The Welder of BlackFire:

Thorn's Past Life-A Mysterious Ally

Chapter Sixteen: The Rain and the Loss

It had been three days, and since then no trouble had dared enter the clearing. Thorn stuck her nose out the den's entrance, sniffing the air. Sesshoumaru was out hunting, she supposed, when she couldn't feel him close by. She stepped out of the den slowly, looking around for Jaken.

"Mistress!" he squawked when he saw her. The she-wolf's head jerked around, facing him.

"Quiet, Jaken," she said quietly.

"What is it, Mistress?" he whispered, walking closer. With a soft growl, her paw lashed out, hitting him hard on the head, making him fall.

"Sleep, Jaken," she whispered, standing over him. His eyes drooped and his body relaxed and sighed. He fell limp in the morning light and began to slumber.

Thorn looked up, toward the east, watching as the sun made its steady trek over a mountain. She cursed and then retreated back in the den. When she emerged the second time, her pup was held stiffly in her gentle jaws. She looked around one more time, sniffing the air once again, but the smell of her pup and death was so strong in her nostrils it was pointless. She sulked off into the trees.

Golden eyes watched her as she traveled along, heading east, into the sun, as if she had a destination.

Maybe she's just moving the pup. After what happened with Inuyasha finding us, no doubt she finds our current location too well-known, Sesshoumaru thought. But I would think she would tell me if she was going to move the pup. The lord thought a moment before moving to follow her. The wind was against him and he could not catch her scent. But she caught his.

Thorn stopped, not bothering to look back she growled in his mind. Go back. Do not follow me. I must do this myself.

By now the Inu-youkai had learned that she read his mind for a few moments after speaking, listening to his reply or thoughts.

Why? was all he thought back to her. She sighed, her body moving with it visibly.

Because only the she-wolf buries a dead pup, she whispered. Before he could answer her, she fled, trusting that he would respect her request for privacy.

Sesshoumaru stood on a thick tree branch, shocked. Rain tricked down through the tree branches, riveting down the silver hair of the demon. He stood there for a few minutes before really realizing that she was gone and he could not track her with the now pouring rain that splashed around him. He cursed himself silently before turning back to watch over the clearing.

Thorn ran through the rain, wanting its gentle and comforting fingers to massage the pain and stress away. She had lost many before this, and she had drown the pain of their loss in her anger, and in her bodily strength. But now her body was still spent, unrecovered from her sacrifice, and her anger was gone without energy to give it its needed fire. She had realized that bodily strength was worthless if she had no mental strength long ago, and so with the deaths that had surrounded her, she had made her mind strong. Now her mind had been broken, its strong walls cracked, and they would take a long time to heal and mend.

The rain fell harder, its murmur on the trees less of a comfort, and more of a remembrance. It reminded her of the days her family had fallen, one by one by dieses that could never be healed, no matter how much strength they had in mind or body. The memories made her growl and take in the strengthening scent of her dead pup. It made her run faster, fueled by her heart and emotions. Her paws drummed steadily against the flooding earth, kicking mud and grass up on her luxurious, pearly coat. The sun's rays were cast away by clouds that steadily raced to block out its warmth. Cold began to set in as the she-wolf's emotions made a chaotic mess of their host. Pain began to flood her body and soul, seeping into her being like ice, threatening to kill her being. She hated the cold with a passion, and its tightening grip on her soul made her angry. Her anger's fire, although small, tried its best to melt away the ice into live-giving water. But its flame was too weak. This time she would not gain something to make her stronger from the ice. Not now.

She came upon a long forgotten tree, its branches stripped of its leaves and bark. It did not flower, nor fruit, it was dead. Cold and dead. A perfect spot.

She set the white pup on the ground beside her as she began to dig. Her already mud-stained paws darkened with the water-soaked soil. Her warm breath fell in rhythm with her paws constant pumping, casting ghostly shadows of breath into the chill air. Her sweat began to mingle with the streaks of rain that ran down her soiled coat as she strained to keep the mud from sliding back into her trench. She dug around roots and removed stones from the soon-to-be grave. After a long while, she had made a cave-like structure with old, knarled roots making walls to keep the water-laden mud from sliding into the cozy little room. She huffed, satisfied. She looked over to the pup through the curtain of drizzling rain. Her eyes shone with compassion, a mix of brownish gray. She took a step toward the dead pup and nuzzled it one more time. Her tongue washed over its dirtied coat with a sorrowful growl. She picked up her first-born with morose. A tear trickled from her right eye as she looked down at the fresh hole. She closed her eyes as it ran down the length of her jaw and landed in the burrow. It glowed bluish silver, but when it hit the earth, it was not soaked up, nor did it merge with the other water. It solidified into a gem and rolled down into the bottom of the pit, its middle a liquid that swirled with the different colors of brown, green, blue, and silver all rolled into one. The pup was placed next to it, its face set in a peaceful expression, in a never-ending slumber. With one last trembling breath she began to slowly pack in the dirt.

*

I could have saved the pup, and she knew that. The Tensaiga could have brought him back to life. So why didn't she ask me to? Or even just let me? She knows I could, would, have done it. Sesshoumaru thought to himself, sitting on a tree branch, listening to the trees drip as water coasted down their leaves. He tested the air, but the it was still too heavily laden with moisture to pick out far-away scents. But then it hit him. Her scent. And the scent of death. He jumped down from the twisted branch onto the water-logged loam.

Thorn walked along slowly, clearly aware of her mate's gaze as it followed her. She was still in her wolf form, not yet ready to change back into her human shape. Her eyes were locked on the ground, tracing the mini rivers that flowed around her, and avoiding stepping on their course, lest she disrupt their journey to a bigger body of water, so much like she had done with the lives of those in this world, desperately trying not to interfere, yet doing so without want. Her paws were still stained with black mud, giving her an appearance of wearing boots, and floating in the milky air. Her ears did not flicker, but were back as if listening. Her tail was low as she slinked along in the rapidly-approaching mist.

Day was upon the earth, but it was still dark as dusk. The clouds, after draining themselves of their precious liquid, had refused to disperse, lingering reminders of the morning. The sun fought to break through, forcing strong rays through weak points of the clouds. But the sun's rays were too few and could not banish the thickening mist.

The huntress stepped into the clearing, rising her eyes to look at the newly evacuated den. She growled sadly and turned her gaze away, back toward the ground.

"Why didn't you let me bring him back?" Sesshoumaru asked from behind her, stepping toward her cautiously.

"Because it was Fate speaking to me. She told me that everything I know is wrong," came the muffled reply. She did not turn to look at him. "She was telling me that what I thought was my destiny was nothing but false dreams."

The Inu-youkai lord stepped forward. Thorn's eye caught the movement, and her ear twitched uneasily to hear it.

"I don't know when I will be back, but I need time to clear my head. I know you understand. But don't think I wont be back. I promise I'll be back, and you know that I never break promises," and with her rushed words she looked up toward the den and the still slumbering Jaken. "This is not good-bye." And with that, she fled, a speeding white blur turning into nothing but the shadow of the cloaking mist, a ghost in the empty sea of white.

Sesshoumaru was frozen in place. She had done it to him, he knew. He would be paralyzed for only a few moments more. He had let her do it, in wondering thought as to what she wanted of him. But he knew why she had done it, she wanted him to think about what she had said long and hard in case he had made an uncharacteristic bolt after her. He knew that her words were true. That she would not leave his side for long. She was too devoted, too strong in her will to keep hard-won alliances, unwilling to break their close bond. So he watched her go.

Two minutes later, his body was again functional. He sighed and looked to the empty den, listening to the wind as it exhaled ghosts of the pup's heartbeats and lingering traces of its breath. He turned toward Jaken, who's spell was broken as his was.

"Master Sesshoumaru? Where's Mistress?" he asked sleepily, swaying up to his lord. But he got no answer as the youkai looked off into the mist as it thickened almost protectively.

"My Lord?" Jaken said, prodding the monarch into speech. Silence was his answer. The toad demon was smart enough not to ask anymore questions.

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AN: another done! Only a few more to go!

DISCLAIMER: did it, done it, leave me alone. -lawyers back away-