And so I present to you, gentle reader, chapter three. I apologize for the tardiness but life is a busy affair.
Disclaimer: As much as it pains me to admit, I do not own InuYasha.
Sesshomaru strolled along at a relaxed pace, although never would he term it as a stroll. Saunter perhaps, but never stroll. After all, this was just routine patrol, nothing to hurry about, and besides, the slower pace suited Rin. Despite his traumatic morning, it had turned into a surprisingly good day, the air had become warm and fragrant, and there was a sense of peacefulness surrounding them. For once, Rin and Jaken were not arguing but walking sedately on either side of AhUn.
Rin especially, seemed distracted, brown eyes staring off into space, ponytail bobbing slightly, she walked along as though in a trance. Sesshomaru, for his part couldn't imagine what she would need to consider so deeply. His warning that morning about staying close hadn't been harsh; but then again he knew little about the minds of human children. Turning back to his surroundings he opened up his senses, letting the sounds and smells of the woodland register in his, if he said so himself, finely tuned nose and ears. Yes, he thought, everything was indeed peaceful.
All at once, the wind picked up, cool and sharp in contrast to the warm spring day. A tiny shiver passed through Sesshomaru, not because of the wind but because of the smell it carried. It wasn't really a smell, it was more as though the wind had blown through a malevolent aura and had picked up flecks of its evil while passing. Sesshomaru did not like it. Whatever it was, every nerve in his body was now telling him to get as far away from it as possible. Sesshomaru, however, rarely listened to his body, or anyone else for that matter. Swiftly turning, he stared directly at Jaken and commanded in his most businesslike voice, "Take Rin and go, I shall return when I am finished with this."
Jaken, as it transpired, did not reply or complain, but stared right back and nodded his assent. It seemed that the strange evil feeling had crept upon him as well, widening his eyes and turning his knuckles white where they gripped his staff. Only Rin had anything to say.
"When do you think you'll be back Sesshomaru-sama?" this one question, spoken in barely a whisper would normally have been left unanswered but Rin looked genuinely frightened. She always worried when Sesshomaru went anywhere without her but this time the furrow in her brow and the stiffness in her spine spoke of something more. It was this perhaps, that spurred Sesshomaru towards an answer.
"Soon, Rin, soon," was the extent of it though.
Turning around, he strode deeper into the glade. Ignoring the chill in his soul, he silently prepared himself for what ever it was he was going to meet.
Arisu sighed a contented sigh and looked around. This was her favorite glade, not only did it house some of her more potent herbs but she felt it was somehow inspirational. After so many years the dark, green shadows had become so steeped in her aura that now they seemed to whisper her thoughts. Yes, this place was part of her, and now it would help her determine the next step in her life's work. Closing her dark, calculating eyes, she smiled, feeling him approach. Her latest target was a quiet one indeed, but such power, she would enjoy breaking him. Him, just like all the others before, she would ensnare him in her trap and like a spider, paralyze him before sucking his spirit dry. Then her revenge would continue just as it always would. Sensing that he was at last in the clearing, Arisu slowly turned around.
There he stood in all his glory, such a paragon of demonic power. Oh how she hated that arrogance which seemed to be permanently ingrained in the very nature of demons. Still worse, though, this one was male making him in her opinion perhaps the single most vile creature in existence.
"You're certainly a pretty one," she said at last, a hint of a smile underlying her words as she surveyed his silver hair, and pristine white robes.
His reply was curt, "Human, you are trespassing upon my lands."
"Not very polite though, I see," by now her mirth was even more audible. Walking towards him, she made as though to touch him but stopped when he swatted her hand away.
Sesshomaru for his part did not like this woman. Although shocked at first to discover that such malevolent power was emanating from one so seemingly harmless; the touch of insanity gleaming in her black eyes spoke of power and proved that she was indeed a credible foe. Observing her closely, Sesshomaru found that every single part of her from her ornate if old fashioned kimono to her long, gleaming hair seemed to be fused with malice. On top of that, she clearly thought herself superior to him, mocking his threats and laughing when he brushed off her hand as though it were a gnat.
Drawing his sword, Sesshomaru addressed the strange woman, "Know your place human. Your insult will not be taken lightly and I would therefore suggest you leave." instead of inspiring fear however, this statement was met by yet another sarcastic remark.
"Oh? But I just got here, you don't mean to make me leave all ready?" she said, painted lips twisting into a smirk.
It took a moment for Sesshomaru to realize that she had said this without once opening her mouth. Although his face betrayed none of his surprise, it was clear enough that she now had some form of access to his mind.
"Yes my Lord Sesshomaru, I can hear your thoughts, and not just that, I can see into the furthest reaches of your tiny little mind. With one touch, I can know exactly what goes on in the depths of your twisted soul." This was said, or thought really, with the smirk still firmly in place, and her mad eyes dancing with delight.
At this point, Sesshomaru made to attack but the hand that held Tokijin, refused to move. It seemed she had somehow gained control of his body as well. All of a sudden, he was on his knees unable to so much as twitch. Rage was building in him, oh how he longed to reach out to her and claw her miserable head off, but no, he was stuck.
Slowly, almost lovingly, she placed her hand on his head, and again, he heard her, "That's right, bow before me. Bow like the retch you are, for I am Arisu and to me, all demons will submit."
It was then that Sesshomaru truly felt her inside his head for the first time. Not just the brush of her thoughts but her full invasive presence. If he could have, he would've clenched his teeth, but instead was forced to settle for resisting mentally. He would not let this psychotic bitch get the better of him. Focusing all his energy on repelling her presence, he retreated into himself and prepared to fight.
Yes, Arisu thought, fight me. Fight me until your strength runs out. She wanted to enjoy this. Bringing down the great demon lord Sesshomaru, who so resembled Sano. Sano the betrayer, and everything else she'd come to loathe. Smiling again, she delved deeper into his mind. This one certainly had a lot of issues. He kept his emotions walled tighter than a fortress but behind those walls she could feel them writhing, waiting to consume him. All she had to do was dismantle his defenses one by one.
Which one should she pick at first? He had so many insecurities. How about the sword, yes the sword first, then the past. First the brother, than the father, than the sister, and finally, both the mothers. Let him feel the old pain. Let him remember what it felt like to be replaced. She would keep this up constantly, make him drown in his own misery. For the very end, the grand finale if you will, she'd bring up the little human girl. Remind him of his woeful inadequacy as a guardian and of his hypocrisy. Carefully, she built him a cage, a cage inside his own mind.
Sesshomaru felt nothing, nothing but misery, pain and humiliation. It felt as though she were scraping the insides of his heart with a jagged rock and at every sore spot she came to she would prod it mercilessly. Every one of his failures was revisited, every weakness, every old hurt. He saw them all, InuYasha, his father, Rin, everything. It was sheer torture to lie there so helplessly. For every one of the emotional defenses and carefully constructed walls he'd built over the years, she tore down six; leaving him raw, and bleeding.
No, no, no, his mind screamed. No, no, no.
At last Arisu was satisfied. She'd felt his resistance break, shatter. Now all that remained was an empty shell, glassy eyed and limp, hers to do with as she pleased. What should she do with him? Circling his still form, she considered the issue. What could she do to cause him the most abject of emotional pain? Besides what she'd done already of course. Thinking back to all the memories she'd sifted through, she remembered some rather interesting images she'd seen, probably from a dream. Yes, that would be perfect. After all, he hated humans just as much as Sano did. Sneered at their so called weakness, and regarded them with the same contempt. Gently imparting her wishes into his now oh so broken and pliable mind, she watched as he rose to his feet and shot off. "Go," she said out loud, "go and show them all what an animal you are, and what a hypocrite." Turning and disappearing back into the forest, she couldn't help but feel the sweet weight of triumph settle in her breast.
Sango sighed as she continued down the path. It was approaching late afternoon and she had yet to reach the village she was headed for. Just as her thoughts turned dour however, she spied the first of the huts appearing round the bend. It wasn't a big village, just a collection of small brown dwellings set next to a river and it's defenses if any were sure to be minimal. As she approached, a man walked up to her, a look of intense agitation on his face.
"Are you the demon slayer?" he said, staring at Sango underneath his tanned and weathered brow.
"Yes," she replied simply, "I have come to help. What is the nature of your demon problem?"
Heaving what seemed to be a huge sigh of relief, the man addressed Sango again with what seemed to be a less severe manner. "It's a spider demon," he said, "and for several weeks now it has been causing us trouble. It's killed two people so far and has been preying on our livestock. People are becoming afraid to venture to far from home but we need to let our animals graze and go farther down the river to fish, so you see the problem."
"Yes," said Sango in assent, "what type of spider demon is it?"
"We don't know," said the man shaking his head sadly, "but it just seems to pop out of the ground."
"Ah," Sango murmured. That sounded like a trapdoor spider. Not particularly dangerous by themselves but the element of surprise made them nasty pests. "Where does this spider usually come from?" she said looking at the man.
In answer he merely pointed before saying, "Near that small clump of trees."
Shouldering Hiriakotsu, Sango called her thanks before heading off towards the indicated point. Hopefully, this wouldn't take long.
When she at last reached the dense patch of forest, she carefully shed her pack and proceeded forward with only her weapons. Taking quiet steps through the leaves Sango felt her pulse gradually increase. This was what she had spent so many hours training for, the hunt. If the spider was indeed a tunnel spider than it would have had to have made its nest in some kind of clearing, and sure enough, just a little ways into the trees; there was a bare patch of earth. Sango was on full alert now, knowing the entrance to the spider's lair would probably be concealed. It could even be using illusions.
Taking another survey of the clearing with her eyes, Sango concluded that there was no way to tell where the entrance to the tunnel was. She'd need someway to test it. Normally she'd drop a big rock off of Kirara's but at the moment Kirara wasn't with her. Sango wasn't entirely sure where Kirara was, she just knew that a few days ago she'd gone off on her own. Sango suspected she was looking for a mate but the thought of her best friend leaving her to go have children had only made her depression worse. Consequently, she hadn't given it much thought. Currently, she'd have to find another way to lure the spider demon from its home.
Looking around, Sango took hold of a large rock and tossed it into the middle of the clearing. Nothing happened. Evidently she'd need either more momentum or a bigger rock. After several more minutes of contemplation and thrown rocks, Sango had devised what was in her opinion a clever device out of a small sapling, and a hefty boulder. Bending the sapling down to the ground, holding it with her foot and then rolling the rock on to the tree served as a relatively efficient way to launch the boulder out into the clearing.
After trying this method a fair number of times, Sango felt the beginnings of frustration when at last, as the rock made contact with the ground the spider lunged up from its trap-like nest. As the spider lunged so did Sango. Throwing her Hiraikotsu as hard as she could, Sango was able to take off three of the Spider's legs in one go. It was wounded now, and as it attempted to scurry back to its hole, Sango moved again. Another hit, two more legs. Moving in for what was sure to be the kill, Sango was taken aback when the spider was able to propel itself towards her on its remaining legs. Sango was quicker though, and was able to draw her sword cleaving the demon in two. This effectively killed the spider but left Sango covered in it's slightly acidic, green blood. It was over, she'd slain the demon. All there was to do was collect her reward and go home. First though, she'd check for egg sacks.
The villagers were very grateful it transpired, and gave her several coins and some food as a reward. They all took it upon themselves to thank her again and again. All Sango wanted to do though was go to sleep, and take a bath as the blood was starting to smell.
Turning to a young woman, Sango was finally able to ask, "is there a place where I can bathe?"
The woman was a bit startled at first but answered quickly enough telling Sango that a little ways down the river there was a good spot for bathing although the water was sure to be a little cold.
Thanking her, Sango quickly turned from the excited crowd and made her way towards the river.
Sesshomaru was running now, over what seemed like miles and miles. He couldn't stop himself. It was as though he were merely a guest in his own body, watching from the background. That woman was controlling him now, moving his limbs through her sick little game. She had done it, she had made him weak, breaking his will to point where he couldn't even control his own legs. His very soul seemed to ache in the aftermath of her torture. Still, he continued to run.
(A/N) Ha ha ha! Yes another chapter! Wow I don't update regularly. So yeah, expect another couple of months break before the next one. Yes, well this chapter is all about getting things started, setting up the players if you will. Oh, and when Sess refers to Arisu as a 'psychotic bitch' that really sums things up nicely. I'll try to give her more motivation but that's basically what it boils down to. Anyhoo, leave a review, tell me what you think, at the moment I'm writing this purely for my own amusement but I can always be swayed by the power of suggestion.