Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor do I own its characters. I do own the ideas of this story and the characters I have created for this story (i.e. Saphira). Please respect patent laws. Comments and reviews are appreciated
Chapter 6: Saphira's Reflection
"SAPHIRA!" Inuyasha bellowed.
She was miles away from him, but her ears twitched as his words reached her. She had found a small lake, and was busy studying her reflection.
It had been many years since she had even looked into a mirror. Her own brilliant, ocean blue eyes
twinkled back at her.
But, she felt as if she wasn't looking at the person she really was. For so long she had traveled with her father, trying to be everything he wanted her to be. She had tried hard to live up to his expectations. In the end, even her own strength betrayed her.
She had hid who she was from her father. She blinked away the tears threatening to fall from her jewel eyes. He had never known the real her, he had only known the person she had pretended to be.
"Who are you?" She asked her reflection quietly. 'Will I never be loved for who I am?'
Her heart burned to know why she had concealed herself from him. She had been too afraid of disappointing him to be herself. Would she forever be her reflection? Someone she didn't even know?
Suddenly, she caught the scent of something foreign.
"Bad timing," came a voice not to far from her.
She turned quickly to see a man with a red braid, and sky blue eyes.
She tried to blink away the apparation from her vision. Finally her nose gave her negative confirmation, this person, whoever he was, was not her dead father. He was however, a dragon.
"What do you want?" She hissed.
"You, lovey," he smiled, his fangs gleaming in the sunlight.
Saphira growled in response and made to get away, but he was too fast.
"Where're you going, lovey?" He asked grabbing her wrist, and taking a deep breath. "You're part human, but I can deal with that."
With her free hand, Saphira grabbed her blue blade and swung at the dragon.
He stopped the blow with his free arm, her blade grinding against his skin. "Whose fang did you steal to make this?"
Saphira's pupils quickly narrowed to invisable slits. "You will never take me alive."
"Must you do things the hard way, lovey?" He sighed hearing her growl. "Very well then."
He grabbed her blade with his bare hand and threw it over the trees, he then pulled her arm behind her pulling it up painfully.
Her face was away from him, and so he didn't see her eyes flashing red. She transformed before he
had time to congratulate himself. Saphira, in dragon form, was on top of his small human form and her fangs inches away from his face.
"Two can play that game, lovey," he said smiling, his smile turned into a snarl as he transformed.
Saphira tried to flee before he could fully transform, but he soon caught up with her. They both crashed into the ground. The ground shook from the impact, even Inuyasha, miles away, felt the tremor.
They clawed and bit each other until the air was thick with the smell of their blood.
"Give up, lovey?" The bloodred dragon asked.
Flames burst from Saphira's mouth in reply, the blue flames licked the dragon's face.
He roared in pain as the flames purified his face. For once, Saphira was glad that she had inherited her mother's miko powers.
"I'll never give up," growled Saphira. 'I have to fight him!' Saphira thought fervently.
But, she was bleeding badly, and had never been in a battle where her life had hung in the balance. This thought pushed her to make her next move. She literally sumorsaulted over the dragons head and had her fangs in his tail before he could recover.
He jerked his tail away from and whipped it across her muzzle, then hopped onto her back and clamped down on her back.
She roared in pain and agony.
"I suggest that you leave," came a voice through the haze of pain. Saphira recognized Inuyasha's voice, but all she saw was a transformed inuyoukai.
"Why should I listen to you!" The dragon asked through his teeth.
"Oh, I'm sorry, you don't know do you?" Inuyasha sneered at him. "You are on my land, and I nor my brother take kindly to trespassers."
"Sesshoumaru?" The dragon could handle one inuyoukai, but not two. Especially not when was a taiyoukai that was famous throughout the land. He slowly released Saphira, who flew faster than she ever had in her life to Inuyasha's side.
"Leave. Now."
"I will be back for what is mine," the dragon growled before taking off and flying to the east.
Saphira watched until the dragon was out of sight, she then fainted transforming back into human form as she fell.
Inuyasha gasped with surprise, he quickly transformed. He picked Saphira up, and made his way to his brother's estate picking up her sword on his way.
Saphira's fevered, bandaged body thrashed in the bed she had been given. An older woman had been given the task of watching over the halfblood. She quickly went to the bedside and began murmering lullabies.
"Mom...please...so sorry..." Came Saphira's fevered voice, but the older woman couldn't understand the language the halfblood was speaking in.
The older woman turned to the door as it creaked open and murmered, "My Lord."
Sesshoumaru stood in the doorway with a cold expression on his face. The woman knew that expression very well. Obviously, her lord was having conflicting emotions concerning the halfblood in her care. Perhaps that was he had insisted on her caring for the damaged halfblood. She was the only woman he completely trusted. His face was hiding all emotions because he was confused about what he was feeling.
"Rin, how is she?" Came Sesshoumaru's voice through Rin's thoughts.
"Her wounds are healing very quickly, my Lord," Rin answered quickly.
"Why does she still have a fever?" He walked into the room and stood by the window.
"I do not know, my Lord," Rin said bowing her head.
"You may leave now, Rin," Sesshoumaru said dismissing her.
"Would you like me to send someone else in?" She asked at the door.
"No."
He settled down on the nook by the window studying the face of the dragon halfblood. She had not only survived a battle against one of the most powerful dragons of his time, but she had put up a good fight. From what his brother had told him, she had damaged the dragon almost as much as he had damaged her. Her face had healed the fastest, the marks of her battle had faded to almost nothing.
He got up looking at her face closely, noticing something for the first time since their meeting. He touched his own face as he recognized the markings on hers. She had the same parallel markings on her cheeks, except hers were a pale blue. The only reason he had noticed was because she had paled so much from the loss of blood. When her skin was healthy the marks went unnoticed. He picked up her forearm and saw marks matching his own, the same except for the color.
"Who are you...?" He wondered aloud.
"Father...?" Came her voice in the foreign tongue, he looked down at her face, but she was still unconscious. "I ... ... . ..didn't... know...Father..."
Her golden red lashes fluttered, but she remained asleep.
When she said no more, Sesshoumaru quietly left the room.
"Watch her closely," he ordered the servant sitting outside the door. "Inform me immediately of any changes."
"Yes, my Lord," the girl said, bowing, and slipping quietly into the room.
Sesshoumaru made his way to his study encountering only one person.
"Inuyasha, come with me," Sesshoumaru requested quietly. Inuyasha nodded and followed Sesshoumaru into his study.
"Are you sure the dragon she fought was the son of Ryuukotsusei?" Sesshoumaru asked as he settled down at his desk.
"Keh, do you think I'm that much of an idiot?" Inuyasha snorted.
"Just confirming the story," Sesshoumaru sighed. "So it's true then."
"Man, she gave him a run for his money, too!" Inuyasha snorted with laughter.
"And he was on our land?" Sesshoumaru asked ignoring his brother's laughter.
"Yes," Inuyasha said sobering up. "He was so hell bent on getting her that he totally ignored the borders."
Sesshoumaru frowned at this. "I want you to move your things into the room next to hers. If anything happens, you'll be right there to stop it."
Inuyasha nodded. "Okay, but what about you?"
"What about me, Inuyasha?" Asked Sesshoumaru cooly.
"Why don't you move closer to her too?"
Sesshoumaru growled. "I have more important things to attend to."
"Feh, whatever," Inuyasha said rolling his eyes.
Saphira woke up with the sun shining in her face. "Uhhh..."
She tried to sit up, but felt a stabbing pain in her back.
"Don't move, my lady," came an older woman's voice.
"Where...where am I?" Saphira asked, panic creeping into her voice. 'Had Inuyasha been a dream?'
"This is Lord Sesshoumaru and Lord Inuyasha's estate," the woman said.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Rin," the woman said kindly. "You have severe injuries on your back, my lady. The rest of your injuries have healed already."
Saphira, who had never been severly injured in her life, began to panic. "What do you mean? They haven't healed yet?"
"The poison from Saibairyuukotsusei's fangs will slow your healing," came a cool voice from the doorway. "Your father surely told you about the poison of dragon fangs, didn't he?"
He made his way over to nook by the window.
"I don't have poisonous fangs, why would I need to know?" Saphira scowled, then her face softened. "There weren't many of us left, the only other dragon I knew was my father. We never encountered another."
Sesshoumaru raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Only two of you?"
"Yes," she said quietly and looked away from him to the window. "How long will it take to heal?"
"A few days at the most," said Rin.
Saphira stared down at her arms in silence, then gasped when she caught sight of her blue markings. She quickly put her hands under the sheets.
Sesshoumaru, noticing this, said, "I've already seen them, and so has Rin. You need not hide them."
Saphira glared at him, but pulled her forearms out and studied the markings. She didn't know why she had these markings, her father didn't have any markings. What was even more confusing was that they matched the markings on Sesshoumaru's arms.
"I want a mirror!" Saphira demanded shrilly catching sight of the markings on Sesshoumaru's face. Rin quickly brought Saphira a small hand mirror.
Her breath caught in her throat when she similar markings on her own cheeks. "Where...where did they come from?"
Sesshoumaru shot her a narrow look. "You mean this is the first time you've seen them?"
"Yes," she said trembling. "My father didn't have markings like this."
"Of course he wouldn't," came Inuyasha's voice from the doorway. "They are the markings of an inuyoukai."