Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor do I own any of the characters associated with Inuyasha
For someone such as Sesshoumaru, who can only hate humans,
wielding the Tetsusaiga is quite impossible.
-Myouga the flea
Carefully placing her knees on the slippery edge of the lichen encrusted rock, Rin let her body lean out over the clear water of the forest brook. Watching as her image reflected back to her off the reflective surface of the running water, Rin sunk her hands into the stream before bring the water up to her face to drink. Slowly letting the cool liquid refresh her from within, Rin casually stood up and looked around the forest. Even though the midday sun passed freely here where she stood in the clearing, the heavy forest canopy made the wilderness around her seem darker than it should have otherwise been.
Although she could not see them through the cover of vegetation, Rin knew that just on the other side of the bushes to her right, Jaken stood with the reins of Au and Un held firmly in his grasp; and lying with his back against a thick oak tree, as unexpressive of emotion as ever, was Lord Sesshoumaru.
From the darkness of the brush to her left, Rin suddenly heard the feint sound of branches rustling against the weight of something moving through the forest. Stepping backwards across the bank of the brook, Rin drew the air around her into her lungs, and then screamed. For someone such as herself, whom had once been torn apart by wolves, a fear of the creatures that lurk in the wilderness was well founded.
Starring through tear stained eyes brought on by fear, Rin carefully watched the shadows that seemed to move freely amongst the emerald green leaves. There was something unusual about the sound that she had just heard, something frightening about the thought of another being within her midst; because for as long as she has been with Sesshoumaru, no animal has been this close to her. Most times it seemed as if nature itself would run into hiding whenever she approached, she whom always carried with her the youkai lord's scent.
Flying like thunder through the forest, Sesshoumaru came to stand beside the frightened girl; the sword Toukijin held firmly at his side. The sound was again heard coming from the brush, and Rin gripped herself to Sesshoumaru's pant leg.
Looking with unconcerned eyes towards the direction of the noise, Sesshoumaru watched as a small, yellow chested finch flew upwards from the bushes.
"Leave it to a human girl to be frightened by a tiny bird," Jaken mocked as he clawed his way through the brush towards the two.
"Do not be so arrogant Jaken," Sesshoumaru said. "Although its scent is faint, I now realize that there is something else here."
"Are you sure it's not just the scent of that little girl wetting herself?"
"I did not wet myself!"
"Be silent the both of you," Sesshoumaru said as he breathed in the air around him; his nostrils focused to pick up even the faintest scent of youkai. "Jaken, take Rin back to the camp. I desire to know what creature could produce such a faint scent," Sesshoumaru said as he stepped forwards in the direction of smell, and casually walked into the thick forest.
"Come on now Rin," Jaken said as he slowly turned and walked towards the direction from which he had come. "You heard Lord Sesshoumaru, he wants us to return to camp."
Pushing his way through the dense brush, Sesshoumaru came to find himself in a small clearing high above the valley where he had ordered Jaken to make camp. In the far off distance, he could hear the gently rumble of the brook; and closer than it had ever been before, was the faint scent of the creature.
There was no mistake, it was the same scent from before; barely noticeable, and yet decidedly pungent to the senses. This creature was youkai, the evil aura which encapsulated its scent was proof enough of that; however there was something that made the great demon lord uneasy, something that he couldn't quite figure out.
Walking out across the clearing, the high noon sun fresh on his face, and the dry weeds running across his pant legs, Sesshoumaru looked towards the direction of the scent. Stepping towards a single tree that dominated the clearing, Sesshoumaru breathed in the thick air that clung to the bark. Although the scent was faint, Sesshoumaru could tell that it was coming from the tree.
Surely this tree cannot be the cause of this scent, Sesshoumaru though as he stepped backwards. This tree has simply been sprayed with the demon's scent, he concluded. Straining his senses to pick up any clue as to what force he had come across, Sesshoumaru suddenly heard a faint scream in the far off distance, and he quickly realized the deception that he had fallen victim to, this scent was meant to lure me away from Rin!
Driving the heels of his feet into the soft forest earth, Sesshoumaru spun around on his axis and raced towards the location of camp. Letting his powerful claws guide his way through the thick forest brush, Sesshoumaru raced with more speed than he had ever done before – for it seemed as if he had been granted some kind of extra power.
Tearing through the forest in a brilliant thrust of his poisonous claws, Sesshoumaru burst into the small clearing next to the brook. Lying on the ground beside him, his head separated from his body, Jaken lay motionless; and past the bloodied bodies of Au and Un, stood an Oni – a creature of nightmares.
Shifting its ovular red eyes away from the terrified girl that trembled before it, to look at the proud youkai lord, the creature spontaneously laughed, or at least made an action that could be mistaken for laughter. "You intend to protect this girl from me," the creature spoke with a slight hint of amusement, its fanged teeth bared open as its body shook. "And I give you credit, you are strong for a youkai; however no creature is superior to Oni," it said before it took a short pause. Then, as if a hundred trapped souls cried out with its every breath, the Oni suddenly screamed, "you may now die for you insolence!"
As Sesshoumaru swiftly grasped the hilt of the Toukijin, the creature dashed forwards and grabbed his arm in its powerful, clawed fingers before the sword could be removed from its sheath. Using its free hand, the Oni swung its fist against the youkai lord's face, and sent him flying backwards against the ground with a ferocious crash.
Wiping the back of his hand across the blood that obscured his vision, Sesshoumaru forced himself to rise to his feet. Never had he been so utterly dominated, never before had he been up against a force so much greater than himself.
"I see that you are still alive," the creature said. "Perhaps I underestimated you. But no matter, you are still far from my equal."
Spitting out the blood that trickled down from his forehead and passed across the edges of his lips, Sesshoumaru gazed into the creatures horrific red eyes; and for that single fleeting moment, he thought that he could see the fragments of countless tormented souls flash within the blood red orbs.
Standing with his feet firmly planted against the ground, Sesshoumaru withdrew the Toukijin from its sheath and stood opposite of the Oni. "This is not the world of the damned," Sesshoumaru said as he held the hilt of his sword securely in his right hand. "What business do you have here, and what interest do you find in the girl Rin?"
"You presume too much to think that you have the right to ask questions of me," it said. "However, your arrogance amuses me, and so I shall tell you before you die. This young girl was nothing more than a filthy rat of no significance or honor. She was nothing but a leech upon humanity, and yet despite her lowly status, she thought she had the right to steal, and to refuse the mastery of her superiors; and for that she was destined to the darker regions of the underworld. However, before she could become subject to my never-ending torment, she was torn away from the world of the dead, and brought back into the land of the living. I have come to claim the soul that rightly belongs to me."
"I won't let you!"
Taken aback, the creature stood in shock for lack of words. Then, as if again finding amusement in Sesshoumaru's manner, it began to laugh. "Who are you to claim to stop me?" it spoke, before it dashed forwards, and struck its claws at the youkai lord.
Swiftly dodging to the side in a blurry trail of his own image, Sesshoumaru evaded the attack. Reacting with inhuman speed, the Oni spun around on its heals and punched the great youkai lord in the middle of his chest, before the sword Toukijin could be brought down against its flesh.
Falling backwards, three of his ribs broken, Sesshoumaru crashed against the ground. Sensing the last whispers of his life's breath escape from his body, Sesshoumaru found himself succumbing to the darkness that had begun to coat his vision.
But even through the nothingness of the world he had begun to enter into, and even through the silence his dying mind had created for itself, he could hear a whimpered scream pierce through the border of where the living meet dead; and all he could think of was the torture Rin would soon become subject to – and how he was powerless to stop it.
Then, as time began to stand still on the edge of what remained of his last strained breath, the Tenseiga pulsed, and Sesshoumaru could feel himself being encapsulated within the warm, loving presence of his father's strength.
Suddenly sensing the warmth of life return to his victim's body, the Oni rapidly turned away from its focus on the small girl, and shifted its gaze towards the rejuvenated body that had by now risen to its feet.
"Do not look so frightened by my power, for my vengeance shall be swift," Sesshoumaru hollered as he tightened his grasp on the sword Toukijin, and charged at the creature. By quickly flicking his razor whip out from the edges of his fingers as he approached, Sesshoumaru caught the creature unprepared, and stunned it long enough to bring the blade of his sword against its neck.
The blade deflected off the surface of its skin, and the creature began to laugh at the worthlessness of Sesshoumaru's violent attack – before it quickly thrust its clawed fingers through the youkai lord's chest.
As the creature watched the life begin to drain from Sesshoumaru's eyes, it felt a strong aura resonate from somewhere on the youkai's body, and again the warmth of life returned to him. "I have no reason to endlessly try and kill what cannot be killed," the Oni said as it shoved Sesshoumaru backwards. "And I have no reason to linger longer than I have to," it spoke as it turned towards the young girl with her back pressed up against the forest brush, and charged at her with its claws bared to strike.
"Rin, Run!" Sesshoumaru hollered as he raced after the creature. Even though his youkai strength gave him powers greater than most could comprehend, compared to the force of an Oni, it was but nothing. During those short, fleeting instances, Sesshoumaru could sense the desperation grow in his heart, as the creature put more distance between them, and less between itself and the young girl.
I will protect you, Sesshoumaru screamed into his mind as he watched the creature begin to descend upon her, its claws raised to strike. I will not let you die, and with those thoughts hanging so strongly inside of his mind – and his heart, Sesshoumaru suddenly sensed his power grow.
At first he had assumed such a gain in strength to be caused by rage, and yet that though quickly vanished from his mind; for he was still focused, and still in control of himself; and no rage ever produced such a great rise in power. This is where Inuyasha draws his strength from, Sesshoumaru though as he instantaneously closed the gap between himself and the Oni.
Suddenly sensing the presence of a great power encroach, the creature pitched its head away from the frightened young girl only a breaths distance away, and looked upon the emerald green claw that sliced through the air, and then through its body.
Stepping backwards in surprise, and in pain, the creature looked up into Sesshoumaru's cold glare as its innards spilled out onto the forest floor, the soft tissues mixed with blood, and poison. "I don't understand," it said before one last poison drenched claw pierced into its flesh, and the countless mortal souls the creature concealed within escaped from its dying body in a ferocious surge of florescent light.
"Are you ok?" Sesshoumaru said to Rin as he stood over the fallen body of the Oni, his eyes focused on the outline of his own bloodied fingers.
"I'm alright," she half whimpered.
So this is what gives Inuyasha, a lowly hanyou, the strength enough to defeat youkai. Who would ever assume that compassion for humans could draw upon such immense power, it is truly remarkable, Sesshoumaru thought. Then, turning his glare towards Rin, he continued to think about what had just happened to him. It was because of you that I was able to achieve such strength, and it is because of mortals like you that Inuyasha is a threat to even myself – and perhaps, it is because of mortals that father was as strong as he was.
I remember growing up around him, and around the mortals that he associated himself with. They were such weak, disdainful creatures, and yet father claimed there was more to it than that, that somehow caring about them released his full power. I did not believe him, and yet when Inuyasha showed such a great might when protecting his human lover, I began to understand that perhaps, father might have been correct.
And then, you came into my life; a mortal that I couldn't help but to feel compassion for, and so I revived you with the intent to learn of the power which father had so often spoken of. Over the time we have spent together, I have learned much about myself, as well as about the strange force that seems to only come from protecting mortals. Today you helped me to release that power, and I could not have predicted how immense it was.
But now you have showed me the strength that could be unveiled, and for that you have served your purpose, Sesshoumaru though as he withdrew the Tenseiga and prepared to revive the bodies of his fallen servants. And yet, I do not fully comprehend this power, and until I do, you will still have importance. Not until I can call upon the force that Inuyasha seems to summon with such ease, will your life be of no relevance to me.
Not until then, may you die.