Disclaimer: Inuyasha and characters from the show are the property of
Rumiko Takahashi et cetera. Though I should sound more grateful that I'm
not being sued for the absolute nothing that I have (unless lawyers now
take credit card debt *shrugs*)
I want to give a super big Thank you to Spork or Foon. I'm dedicating this chapter to you for being my only reviewer/the highlight of my day and even changing the pairing status to a definite Sess/Kag for you. Before anyone gets huffy please click on the link on my bio page for information on how I will be accommodating Inu/Kag fans. Oh and I forgot to mention that I am going on memory when it comes to the episode that I'm referencing.
Chapter 2: Submission
The village carried the overwhelming smell of human blood. Normally this fact would have been of no consequence to the Lord of the Western Lands. There were none that were foolish enough to question his reign by spilling the blood of the souls kept under his protection.
As it remained, the circumstances of the battle were already causing small rifts to occur. Never before had he felt so strained. He had managed to walk away seemingly unscathed, but the increasing build-up of low humming energy said otherwise.
In light of today he now realized that the sword was the only thing keeping Inuyasha's rational, if weak, human mind in control. The same brother, who before today was holding a sword that Sesshoumaru felt was rightfully his, would now hold a reassurance given to him by the obvious claims of protection from their long dead father. Sesshoumaru's mind was already reeling from the implications that had arisen when the true purpose of the Tetsusaiga was revealed.
If he had had the time to go over his last skirmish and what it meant to his greater vision on things to come it would have elicited a major groan or a minor break down from a lesser being. Neither choice was acceptable for one who had the needs of a great land and the linage of powerful inuyoukai warlords driving him to the perfection he was named after. Sesshoumaru had duties to oversee, things to kill, swords to...
It was too much to take in for one afternoon; yet anyone observing Sesshoumaru would have said this small development hadn't managed to faze the young prince. Under normal circumstances he would have been able to agree, but he could feel the wear and tear within the inner recesses of his being even if he did not display it.
He was already wondering why he was making a slow dramatic departure from the battlefield when a simple summon of some of his youkai would have speed him away from this place and back to his lands. By now Jaken would surely be at his last nerve dealing with his charge and he still had his own obligations to attend to.
The part of him that housed his stressful feelings balked at the idea of leaving so quickly. If he hadn't known any better, he would have said that it was up to something-besides giving him the youkai equivalent of an ulcer. Out of spite he pushed down on the nagging sensation and zoomed off at an increased rate.
There was something about the way the wind shifting through his hair that made Sesshoumaru close his eyes in a semi-peaceful manner. Flexing slightly Sesshoumaru shifted his senses into a wide circumference. On the edge of his awareness large amounts of foreign youkai could be felt from within his lands.
Moments later he was hovering near a small sized group of would be challengers. Some of the members in the group were arguing in low voices while some of the more alert ones began to take up defensive stance. From the look of things none of the youkai before him belonged to any one faction. Various garments identified them as coming from various species and class rankings though most were without property of their own.
When he had came into range it was clear that everyone gathered had felt his youkai from the slight flinches and shifting postures. Looking at the positions they stood in, he could tell that the panther demon that was still arguing and simultaneously humming with the demand to be obeyed was probably one or more of the ringleaders.
Since the majority of the youkai gathered there had enough sense to give signs of being neutral he would not attack-for now. He held these soldier's lives in his hands the minute they stepped foot on his land and he would not hesitate to strike them down at the first signs of aggression. Besides it would be amusing to discover the purpose that had managed to rally the odd band together as some kind of a quasi pack.
A low-blooded youkai angrily latched on to the panther's arm and spoke quietly in his ear. His attempts were wasted though since Sesshoumaru was still able to pick up their conversation.
"Kurohyou, he's to strong to try to take on by yourself! We need to stick to the original plan and overpower him as a group if we want to possess his lands" he murmured. While this was said Buryaku gauged the state of his crew. Apparently the arrival of the taiyoukai had brought the group out of their need for power so the argument that had token up so much of his time was now a moot point.
Mentally Sesshoumaru sneered at the idea of ~this~ rag tag bunch defeating him even with their numbers. The almost unanimous submission of the group was the only thing appeasing the most basic of his youkai nature to destroy them without any regard for further information.
He wasn't foolish enough to believe that a large enough group wouldn't be enough to throw him if they took the right precautions, but the division in the team indicated that they didn't have the leadership, skill or coherency to be successful. Even if they did possess what it took to work together, they would have been divided over who would retain full leadership of his lands.
Kurohyou glared at him before retorting, "My gut is telling me that we will not need such drastic measures to defeat the Western Lord Buryaku. This group would be nothing without my strength uniting us, and my blood demands complete control."
Kurohyou snatched his arm away with a harsh push to Buryaku. His bearing took on a dominating stance and started to circle Buryaku in a way that screamed out alpha male. Buryaku held his ground with an attitude that implied that he was unaffected by the other youkai's display. His face contorted in a grimace for a second that spoke volumes on his interpretation of that little speech before he glanced over at Sesshoumaru. An idea had struck Buryaku before he turned his attention on Kurohyou with a coy grin.
"It was obvious that all of us were misguided when we came here. Perhaps we should now gain our senses and take a more orthodox method to this whole leadership thing."
Kurohyou appeared pleased with this change. Everyone present realized that the fight would now shift to a one on one challenge for the claim of territory. Throughout the history of youkai this was the one true method that decided who would dominate versus who would serve.
A buried part of Sesshoumaru was borderline eager for this distraction to his plight. Oddly enough it was the part of him that had felt so strained in the earlier battle. He knew that he would never intentionally go out and pick a fight with a lesser being just for the sheer purpose of gaining a distraction so this opportunity was almost enjoyable. The inu lord stepped forward and prepared to fight as the other youkai cleared out a space for them to battle in.
The panther's only warning of attack came with the sleek repositioning of his body. The demon shifted on his feet before charging at Sesshoumaru. The tale tell signs of sudden humidity in the air alerted Sesshoumaru that the panther was summoning a deeper reserve of power early on in the fight. In the back of his mind he was already calculating how to effectively use his youkai without calling on his own overtaxed strength when the change occurred.
As Kurohyou charged at him a ghostly image of a miniature version of himself vibrated and then flickered in front of him before consuming Kurohyou. His eyes drowned form the rush of energy that overcame him before blanking out and changing the presence of the fighter.
While he continued to strategize he thought back to the disturbing way his own youkai asset had tried to emerge back in the human village. The commotion concerning the possible end of his pursuit for the sword after feeling Inuyasha's energy spike up in chilling ways had caused the thing to swell out in senseless rebellion. Fortunately none of Inuyasha's party was skilled enough to notice his loss of control. It was doubtful that anyone had felt the release since his own energy had kept a tight reign on it, but the loss of control was still... disconcerting.
Toukijin's call for blood was ignored as Sesshoumaru moved to counter Kurohyou's swipe of his claws with his more natural attributes. His energy whip was summoned and cracked across the now open defense of Kurohyou. He made sure to add an extracting jolt of energy to try to drain the excess energy off of Kurohyou.
When the whip struck home Kurohyou jerked for a moment before twisting out of the attack. He leapt back to try to gain another opening attack when Sesshoumaru speed in for an impenetrable assault. The whip was temporarily hidden to free his hands up for repeated strikes to Kurohyou's midsection and jugular.
The attacks to Kurohyou's stomach landed with devastating precision but Kurohyou was able to protect his neck. In a desperate attempt he swung around and landed a punch to the taiyoukai before backing up enough to pool up his earlier collected energy.
Waves of power gathered at Kurohyou's fingertips for a short moment before being released in large arches shaped like humongous claws. As the assault traveled out at Sesshoumaru a couple of the surrounding youkai began to cheer at what they had perceived as Kurohyou's victory.
While it was clear that Kurohyou lacked the strength to transform into a larger form, the energy he had just released was enough to be fatal. Sesshoumaru took off the ground in a wide leap designed to avoid the killing blow. A portion of the blow had reached him and he gathered his self to deflect that part of the hit.
Sesshoumaru was lucky enough to be at a high enough level of power not to fall under such a blow, but the part that he had been trying to tamper down was incensed at the attack. A look of hunger for the battle and the possibility of more of a challenge than Sesshoumaru had originally anticipated quickly flashed in his countenance before he converted back to his stoic self. It was ready to take control of the situation when Sesshoumaru mentally reminded it of the type of challenge that they were in.
Everyone present was aware of what Kurohyou had summoned; every youkai possessed that very part of them and it was clear from the beginning that Kurohyou's was needed to even begin to be on level with someone as powerful as Sesshoumaru. If Sesshoumaru refrained from calling on his own inborn gift, it would only cement his dominance as the lord of his territory.
Keeping this in mind Sesshoumaru's arm stretched out in mid-flight with a deadliness that was beautiful among his wind swept hair and billowing kimono. Kurohyou might have sent out a killing move, but he was not fast enough to recover from its effects.
Sesshoumaru was on him in an instant, green poison flowing freely through his claws and eating through Kurohyou's neck. Within moments Sesshoumaru's opponent was dead and the rest of the group were in various states of fleeing. His face remained in its eternally blank icy stare as he took in the members of the group and how they were reacting.
When the challenge had been issued each youkai knew that the winner would claim the lands and anyone on them as his own. Anyone remaining was basically putting their life in the successful combatant's hands.
Internally Sesshoumaru was tense at what was to come. He would have to give that part of himself temporary freedom so that he could bend the wills of the rouge youkai and place them under his own control. Normally that would not have been of any concern to him except that once it was allowed to be slightly released there was no telling what measures he would have to take to tamper it down again.
A pulse of energy similar yet more powerful to Kurohyou's summoning brought out a transparent image of Sesshoumaru with a face even more devoid of emotion. The face that earlier appeared unknowing to Sesshoumaru was now allowed to flow out at his stomach and detach itself into a full person that resembled a miniature version of his self.
It began its task by transforming into different webs of energy and aiming itself at all of the youkai that had entered the battlegrounds. It successfully wrapped itself around each of the demons that it was entitled to and began to warp the various youkai. Sounds of screaming and painful growls were let out as the thing called for the submission of their varying youkai to Sesshoumaru.
Slowly each one was down and readily giving into to the request put on them. When it was satisfied with their surrender it began to grab at the air around them and emit Sesshoumaru's personal scent as the first level of ownership.
Once the air around everyone and everything was marked it proceed to gain control over everyone's youkai. Small emblems of ownership began to emerge on the appropriate body parts. Seeing that the miniature's task was completed, Sesshoumaru began to clamp down on the thing when it sent off another calling strand to somewhere Sesshoumaru had not authorized. He quickly locked it down under his control and externally began to round up his new servants while internally he began to search for information to where the call had been sent out to.
That's it for now. I just happened to finish this as the computer lab was closing anyway. Please leave a review and remember that I do have author's notes up if you click on the link at my bio page.
I want to give a super big Thank you to Spork or Foon. I'm dedicating this chapter to you for being my only reviewer/the highlight of my day and even changing the pairing status to a definite Sess/Kag for you. Before anyone gets huffy please click on the link on my bio page for information on how I will be accommodating Inu/Kag fans. Oh and I forgot to mention that I am going on memory when it comes to the episode that I'm referencing.
Chapter 2: Submission
The village carried the overwhelming smell of human blood. Normally this fact would have been of no consequence to the Lord of the Western Lands. There were none that were foolish enough to question his reign by spilling the blood of the souls kept under his protection.
As it remained, the circumstances of the battle were already causing small rifts to occur. Never before had he felt so strained. He had managed to walk away seemingly unscathed, but the increasing build-up of low humming energy said otherwise.
In light of today he now realized that the sword was the only thing keeping Inuyasha's rational, if weak, human mind in control. The same brother, who before today was holding a sword that Sesshoumaru felt was rightfully his, would now hold a reassurance given to him by the obvious claims of protection from their long dead father. Sesshoumaru's mind was already reeling from the implications that had arisen when the true purpose of the Tetsusaiga was revealed.
If he had had the time to go over his last skirmish and what it meant to his greater vision on things to come it would have elicited a major groan or a minor break down from a lesser being. Neither choice was acceptable for one who had the needs of a great land and the linage of powerful inuyoukai warlords driving him to the perfection he was named after. Sesshoumaru had duties to oversee, things to kill, swords to...
It was too much to take in for one afternoon; yet anyone observing Sesshoumaru would have said this small development hadn't managed to faze the young prince. Under normal circumstances he would have been able to agree, but he could feel the wear and tear within the inner recesses of his being even if he did not display it.
He was already wondering why he was making a slow dramatic departure from the battlefield when a simple summon of some of his youkai would have speed him away from this place and back to his lands. By now Jaken would surely be at his last nerve dealing with his charge and he still had his own obligations to attend to.
The part of him that housed his stressful feelings balked at the idea of leaving so quickly. If he hadn't known any better, he would have said that it was up to something-besides giving him the youkai equivalent of an ulcer. Out of spite he pushed down on the nagging sensation and zoomed off at an increased rate.
There was something about the way the wind shifting through his hair that made Sesshoumaru close his eyes in a semi-peaceful manner. Flexing slightly Sesshoumaru shifted his senses into a wide circumference. On the edge of his awareness large amounts of foreign youkai could be felt from within his lands.
Moments later he was hovering near a small sized group of would be challengers. Some of the members in the group were arguing in low voices while some of the more alert ones began to take up defensive stance. From the look of things none of the youkai before him belonged to any one faction. Various garments identified them as coming from various species and class rankings though most were without property of their own.
When he had came into range it was clear that everyone gathered had felt his youkai from the slight flinches and shifting postures. Looking at the positions they stood in, he could tell that the panther demon that was still arguing and simultaneously humming with the demand to be obeyed was probably one or more of the ringleaders.
Since the majority of the youkai gathered there had enough sense to give signs of being neutral he would not attack-for now. He held these soldier's lives in his hands the minute they stepped foot on his land and he would not hesitate to strike them down at the first signs of aggression. Besides it would be amusing to discover the purpose that had managed to rally the odd band together as some kind of a quasi pack.
A low-blooded youkai angrily latched on to the panther's arm and spoke quietly in his ear. His attempts were wasted though since Sesshoumaru was still able to pick up their conversation.
"Kurohyou, he's to strong to try to take on by yourself! We need to stick to the original plan and overpower him as a group if we want to possess his lands" he murmured. While this was said Buryaku gauged the state of his crew. Apparently the arrival of the taiyoukai had brought the group out of their need for power so the argument that had token up so much of his time was now a moot point.
Mentally Sesshoumaru sneered at the idea of ~this~ rag tag bunch defeating him even with their numbers. The almost unanimous submission of the group was the only thing appeasing the most basic of his youkai nature to destroy them without any regard for further information.
He wasn't foolish enough to believe that a large enough group wouldn't be enough to throw him if they took the right precautions, but the division in the team indicated that they didn't have the leadership, skill or coherency to be successful. Even if they did possess what it took to work together, they would have been divided over who would retain full leadership of his lands.
Kurohyou glared at him before retorting, "My gut is telling me that we will not need such drastic measures to defeat the Western Lord Buryaku. This group would be nothing without my strength uniting us, and my blood demands complete control."
Kurohyou snatched his arm away with a harsh push to Buryaku. His bearing took on a dominating stance and started to circle Buryaku in a way that screamed out alpha male. Buryaku held his ground with an attitude that implied that he was unaffected by the other youkai's display. His face contorted in a grimace for a second that spoke volumes on his interpretation of that little speech before he glanced over at Sesshoumaru. An idea had struck Buryaku before he turned his attention on Kurohyou with a coy grin.
"It was obvious that all of us were misguided when we came here. Perhaps we should now gain our senses and take a more orthodox method to this whole leadership thing."
Kurohyou appeared pleased with this change. Everyone present realized that the fight would now shift to a one on one challenge for the claim of territory. Throughout the history of youkai this was the one true method that decided who would dominate versus who would serve.
A buried part of Sesshoumaru was borderline eager for this distraction to his plight. Oddly enough it was the part of him that had felt so strained in the earlier battle. He knew that he would never intentionally go out and pick a fight with a lesser being just for the sheer purpose of gaining a distraction so this opportunity was almost enjoyable. The inu lord stepped forward and prepared to fight as the other youkai cleared out a space for them to battle in.
The panther's only warning of attack came with the sleek repositioning of his body. The demon shifted on his feet before charging at Sesshoumaru. The tale tell signs of sudden humidity in the air alerted Sesshoumaru that the panther was summoning a deeper reserve of power early on in the fight. In the back of his mind he was already calculating how to effectively use his youkai without calling on his own overtaxed strength when the change occurred.
As Kurohyou charged at him a ghostly image of a miniature version of himself vibrated and then flickered in front of him before consuming Kurohyou. His eyes drowned form the rush of energy that overcame him before blanking out and changing the presence of the fighter.
While he continued to strategize he thought back to the disturbing way his own youkai asset had tried to emerge back in the human village. The commotion concerning the possible end of his pursuit for the sword after feeling Inuyasha's energy spike up in chilling ways had caused the thing to swell out in senseless rebellion. Fortunately none of Inuyasha's party was skilled enough to notice his loss of control. It was doubtful that anyone had felt the release since his own energy had kept a tight reign on it, but the loss of control was still... disconcerting.
Toukijin's call for blood was ignored as Sesshoumaru moved to counter Kurohyou's swipe of his claws with his more natural attributes. His energy whip was summoned and cracked across the now open defense of Kurohyou. He made sure to add an extracting jolt of energy to try to drain the excess energy off of Kurohyou.
When the whip struck home Kurohyou jerked for a moment before twisting out of the attack. He leapt back to try to gain another opening attack when Sesshoumaru speed in for an impenetrable assault. The whip was temporarily hidden to free his hands up for repeated strikes to Kurohyou's midsection and jugular.
The attacks to Kurohyou's stomach landed with devastating precision but Kurohyou was able to protect his neck. In a desperate attempt he swung around and landed a punch to the taiyoukai before backing up enough to pool up his earlier collected energy.
Waves of power gathered at Kurohyou's fingertips for a short moment before being released in large arches shaped like humongous claws. As the assault traveled out at Sesshoumaru a couple of the surrounding youkai began to cheer at what they had perceived as Kurohyou's victory.
While it was clear that Kurohyou lacked the strength to transform into a larger form, the energy he had just released was enough to be fatal. Sesshoumaru took off the ground in a wide leap designed to avoid the killing blow. A portion of the blow had reached him and he gathered his self to deflect that part of the hit.
Sesshoumaru was lucky enough to be at a high enough level of power not to fall under such a blow, but the part that he had been trying to tamper down was incensed at the attack. A look of hunger for the battle and the possibility of more of a challenge than Sesshoumaru had originally anticipated quickly flashed in his countenance before he converted back to his stoic self. It was ready to take control of the situation when Sesshoumaru mentally reminded it of the type of challenge that they were in.
Everyone present was aware of what Kurohyou had summoned; every youkai possessed that very part of them and it was clear from the beginning that Kurohyou's was needed to even begin to be on level with someone as powerful as Sesshoumaru. If Sesshoumaru refrained from calling on his own inborn gift, it would only cement his dominance as the lord of his territory.
Keeping this in mind Sesshoumaru's arm stretched out in mid-flight with a deadliness that was beautiful among his wind swept hair and billowing kimono. Kurohyou might have sent out a killing move, but he was not fast enough to recover from its effects.
Sesshoumaru was on him in an instant, green poison flowing freely through his claws and eating through Kurohyou's neck. Within moments Sesshoumaru's opponent was dead and the rest of the group were in various states of fleeing. His face remained in its eternally blank icy stare as he took in the members of the group and how they were reacting.
When the challenge had been issued each youkai knew that the winner would claim the lands and anyone on them as his own. Anyone remaining was basically putting their life in the successful combatant's hands.
Internally Sesshoumaru was tense at what was to come. He would have to give that part of himself temporary freedom so that he could bend the wills of the rouge youkai and place them under his own control. Normally that would not have been of any concern to him except that once it was allowed to be slightly released there was no telling what measures he would have to take to tamper it down again.
A pulse of energy similar yet more powerful to Kurohyou's summoning brought out a transparent image of Sesshoumaru with a face even more devoid of emotion. The face that earlier appeared unknowing to Sesshoumaru was now allowed to flow out at his stomach and detach itself into a full person that resembled a miniature version of his self.
It began its task by transforming into different webs of energy and aiming itself at all of the youkai that had entered the battlegrounds. It successfully wrapped itself around each of the demons that it was entitled to and began to warp the various youkai. Sounds of screaming and painful growls were let out as the thing called for the submission of their varying youkai to Sesshoumaru.
Slowly each one was down and readily giving into to the request put on them. When it was satisfied with their surrender it began to grab at the air around them and emit Sesshoumaru's personal scent as the first level of ownership.
Once the air around everyone and everything was marked it proceed to gain control over everyone's youkai. Small emblems of ownership began to emerge on the appropriate body parts. Seeing that the miniature's task was completed, Sesshoumaru began to clamp down on the thing when it sent off another calling strand to somewhere Sesshoumaru had not authorized. He quickly locked it down under his control and externally began to round up his new servants while internally he began to search for information to where the call had been sent out to.
That's it for now. I just happened to finish this as the computer lab was closing anyway. Please leave a review and remember that I do have author's notes up if you click on the link at my bio page.
