by: Del_kaidin and Tiranth.
Chapter 8 - Enter One Who Walks In Sorrow
Taka looked up from the fire she was coaxing to life and grinned. "My favorite," she said licking her fangs. She settled her back against the tree as Leena went to work on the ducks and she worked on preparing a spit for roasting them. Cool evening breezes washed over them. For the moment the world seemed at peace. A familiar scent drifted to her and she lifted her head to get a better sniff. It couldn't be? Could it? She rose, taking a hesitant step in the direction of the smell. "Leena...," she began hesitantly and trailed off as the scent became clearer.
She watched the flames of the fire leap and listened to the soft hiss as the fat dripped onto the fire. Then she caught a scent on the evening breeze. She watched her companion rise and sniff the air. As the scent became clearer she heard her name from her companion. Standing she drew Desu and waited growling softly.
He had insisted that she be buried by the well. It was the place he met her everyday for their brief time together. After the burial rights were completed they left him alone by the grave. He stood looking down at the freshly turned earth, still unable to believe that she was gone. He perched on the edge of the well remembering what little time they had had together. She had been ningen and he had known that one day he might have to deal with her loss but he had not expected it to come so soon, nor had he expected the hollowness her passing would leave in his soul. Even Rin's sweet smile had done nothing to brighten the darkness in which he now walked. The houshi and the taijiya had offered words of comfort but nothing soothed his pain. His mate had been stolen from him and he had not been there to protect her. His nose twitched as the scent of magic filled the air, swirling around him. He did move, he didn't really care anymore. Let what ever wanted to take him have him, maybe then he could be with Akari again. Sesshomaru felt the magic wrap tightly around him, tugging and pulling, then he was falling.
The blackness released him slowly and he became aware of cool grass beneath his cheek. Slowly he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the clearing. More importantly he wasn't dead. With a sigh he rose. This forest was different, older. His golden eyes darted back and forth, where was he? He tasted the wind, catching the scent of roasting meat, as well as that of a hanyou female and definitely inu. His curiosity was slightly raised as he recognized his own scent beneath hers very faint. He walked toward her, as he approached the scent spiked with anger. Sesshomaru could see her through the trees now and what puzzled him even more was that she was not alone. The hanyou had silver white hair like his own, with two ears perched atop her head. Even now he could hear her growl. The other girl, the one with no scent, had hair as red as the sunset entwined with silver, in the center of her forehead a crescent shaped moon, like his own. Who were these two females, why the hell did one smell like him, and why could he catch no scent at all from the other? He stepped fully into the firelight, "Who are you?" his voice rang out clear but holding none of its former haughtiness.
She watched as he stepped into the light of the fire. She knew it was him as soon as she had caught his scent on the wind. She calmed herself, letting centuries of training and practice control her motions. Wait for the attack. Watch for weakness. Never drop your guard. "Come no closer." She warned, she felt Desu scream as it took her anger into itself, changing it into a desire for the demon's blood. "What do you want? We left your fortress Castle as you requested." She waited watching for his attack, she was certain would come.
He turned his attention away from pondering the strange scentless red head and looked at the hanyou. She was poised to attack. What did she mean he had requested that they leave his castle? He had no recollection of ever seeing either of these women before. He shook his head. "I do not recall you ever visiting my home," he could feel the sword's craving for blood, "Please, if you wish to attack, go right ahead."
Her eyes widened in surprise. This wasn't the same Sesshomaru they had met before. She looked to Leena who was poised to attack. When Sesshomaru made his invitation, she knew Leena would be more than happy to oblige. She rushed over. "No Leena, he's not the same."
At the invitation she smiled. She saw the flash of Taka's red hair and heard her request. Taking a deep breath she paused. She froze, waiting. For what seemed to be hours, finally she sheathed Desu slightly and looked at the pup. "Taka, for your sake I won't. But the bastard makes one wrong move." She didn't finish the sentence she knew the girl understood. She sat back down, placing Desu in easy reach, her eyes never leaving him.
She released the breath she had been holding. She wasn't exactly sure how she knew but something told her that this wasn't the same Sesshomaru. Taka took several cautious steps toward him, in case she proved to be wrong. He regarded her with golden eyes that were curious and held deep within them a great sorrow. "Sesshomaru-sama...you do not recall us meeting with you to ask about Naraku?"
The silver haired hanyou sat down. He was slightly disappointed that she wasn't going to use her blade to run him through. The scentless one stepped up to him and he looked at her with mild interest. Her softly spoken question caught him unawares. "I have never seen either of you before and if you had asked me about Naraku I would have told you that my brother and his miko mate killed him months ago."
"Months? Uncle Inu and Kagome killed him... almost 800 years ago." Leena snorted and turned to Taka, "Let's try this question. Who's Rin?"
Sesshomaru turned once again to the hanyou, Leena he thought the scentless one had called her. She wanted to know who Rin was. Who were these two? He lowered his head, he had pushed away the child in his pain over Akari's death. "She's my daughter. I brought her back to life with Tensaiga, only a year ago," again he felt the stab of pain that accompanied the thought that his sword was able to save the girl and not his mate, "Why do you ask these questions of me?"
She listened to Sesshomaru speak. Obviously this was not her Sesshomaru. The death of Naraku was very fresh in this Sesshomaru's mind. Could this be one of their companions? Did Midoriko not only have the ability to reach across realities but time as well. The heartbroken look on his face made her want to cry. "Leena...do you think that--"
Leena was having a hard time dealing with the fact that she had met two Sesshomaru's and neither had attacked her. 'Why isn't my sire like these two others?' her thoughts questioned. To the one before her Rin was a daughter not a mate. She wanted to lash out at something, anything. This ache in her heart, she couldn't understand, and didn't know how to handle. Burying her wayward feelings she looked at Taka. "Do I think what? That maybe he is one of our new companions? That Midoriko would ...." She couldn't continue, grabbing Desu she stood again. She looked at Taka and spoke, "I need to think." She looked at this new Sesshomaru "Hurt her and I will kill you." Her gaze returned to Taka, her eyes filled with unshed tears. "Tell him everything." She stressed the last word hoping the girl with understand not to just explain the mission but their relationships to him.
Walking away from the camp she opened her mind keeping it centered on Taka. Finally the small lake came into view and she sat watching the moon on it's nightly trek across the sky. Her mind asking the one question she had never allowed herself to ask. "Why did you abandon me?"
She nodded as Leena walked away. She bit her bottom lip, there was nothing she could say she knew to comfort the woman. She knew that she was hurting from the fact that her own Sesshomaru had abandoned her. She sighed, hoping everything would turn out well, then turned again to this Sesshomaru. She smiled sadly. "Please Sesshomaru-sama, sit. There is much to explain and it will be hard to accept." Taka sat, waiting for him to join her.
He couldn't understand Leena's hostility toward him but he had a feeling he soon would. Taka beckoned him to sit. As much as he wanted to return to the well and thoughts of his beloved mate, he sat, waiting patiently for the girl to speak. He remained silent as she explained about Midoriko and being called to this reality to fight Naraku. He wasn't surprised about the revelation that there were multiple realities, that is what Akari had explained to him after all. Then Taka began to explain who she and Leena were. So in other realities he had not met Akari. It had been Rin who was his mate, he couldn't imagine making the child his mate but then she was still young in his time. Taka had finished and was looking at him, with golden eyes. Yes he could certainly see the resemblance there. "So, you are my granddaughter then, and the other, Leena, my daughter who I have rejected." He let his gaze drop, no wonder the woman hated him. So he was to again meet Naraku. "I will help you defeat Naraku." Maybe action would help fill the void in his soul. The young one looked happy, now all that remained was to convince the other that he meant no harm.