By Breshcandra
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Inuyasha.
Italics=flash back
A Hell of a Birthday
He could hear the demon horde crashing through the forest behind him. If they caught him, he would be killed. Ignoring the pain in his chest, he ran on; unshed tears making it hard for him to see in the moon lit forest. A tree root snaked out and tripped the fleeing boy. He flung out his hands as he fell. The scent of blood reached the boy's nose and a small tear managed to escape the tightly closed lids, leaving a trail down the dirt and soot stained face. Swallowing the yelp that threatened to come, the boy pushed himself up off the dirt floor ignoring the small pinpricks of pain that was coming from the palm of his hand. When he went to take a step the cry he managed to stop before escaped. Immediately he stopped and stood still not even daring to breathe. The white triangle shaped ears on the top of his head strained to hear if his pursuers had heard him.
"I heard something."
"Over here, It must be that hanyou brat."
"Let's get him."
Inuyasha knew that he had blown whatever lead he had on the demon horde. They had been after him almost as soon as he left the village. He had managed to avoid capture by using the lessons his brother had taught him. Despair was creeping upon him as the demons behind him were getting nearer and with a leg that was now nearly useless he had no hope at all of escaping. He sank back down to the ground. He didn't think he could go on. As he sat he tried to remember the day that his brother had taught him. Maybe he had missed something.
Inuyasha peeked through the bush he was hiding behind to watch the white clad figure in the small clearing. The figure bore some resemblance to him. The white hair that hung down past his knees and the gold eyes showed that the two were related. But that was were the similarities ended, Inuyasha had white dog ears while his half brother's pointed ears were correctly on the side of his head. His brother had a blue crescent moon on his forehead and two red striped adorned each cheek. Inuyasha had no such markings. The kimono that his older brother was wearing was pristine white, with red at the end of each sleeve. Inuyasha could see the red design on the left shoulder while a white fluffy boa that draped down his back and brushed against the ground covered the right. He wore a black breastplate and around his waist was a yellow and blue sash. What impressed Inuyasha the most was the spiked shoulder shield that protected his older brother's left shoulder. His older brother was practicing his swordsmanship making it look like an elegant dance he once saw. His ears would twitch every once in awhile betraying his excitement. His silvery white hair hung freely down his back and would occasionally be ruffled by the wind. If he had a tail it probably would be wagging in excitement. Inuyasha knew that if his brother ever found out he was watching then he would be in Big trouble. Which was why he was sitting still for the first time in his young life. When Sesshoumaru's practice pattern started to repeat. Inuyasha, as any typical four-year-old, started to lose interest and start to daydream about the day when he would be just as graceful as his older brother.
The bush he was hiding behind rustled, jerking him out of his thoughts. He let out a squawk and fell on his rear. Looking up he saw his older brother, Sesshoumaru, glaring down at him, the tip of his sword close enough to touch Inuyasha's forehead.
"Hi" he managed to squeak out and gave his scowling brother a weak innocent smile, which was lost on the full demon. While still glaring at his half brother, Sesshoumaru sheathed his sword.
" I told you not to bother me when I practiced."
"But I wasn't bothering you. I was hiding in the bush and I didn't move or nothing." Inuyasha defended himself. Since he was already in trouble he decided to ask his brother a question and prayed silently that he would live to see the rest of the day.
"How did you find me? I was being real quiet." cringing he looked up at his brother, expecting to see anger in his brothers golden glare. Their eyes met and instead of the anger he was expecting he was meet with his brother's usual cold indifferent gaze. What surprised him even more was that he actually got an answer to his question.
"You don't hide very well." Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed slightly. "Has father not taught you how to hunt?"
He was so stunned that his brother was actually talking to him that all Inuyasha could do was shake his head. Silence hung in the air as the two dog demons stared at each other.
"Come." Sesshoumaru said finally coming to a conclusion.
He turned on his heel not bothering to look and see if his order was being followed. It only took a second before Inuyasha's innate curiosity to win over his temporarily stunned disbelief and he was scrambling up onto his feet to follow his brother. They traveled in silence. Inuyasha was too scared to try and talk to his elder brother; so far it seemed that Sesshoumaru was actually acknowledging him and he didn't want anything to change that. They stopped at a shallow stream that ran fairly close to the small village where he and his mother lived. Inuyasha looked up at his brother, wondering what he was going to teach him.
"Since Father is not here and I have yet to give you a 'present' I have decided to teach you how to hide your scent which is essential for hunting. Pay attention because I will not repeat this lesson. Inuyasha's ears perked up. His brother was going to teach him something.
Sesshoumaru found himself at the end of his brother's attention, which was slightly unnerving. "Inuyasha tell me what direction the wind is blowing." Sesshoumaru said, starting his lesson.
Inuyasha turned so that his face was toward the slight breeze coming from the west. "This way." Inuyasha said while pointing in the wrong direction.
Sesshoumaru had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "No Inuyasha, the wind is now blowing towards you which means it is heading out behind you." Sesshoumaru turned so that the wind was softly blowing against his back, ruffling through his silver mane of hair, and feeling utterly stupid, pointed his finger in the right direction. "It is blowing in this direction."
Inuyasha mimicked his brother so that now instead of the wind blowing in his face it was gently pushing against his back blowing his silvery white hair into his face. With a small clawed hand he pushed his annoying hair back. When he no longer had to contend with his hair he noticed something peculiar.
"Sesshy, why can't I smell as well as before?"
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed at his brother's nickname for him. Inuyasha didn't see it as he was to busy investigating a theory of his by turning his head into the wind, sniffing and turning back to sniff again. His eyes lit up as he caught the gist of what his brother had just showed him.
Pleased to see that his little brother, though a half-breed, caught on to things rather quickly, Sesshoumaru moved on to the next lesson. "Inuyasha, close your eyes and count to ten slowly. I want you to try and find me,"
He was startled when his little brother flung himself at him, hugging his leg in a death grip. Tears were threatening to spill as Inuyasha looked up at him with pleading eyes.
"Don't leave Sesshy, please don't. There are bad things out here and I don't know how to get home."
"If you do not release me, I may very well do so," Sesshoumaru calmly threatened.
Inuyasha unclasped his arms from around his brother's leg but stayed close to him.
Sesshoumaru looked down at his brother's soulful face. " I was not going to leave you" he stated.
Inuyasha blinked his golden puppy-dog eyes. "Promise."
"I, Sesshoumaru, heir to the western lands, promise not to leave you." Sesshoumaru said as he drew himself up to his full height humoring his little brother.
Inuyasha looked long and hard into his brothers eyes before finally agreeing. Inuyasha ran over to a large tree and stood before it, his small hands covering his eyes.
"Oone, twoo, threeeeee. " Inuyasha started counting, drawing out each of the numbers as long as he could.
"TEN!" He shouted so as to warn his brother that he was done. Upon opening his eyes he saw that Sesshoumaru was nowhere in sight. Inuyasha began sniffing the air trying to catch the scent of his brother. The scent led him to the small stream and then disappeared completely. He raced in one direction and then the next, never straying very far from his counting tree. Tears started shimmering in his eyes. His brother had left him; he couldn't find him anywhere. The village children had left him out here once after telling stories about the forest demons. They had promised not to leave him. But they had.
He sat down with his back to the counting tree and started weeping. It didn't take Sesshoumaru long to come see what was taking his brother so long to find him. Seeing his little brother, huddled against the tree made him pause and a very small frown marred his face.
"Inuyasha"
Inuyasha continued to cry and, if possible curled into a tighter ball.
"Inuyasha!" Sesshoumaru said sternly.
Inuyasha jerked as though he was just waking up. As soon as he saw who was standing there he leapt to his feet and ran to his brother. Once again, he clasped his arms around his brother's leg.
"You came back, you came back." Inuyasha muttered. His words were muffled by his brother's white, silk pant leg.
"Of course I came back. I promised I would. And I do not go back on my promises." Sesshoumaru looked down at his brother. He let him cling to him until his sobs quieted. Bending down, he took a hold of his brother's arms and gently but firmly untangled his brother from his leg. Bending down even farther he looked into the golden depths.
Inuyasha, why did you not find me?" Sesshoumaru asked.
Inuyasha looked up and sniffled, drawing his red sleeve across his face, making his brother wince. " I looked and looked but I couldn't find you. I thought you had left me and got scared."
"I was not gone very long." Sesshoumaru said his eyes narrowing. "You gave up."
"I did not. I got scared, that's all." Inuyasha pouted.
" Do not lie to me."
Inuyasha gulped and glanced down. " Maybe I did a little," he admitted while scuffing the dirt with his foot.
"You are the son of a great demon lord. You should never give up."
Sesshoumaru watched as his little brother gathered his shattered pride and stand up straight.
"Can I count again?" he asked, looking up at his older brother.
"Yes." Sesshoumaru answered.
Inuyasha walked proudly back to the counting tree.
Remembering the most important lesson that his older brother had taught him that day, Inuyasha gritted his teeth as he fought his way to his feet. Pain shot through his body as he put a small amount of weight on his foot. Clenching his teeth in determination caused new pain to blossom as his canines pierced his lip. He hobbled on, despite the pain, toward a cave he knew of that he might be able to hide in. It was his last hope of making it out of this nightmare alive. His forward movement was not very fast but he was the son of a great demon lord and brother to Sesshoumaru and he was not going to lay down and die.
Inuyasha stumbled through the freezing water of the small stream he had come across. He had forgotten it was here. He knew that the stream ran passed the cave he was looking for. He just hoped he was going in the right direction. His ears were swiveling around trying to pick up the sound of pursuit. The small cave he had stumbled upon a week or two before was unique in that a steady breeze swept into the cave making it so that anyone in the cave would virtually disappear. He stumbled and almost went under when he saw the shadow of a really large cat standing guard close to the stream's edge. He had gone the right way; the cave was just over the rise. He stumbled as he climbed out of the river. His feet and ankles were numb from the icy waters. His ankle throbbed along with his heartbeat, but he was able to put a little more weight on it. As he slowly made his way pass the cat shaped boulder he failed to notice the small drops of blood he was leaving behind.
As he crested the rise his heart soared, he had made it! The cave entrance was dark, but inviting. It offered the only hope he had to surviving this horrible day. He hobbled as quickly as he could toward the entrance. It seemed like forever before he stood at the yawning opening. The last time he was here he had only stepped inside for a bit and had stayed near the opening where there was plenty of light. Now he would have to venture into the recesses of the cave where the shadows were deep enough to hid him. The sound of voices reached his sensitive ears and he almost cried out in alarm. How had they found him? No more time to waste, he hobbled into the cave and disappeared, as the shadows seemed to swallow him whole.
Finding an outcropping, he sat down behind it with his knees drawn up to his chest. He curled his arms around them as though hugging himself and felt a little bit safer. Now that he had quit running, images of his mother, surrounded by flames, kept running through his head. She had told him to run, just before a wall of flames obscured his view. He had been wearing his fire rat robe his mom had made for him from the pelts his brother and father had brought on his third birthday and was not badly burnt when he ran through the burning hut to escape. Tears swelled up in his eyes. Where were father and his brother? They always came on his birthday. The villagers weren't right. Nobody could kill his father. If his father were indeed dead that would mean there was no one to rescue him. He knew that his older brother didn't like him very much and would not bother coming. His thoughts spiraled down deeper into despair and all he could do was bury his face into his arms and weep. This was not how his birthday was supposed to happen. As he lost himself in his sorrow, he barely heard his pursers at the entrance of the cave.
I hope you like it. Please tell me if I got Inuyasha right.