sound like a whimper, coming from the far side of the room. Sesshoumaru turned his head towards the sound, and saw, to his great surprise, a human.
A growl started in his throat as he regarded the human male cowering before him. He was obviously terrified; of course, Sesshoumaru thought, he did just witness someone force their way out of a coffin. But that gives him no right to be in my castle.
The youkai's body may have been weak, but a human was still no match for him. The sight of his flesh was almost making Sesshoumaru's mouth water; he was not a human-eater, preferring to hunt animals, but at that moment, with his hunger growing unbearably strong, that human looked like one thing to him – meat.
In a flash of movement, the human found himself being held in the air by a clawed hand. A whimper came from his throat, and Sesshoumaru tightened his grip slightly.
"You are in my territory, ningen human," the youkai growled. "I, Sesshoumaru, do not take kindly to lowly ningen trespassing in my own home."
"Please…" the human gasped. "Please don't hurt me…"
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. With one quick movement, the human was dead.
He started to rip him apart, but then stopped. The youkai's body was barely covered by old decayed white material; there was no way he would allow himself to be seen in such a state. His eyes narrowed at the human's odd clothing, but seeing no other option, he quickly got to the task of removing it.
This turned out to be more difficult than it should have been. The clothing was very odd indeed; there was no opening on the front of the shirt to allow it to be taken off, and there were strange metal contraptions that held the pants on. They were also made with a strange material Sesshoumaru had never seen before.
It took him quite some time to successfully remove the clothing from the human, and then more time to clothe himself. Finally satisfied he had everything right, he turned his attention back to his meal, all the while thinking, something is not right about this. And I intend to find out what it is.
