Intro
Huzzah! This is theoretically the halfway point of this particular fanfic. I've been aiming for twelve chapters overall. If it runs past twelve.....oh well ^_^ I have decently high expectations of this chapter. With any luck, I'll get it done in one sitting. THIS sitting. Mwa hahaha......
Chapter 6
***Part 1: The Swordsman***
Several hours after the start of his work, Totosai stood up and lifted the Tetsusaiga into the air. With the ease that the old man used it, it was apparent that it was lighter than ever before. To Inuyasha's eyes, it had an iridescent blue shine.
"Well, took you long enough...." Inuyasha muttered to himself as he stood and walked to Totosai. "It IS done now, right?"
"Yes, it's done now, my impatient lad..." Totosai started, and tossed the Tetsusaiga to Inuyasha with little concern of it cutting the half- demon. "But my working on it doesn't mean you should treat it any less than you have. It's a tool, not a toy. Respect it..." Totosai kept going on.
"Yeah yeah, I got ya....respect it and it will treat me well. Heard all this before...." Inuyasha mumbled some as he gave the new Tetsusaiga a few test swings.
The blade was surprisingly light. It was as if there was nothing in his hands at all. Time after time, Inuyasha swung the blade effortlessly, getting a feel for the new power he held in his hands.
"You do good work....Totosai...." Inuyasha said lightly, with a smirk on his face. "Now I do believe I owe two people some payback...." A light laughter escaped his lips, as he began to walk off back to the village.
"Wait!" Totosai yelled out. "Just because your sword is stronger doesn't mean you are more powerful! Even if you are greater that Sesshomaru now, you cannot underestimate Barbarossa! You just don't understand...he's not of this world...."
Inuyasha stopped for a moment to try and think about what Totosai meant, before turning to him, and asking directly. "What do you mean "not of this world", Totosai?"
"He isn't necessarily a demon. I mean...he is, but he isn't..."
"You better start making sense old man." Inuyasha stepped up to Totosai and sat down on a fallen log.
"You see, Barbarossa is an extremely rare creature....he may be the only left of his kind. They are called Astral Swordsmen. Highly skilled warriors who retain their abilities after death...."
"So, he's a ghost? How can that be? He seems pretty solid to me..." Inuyasha mumbled a bit before being hit in the head with Totosai's mallet.
"Wait until I'm finished, boy! You see, when an Astral Swordsman is killed, they are reincarnated into another humanoid, but once they reaches a certain age, all the skills of the past flood back into their minds. He or she gets back their mind set, and everything. Barbarossa is a relatively new Astral Swordsmen though...."
"If he's so new, how come he's so damned powerful, eh?"
Inuyasha dodged another mallet shot from Totosai
"I'm STILL talking! Jeez boy, learn to pay attention......you see, new is a loose term with these people. He has only died a handful of times. All of which were from old age. Never once has he fallen in combat. He might very well be one of the more superior Swordsmen....the fact that he was reincarnated into the body of a pure blooded demon of such high standing only makes him stronger!" Totosai shook his head some, almost feeling sorry for Inuyasha for having to battle him.
"Wait a minute, how the hell do you know all this?! Are you one of those Astral thingies too?" Inuyasha prodded Totosai for answers. He was getting impatient.
"Your father told me this. Don't ask me how he knows it, because I have no clue. My only suggestion to you is to stay away from Barbarossa until you can figure out a way to get him for sure!"
The old man was visibly worried for the half-demon. Inuyasha, on the other hand, seemed quite confident in his abilities to dispatch Barbarossa.
"Bah, don't worry about it....with this new sword..." Inuyasha flicked the Tetsusaiga, giving on a light ring. "I should have no trouble at all with him. As a matter of fact, I think I'll go try and find them....now." With a large grin, Inuyasha began to walk back to the village, leaving Totosai in awe of his carelessness.
"The fool shall get him and his friends killed...." Totosai thought to himself lightly, before packing his things, and jumping atop his three eyes oxen, which together, they headed off in the opposite direction.
***Part 2: Haught***
With Inuyasha's signature speed, he dashed past the inn where Kagome and the rest were, throwing a note tied to a small rock into the building. Almost as if he were aiming, it cracked Shippo right in the head.
"OW! Where did that come from!?" The little fox growled angrily, as he looked around in a battle stance. "Huh....? It has a piece of paper on it..." Shippo picked the rock up, and pulled the paper off.
"Dear Kagome,
I have gone to finish off my brothers once and for all. I cannot bare to have you....or our friends get hurt. I'll not tell you where I am going, so you won't follow. Worry not. I will return victorious.
Inuyasha"
Kagome, having read the note over Shippo's small shoulders, looked on in light awe, not imagining that Inuyasha would leave so suddenly, so soon. She merely looked down for a moment, and went back to her tea, trying not to worry.
After three days of searching for a scent, Inuyasha had picked one up. He followed it for days, leading it to what seemed to be an insurmountable mountain range. With a deep breath, the young demon began his trek up the icy peaks, in search of his brethren.
A week went by in those frosted mountains. Inuyasha had been living off of snow owls and whatever frozen vegetation he could find, which was little. Exhaustion was beginning to take it's place, but his determination did not wane.
Inuyasha huffed heavily as he cleared yet another of this seemingly endless range. "Come on.....I cannot give up...I'm....so close...I can...feel it..."
Taking a laborious gaze forward, Inuyasha spotted something for a moment. It looked like a light. It didn't matter what kind to him, any light would do. Any heat would do. "Yes.....shelter!" Inuyasha yelled out in his mind as he made a mad dash for the light source.
After an hour of running, he came within a quarter-mile of what looked like a castle. It was a dark gray in color, seemingly iron. It's several towers were foreboding of death, but the light drove Inuyasha to it. He would do whatever it took to get in there, and to be warm...away from this arctic bluster.
Minutes later, he stood before the open gates of the fortress. Staring at the windows, and then the door, Inuyasha crept forward. He couldn't tell what the inhabitants were. His nose was far too cold to detect even the most pungent scents. With one last step forward, he grasped hold of the huge twin doors, and swung them open.
A blast of warmth came surging out as a much needed relief to the popsicle of a demon. With haste, he ran inside and shut the doors behind him. After leaning against the doors for several minutes, he managed to start loosening up. He rolled his shoulders lightly and walked towards one of the massive fireplaces.
"Wow.....this feels so good...." Inuyasha mumbles some, from still numb lips, as he plopped down in a massive leather chair near the embers. He sniffed the air lightly, but to no avail. "Damnit...still can't smell anything...." He grumbled lightly to himself.
Despite being very, very comfortable in his environs, he kept one hand on the Tetsusaiga at all times, unaware of when possibly hostile inhabitants would spring loose. He sighed lightly, closing his eyes involuntarily, and basked in the warmth and comfort that comes along but so rarely for him.
"Enjoying our hospitality, brother?"
Inuyasha's eyes snapped open. Sesshomaru's voice had resonated too many times in his mind to be calm in it's presence. He gripped the Tetsusaiga firmly, ready and willing to do battle with him and Barbarossa.
"It seems you have done a fine job of making yourself at home..." Sesshomaru spoke lightly as he descended from a main staircase, some bit off from Inuyasha's seat, but still within eyesight. "Have you come to try and best us? I thought that your last encounter would have taught you otherwise...." The velvet-voiced brother grinned some.
"I wouldn't be so cocky Sesshomaru...you haven't had a good track record as of late either...and this time, you don't stand a chance." Inuyasha had a large smile on his face, but his eyes proved that he was dead serious.
Without waiting another second, Inuyasha drew the Tetsusaiga from it's sheath, ready to kill Sesshomaru before Barbarossa showed up. "What are you going to do without your big brother here eh? You don't stand a chance anymore..."
"I wouldn't be so sure, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru looked over the Tetsusaiga for a moment, curious as to it's new luster. "Seems you've done something with the sword.....so matter. Merely giving me an advantage when I take it from you. Goodbye, brother."
In the blink of an eye, Sesshomaru held his right hand out, as the poison flew from his nails, covering the area that Inuyasha was in. After a moment, the poison cleared itself. None of the furniture it had hit seemed to be affected.
Inuyasha stepped out from behind the giant chair, and grinned to him. "Surprised? It doesn't take a genius to know that you're afraid of Barbarossa....you wouldn't try an attack like that unless you knew it wouldn't get hurt."
"Hmm....you've gotten a touch more crafty since last we met. Seems your new blade has made you a bit cocky as well..."
***Part 3: Blood***
Sesshomaru stood there for a moment, merely watching Inuyasha. "Stalling til' big bro gets here eh? Doesn't matter....I'm ready for him this time. Me and this baby here..." He flicked the blade again, making it hum. "We're ready to take him out."
"You've seen his skill, Inuyasha. No fancy blue color change will effect how powerful he is. You know you don't stand a chance." Sesshomaru tongues one of his teeth for a moment, as if he were nervous.
"Well well...what's this? Edgy? Maybe...big brother isn't here at all?" Inuyasha spoke with a grin and dashed as Sesshomaru, with the Tetsusaiga ready to cleave him in half.
Merely moments before Inuyasha was to swing the sword, a hand grabbed him by the head, and flung him across the room. After flipping to his feet, Inuyasha looked angrily to he who threw him. With some surprise, he looked upon Barbarossa.
"Oh yes, I'm here, little brother. I merely decided to make a decent entrance." Barbarossa, in his classic robes, stood beside Sesshomaru, gazing at Inuyasha. "Do you honestly think you can defeat ME with that toy? I am beyond you. I am beyond the Tetsusaiga. Just give up, and consign to your fate."
"We'll see about that, Barbarossa.....RIGHT NOW!" Inuyasha growled aloud and dashed at Barbarossa.
Without flinching, Barbarossa allowed Inuyasha to come. Inuyasha made his swing, right across Barbarossa's chest. Inuyasha merely looked at him for a moment, and Barbarossa to Inuyasha. After a moment, a long streak of Barbarossa's robes cut, and blood dripped forth.
With an appalled look on his face, Barbarossa looked down to his chest, and ran a hand across the cut. Bringing the blood speckled hand forward, he looked upon it. "What is this madness!? I cannot be harmed by you, nor your lowly weapons!" He growled heavily and gritted his teeth.
Inuyasha savored this moment. Just a moment. After Barbarossa recomposed himself, the very shallow wound closed itself. The cut on the clothes still remained. Inuyasha's face went blank. All his confidence and faith vanished. The strongest swing from the improved Tetsusaiga could only manage to scrape Barbarossa. Not enough blood to fill a thimble left his body.
The eldest brother scowled some, and shook his head. "For shame...." With a deft swing of his arm, Inuyasha went barreling into one of the fortresses iron walls. "Did you think you could traipse into MY home and kill ME!? You seem to have forgotten your head in the cold. I am Barbarossa! The greatest demon. None can surpass me! No-one is safe while I am alive!"
Sesshomaru grinned some at the display, seeing the once haughty brother cast aside like peasant rabble. Inuyasha was in nowhere near as high spirits. Slowly be picked himself up, and barely kept hold of the Tetsusaiga. The blank expression was still there, but now joined with raw determination.
"I'm going to kill you, Barbarossa...." Inuyasha coughed some. The trip across the room had knocked the wind out of him. "Theres....nothing you can do..." Inuyasha was barely standing. He wobbled from side to side between words.
Barbarossa was none too impressed with this display. "I've had enough of your games, boy. Hark! It is an omen! As Hymns resound, thou shalt be offered as a sacrifice to the feasts of madness!" Deep red light covered Barbarossa's hand as it jetted forward and latched hold of Inuyasha's head. For merely a moment it stayed there before Inuyasha had dropped his sword, closed his eyes, and collapsed.
"What happened, Barbarossa?" Sesshomaru asked. "I've never seen such magicks...."
"Of course you haven't. They aren't of here. I have merely brought Inuyasha to a state of...disrepair. He will live forever in this state, but he cannot do a thing. His mind belongs to me. You know what to do with him...."
End of Chapter 6
Took me long enough to get this chapter out. I've been putting it off for some time, for no apparent reason. I am massively satisfied with the way it came out though. Been planning this chapter for some time. Hopefully the next one will be almost as good. Great things to come though, I assure you
Huzzah! This is theoretically the halfway point of this particular fanfic. I've been aiming for twelve chapters overall. If it runs past twelve.....oh well ^_^ I have decently high expectations of this chapter. With any luck, I'll get it done in one sitting. THIS sitting. Mwa hahaha......
Chapter 6
***Part 1: The Swordsman***
Several hours after the start of his work, Totosai stood up and lifted the Tetsusaiga into the air. With the ease that the old man used it, it was apparent that it was lighter than ever before. To Inuyasha's eyes, it had an iridescent blue shine.
"Well, took you long enough...." Inuyasha muttered to himself as he stood and walked to Totosai. "It IS done now, right?"
"Yes, it's done now, my impatient lad..." Totosai started, and tossed the Tetsusaiga to Inuyasha with little concern of it cutting the half- demon. "But my working on it doesn't mean you should treat it any less than you have. It's a tool, not a toy. Respect it..." Totosai kept going on.
"Yeah yeah, I got ya....respect it and it will treat me well. Heard all this before...." Inuyasha mumbled some as he gave the new Tetsusaiga a few test swings.
The blade was surprisingly light. It was as if there was nothing in his hands at all. Time after time, Inuyasha swung the blade effortlessly, getting a feel for the new power he held in his hands.
"You do good work....Totosai...." Inuyasha said lightly, with a smirk on his face. "Now I do believe I owe two people some payback...." A light laughter escaped his lips, as he began to walk off back to the village.
"Wait!" Totosai yelled out. "Just because your sword is stronger doesn't mean you are more powerful! Even if you are greater that Sesshomaru now, you cannot underestimate Barbarossa! You just don't understand...he's not of this world...."
Inuyasha stopped for a moment to try and think about what Totosai meant, before turning to him, and asking directly. "What do you mean "not of this world", Totosai?"
"He isn't necessarily a demon. I mean...he is, but he isn't..."
"You better start making sense old man." Inuyasha stepped up to Totosai and sat down on a fallen log.
"You see, Barbarossa is an extremely rare creature....he may be the only left of his kind. They are called Astral Swordsmen. Highly skilled warriors who retain their abilities after death...."
"So, he's a ghost? How can that be? He seems pretty solid to me..." Inuyasha mumbled a bit before being hit in the head with Totosai's mallet.
"Wait until I'm finished, boy! You see, when an Astral Swordsman is killed, they are reincarnated into another humanoid, but once they reaches a certain age, all the skills of the past flood back into their minds. He or she gets back their mind set, and everything. Barbarossa is a relatively new Astral Swordsmen though...."
"If he's so new, how come he's so damned powerful, eh?"
Inuyasha dodged another mallet shot from Totosai
"I'm STILL talking! Jeez boy, learn to pay attention......you see, new is a loose term with these people. He has only died a handful of times. All of which were from old age. Never once has he fallen in combat. He might very well be one of the more superior Swordsmen....the fact that he was reincarnated into the body of a pure blooded demon of such high standing only makes him stronger!" Totosai shook his head some, almost feeling sorry for Inuyasha for having to battle him.
"Wait a minute, how the hell do you know all this?! Are you one of those Astral thingies too?" Inuyasha prodded Totosai for answers. He was getting impatient.
"Your father told me this. Don't ask me how he knows it, because I have no clue. My only suggestion to you is to stay away from Barbarossa until you can figure out a way to get him for sure!"
The old man was visibly worried for the half-demon. Inuyasha, on the other hand, seemed quite confident in his abilities to dispatch Barbarossa.
"Bah, don't worry about it....with this new sword..." Inuyasha flicked the Tetsusaiga, giving on a light ring. "I should have no trouble at all with him. As a matter of fact, I think I'll go try and find them....now." With a large grin, Inuyasha began to walk back to the village, leaving Totosai in awe of his carelessness.
"The fool shall get him and his friends killed...." Totosai thought to himself lightly, before packing his things, and jumping atop his three eyes oxen, which together, they headed off in the opposite direction.
***Part 2: Haught***
With Inuyasha's signature speed, he dashed past the inn where Kagome and the rest were, throwing a note tied to a small rock into the building. Almost as if he were aiming, it cracked Shippo right in the head.
"OW! Where did that come from!?" The little fox growled angrily, as he looked around in a battle stance. "Huh....? It has a piece of paper on it..." Shippo picked the rock up, and pulled the paper off.
"Dear Kagome,
I have gone to finish off my brothers once and for all. I cannot bare to have you....or our friends get hurt. I'll not tell you where I am going, so you won't follow. Worry not. I will return victorious.
Inuyasha"
Kagome, having read the note over Shippo's small shoulders, looked on in light awe, not imagining that Inuyasha would leave so suddenly, so soon. She merely looked down for a moment, and went back to her tea, trying not to worry.
After three days of searching for a scent, Inuyasha had picked one up. He followed it for days, leading it to what seemed to be an insurmountable mountain range. With a deep breath, the young demon began his trek up the icy peaks, in search of his brethren.
A week went by in those frosted mountains. Inuyasha had been living off of snow owls and whatever frozen vegetation he could find, which was little. Exhaustion was beginning to take it's place, but his determination did not wane.
Inuyasha huffed heavily as he cleared yet another of this seemingly endless range. "Come on.....I cannot give up...I'm....so close...I can...feel it..."
Taking a laborious gaze forward, Inuyasha spotted something for a moment. It looked like a light. It didn't matter what kind to him, any light would do. Any heat would do. "Yes.....shelter!" Inuyasha yelled out in his mind as he made a mad dash for the light source.
After an hour of running, he came within a quarter-mile of what looked like a castle. It was a dark gray in color, seemingly iron. It's several towers were foreboding of death, but the light drove Inuyasha to it. He would do whatever it took to get in there, and to be warm...away from this arctic bluster.
Minutes later, he stood before the open gates of the fortress. Staring at the windows, and then the door, Inuyasha crept forward. He couldn't tell what the inhabitants were. His nose was far too cold to detect even the most pungent scents. With one last step forward, he grasped hold of the huge twin doors, and swung them open.
A blast of warmth came surging out as a much needed relief to the popsicle of a demon. With haste, he ran inside and shut the doors behind him. After leaning against the doors for several minutes, he managed to start loosening up. He rolled his shoulders lightly and walked towards one of the massive fireplaces.
"Wow.....this feels so good...." Inuyasha mumbles some, from still numb lips, as he plopped down in a massive leather chair near the embers. He sniffed the air lightly, but to no avail. "Damnit...still can't smell anything...." He grumbled lightly to himself.
Despite being very, very comfortable in his environs, he kept one hand on the Tetsusaiga at all times, unaware of when possibly hostile inhabitants would spring loose. He sighed lightly, closing his eyes involuntarily, and basked in the warmth and comfort that comes along but so rarely for him.
"Enjoying our hospitality, brother?"
Inuyasha's eyes snapped open. Sesshomaru's voice had resonated too many times in his mind to be calm in it's presence. He gripped the Tetsusaiga firmly, ready and willing to do battle with him and Barbarossa.
"It seems you have done a fine job of making yourself at home..." Sesshomaru spoke lightly as he descended from a main staircase, some bit off from Inuyasha's seat, but still within eyesight. "Have you come to try and best us? I thought that your last encounter would have taught you otherwise...." The velvet-voiced brother grinned some.
"I wouldn't be so cocky Sesshomaru...you haven't had a good track record as of late either...and this time, you don't stand a chance." Inuyasha had a large smile on his face, but his eyes proved that he was dead serious.
Without waiting another second, Inuyasha drew the Tetsusaiga from it's sheath, ready to kill Sesshomaru before Barbarossa showed up. "What are you going to do without your big brother here eh? You don't stand a chance anymore..."
"I wouldn't be so sure, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru looked over the Tetsusaiga for a moment, curious as to it's new luster. "Seems you've done something with the sword.....so matter. Merely giving me an advantage when I take it from you. Goodbye, brother."
In the blink of an eye, Sesshomaru held his right hand out, as the poison flew from his nails, covering the area that Inuyasha was in. After a moment, the poison cleared itself. None of the furniture it had hit seemed to be affected.
Inuyasha stepped out from behind the giant chair, and grinned to him. "Surprised? It doesn't take a genius to know that you're afraid of Barbarossa....you wouldn't try an attack like that unless you knew it wouldn't get hurt."
"Hmm....you've gotten a touch more crafty since last we met. Seems your new blade has made you a bit cocky as well..."
***Part 3: Blood***
Sesshomaru stood there for a moment, merely watching Inuyasha. "Stalling til' big bro gets here eh? Doesn't matter....I'm ready for him this time. Me and this baby here..." He flicked the blade again, making it hum. "We're ready to take him out."
"You've seen his skill, Inuyasha. No fancy blue color change will effect how powerful he is. You know you don't stand a chance." Sesshomaru tongues one of his teeth for a moment, as if he were nervous.
"Well well...what's this? Edgy? Maybe...big brother isn't here at all?" Inuyasha spoke with a grin and dashed as Sesshomaru, with the Tetsusaiga ready to cleave him in half.
Merely moments before Inuyasha was to swing the sword, a hand grabbed him by the head, and flung him across the room. After flipping to his feet, Inuyasha looked angrily to he who threw him. With some surprise, he looked upon Barbarossa.
"Oh yes, I'm here, little brother. I merely decided to make a decent entrance." Barbarossa, in his classic robes, stood beside Sesshomaru, gazing at Inuyasha. "Do you honestly think you can defeat ME with that toy? I am beyond you. I am beyond the Tetsusaiga. Just give up, and consign to your fate."
"We'll see about that, Barbarossa.....RIGHT NOW!" Inuyasha growled aloud and dashed at Barbarossa.
Without flinching, Barbarossa allowed Inuyasha to come. Inuyasha made his swing, right across Barbarossa's chest. Inuyasha merely looked at him for a moment, and Barbarossa to Inuyasha. After a moment, a long streak of Barbarossa's robes cut, and blood dripped forth.
With an appalled look on his face, Barbarossa looked down to his chest, and ran a hand across the cut. Bringing the blood speckled hand forward, he looked upon it. "What is this madness!? I cannot be harmed by you, nor your lowly weapons!" He growled heavily and gritted his teeth.
Inuyasha savored this moment. Just a moment. After Barbarossa recomposed himself, the very shallow wound closed itself. The cut on the clothes still remained. Inuyasha's face went blank. All his confidence and faith vanished. The strongest swing from the improved Tetsusaiga could only manage to scrape Barbarossa. Not enough blood to fill a thimble left his body.
The eldest brother scowled some, and shook his head. "For shame...." With a deft swing of his arm, Inuyasha went barreling into one of the fortresses iron walls. "Did you think you could traipse into MY home and kill ME!? You seem to have forgotten your head in the cold. I am Barbarossa! The greatest demon. None can surpass me! No-one is safe while I am alive!"
Sesshomaru grinned some at the display, seeing the once haughty brother cast aside like peasant rabble. Inuyasha was in nowhere near as high spirits. Slowly be picked himself up, and barely kept hold of the Tetsusaiga. The blank expression was still there, but now joined with raw determination.
"I'm going to kill you, Barbarossa...." Inuyasha coughed some. The trip across the room had knocked the wind out of him. "Theres....nothing you can do..." Inuyasha was barely standing. He wobbled from side to side between words.
Barbarossa was none too impressed with this display. "I've had enough of your games, boy. Hark! It is an omen! As Hymns resound, thou shalt be offered as a sacrifice to the feasts of madness!" Deep red light covered Barbarossa's hand as it jetted forward and latched hold of Inuyasha's head. For merely a moment it stayed there before Inuyasha had dropped his sword, closed his eyes, and collapsed.
"What happened, Barbarossa?" Sesshomaru asked. "I've never seen such magicks...."
"Of course you haven't. They aren't of here. I have merely brought Inuyasha to a state of...disrepair. He will live forever in this state, but he cannot do a thing. His mind belongs to me. You know what to do with him...."
End of Chapter 6
Took me long enough to get this chapter out. I've been putting it off for some time, for no apparent reason. I am massively satisfied with the way it came out though. Been planning this chapter for some time. Hopefully the next one will be almost as good. Great things to come though, I assure you