AN: Sheesh, how long has it been since I last posted a chapter? Damn good thing I'm motivated by a desire to write this thing rather than a need for attention and reviews, because I'm getting squat in that respect. I know some people at least read the first couple of chapters... Tell me people, has it gotten so boring that you've given up already? I'm just now getting around to the good stuff too... damn my wordy nature. But you know what? I feel the need to post this anyway. So there.
Chapter Seven - Memories and Bandages
"Lord Sesshoumaru! Lord Sesshoumaru!"
The inuyoukai turned gracefully in mid-step to see an out-of breath Ryokan running towards him.
"I've been looking all over for you!" the bulky, wide-eyed creature exclaimed as he came to a stop before the slender youkai prince.
"Has something happened?" Sesshoumaru asked impassively, a slightly irritated look crossing his features.
"Lord Inutaishou, he has gone off to fight the dragon, the one that has been threatening the lands.."
"Alone?"
"Yes, Lord, alone.."
"You cowardly ingrate, why aren't you fighting with him!" the smaller youkai boomed, his eyes suddenly turning dangerously red.
"But that's why I came looking for you, so that you could help him!" the great wolf pleaded, fear apparent in his large eyes. "I knew that only you were strong enough.."
Growling none too subtly, Sesshoumaru concentrated his youki to form a cloud around his feet. He took to the sky in an instant, leaving his father's vassal staring helplessly up at him from the ground below.
He needed no directions to find his father - not only could he smell blood, but he could also see the clouding dust and thrown rocks in the distance, which could only have been disturbed so by the shock waves of an intense battle.
After a mere minute of speedy flying, Sesshoumaru came upon a narrow canyon, the source of the dust and rocks he'd seen. But by this time, the dust had already settled, and all was suspiciously quiet. He quickly scanned the gorge and was relieved to see Ryuukotsusei, the dragon Ryokan had referred to, pinned by one of his father's claws to the rock wall, his body unmoving. It must have been a difficult battle if Inutaishou had needed to transform in order to defeat him, but where was he now? The giant inu was not the most inconspicuous of creatures, after all…
Suddenly, Sesshoumaru's eyes caught onto a patch of white lying near an outcropping of rock. He immediately landed beside it. It was his father's fur - the luxurious white fur of his inu form.
And it had been ripped right off of him.
The massive strip of hide hung from a jagged boulder and stretched across the ground, the bloody skin darkening the dirt beneath it. It was long enough that it might have covered the entire length of the great inu's back. Sesshoumaru had been told of the dragon's power, but never had he thought that any creature was strong enough to injure the great Inutaishou. The dragon, pinned by a claw not one hundred yards away, had torn his very skin off.
"Sesshou.. maru.." The young inuyoukai spun towards the considerably weakened but recognizable voice of his father to catch a ghastly sight. He was huddled in the shelter of a shallow cave in his humanoid form, and he was covered in blood. With his right hand he clutched the huge gash in his stomach, out of which the majority of the blood flowed. Sesshoumaru rushed to Inutaishou's side.
"Father, you are injured. You should not have fought alone," he stated, with all his might keeping perfect control over his emotionless voice.
"Yes, I know, I'm too rash. Miharu was always telling me that.." he said, squeezing shut his eyes and wincing in pain as he spoke. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the reference, but now was not the time, and he knew it. The scent of his father's blood was everywhere - he had lost far too much…
"Father, we must get you medical attention.."
"Forgive me, my son," Inutaishou interrupted.
"Don't waste your strength talking."
"It's too late, can't you see that? Let an old man repent before he dies!" he shouted, clutching his wound more tightly. Sesshoumaru obediently fell silent.
"I know that I've wronged you, my son. I should have been there.. When the panthers attacked.." Sesshoumaru's eyes widened marginally. Was he actually apologizing? Was he admitting his guilt, after all this time?
"I know that you resent me for it," the taiyoukai said softly, his gaze never wavering from the stone floor.
"No, Father.."
"Yes, you do. You may still respect me, but I see it, that underlying anger, that.. That hatred.."
"I do not hate you.."
"Do not interrupt me, Sesshoumaru. You'll have plenty of people listening to your every word during your reign..," Inutaishou trailed off for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut again, as his pain seemed to increase. Sesshoumaru knelt down to his level when he began to cough, and reached out to support him, but Inutaishou batted him away with his free hand.
"I told you already, I'm dying. It's of no use." He grew silent for a moment, and Sesshoumaru was unsure if he was succumbing to death or simply collecting his thoughts.
"There's just one more thing.."
"Yes?"
"I know that you blame me, and you have every right to, but.. If nothing else, you must spare Inuyasha any blame. He is only a child.." Inutaishou began to cough again, this time with blood coming up. And yet, he took his eyes off the ground. Gold met gold as the old inuyoukai looked into his son's face, so similar to his own, and yet so much like his mother's..
"Sesshoumaru.."
"Yes, Father?" he replied quietly.
"Won't you have a sweet rice ball?" Sesshoumaru blinked stupidly at him. Had he imagined it, or had his voice gone up several octaves? "They're really good, I've already eaten two!"
Sesshoumaru's eyes fluttered open, and he found himself staring up at the straw ceiling of the old miko's hut, the lights of the fire in the center of the room dancing across it.
"I'm sure they're wonderful, Kagome, but my poor stomach is already about to burst!" he heard Maina say, laughing good-heartedly. Sesshoumaru propped himself up a bit with his elbow and struggled to raise himself further, but his abdomen screamed its disapproval as he inadvertently bent it. He winced and let out an involuntary and uncharacteristic grunt.
"Sesshoumaru!" Maina gasped, the smile disappearing from her face. She rose from her cushion on the other side of the fire pit and hurried over to his bed.
"You know you shouldn't be moving around in your condition," she coaxed quietly. He put on his straightest face for her.
"I am sick of lying down," he said simply, fighting the urge to clench his teeth, as his wound still was paining him. Maina frowned, but reached out for him, supporting his bare torso and thereby guiding him into a comfortable upright position.
"Ye should eat something, Sesshoumaru," Kaede said from across the room.
"I do not eat human food," he stated coldly.
"It is not a matter of opinion. Ye need food to help your body heal." Sesshoumaru scowled at her.
"How about some rice at least?" Maina suggested.
"I do not want anything to eat," he replied apathetically.
"You are going to eat something. Either tell me what you prefer, or I'll choose for you," Maina snapped. Sesshoumaru gave her an icy glare.
"Fine then. You're eating a bowl of rice and some of the fish that Sango prepared." Maina stood and walked briskly toward the others, picking up a bowl and filling it with rice and fish. Grabbing some unused chopsticks, she returned to Sesshoumaru's bedside.
"Eat," she ordered, shoving the chopsticks into his hand. He made no move to use them. Her brow furrowed in response.
"It's enough that I have to hold the bowl for you, would you like me to hand-feed you as well?" she scoffed. Inuyasha laughed from across the room, prompting Sesshoumaru to turn his death glare on him.
"Just what are you laughing at, hanyou? I've seen you in worse condition after battling Naraku - I myself have put you in worse condition than this."
"I'm not laughing because you're wounded, baka. I'm laughing because you're finally the one being ordered around," Inuyasha sneered. "So how's it feel to be on the receiving side of it for once, eh, your highness?"
Sesshoumaru moved to stand, but Maina grasped his arm forcefully and held him in place. Inuyasha only laughed even more.
"Shut up, Inuyasha, or you'll have me to deal with. I believe you've seen my powers in action, have you not?" Maina said sternly. Inuyasha's eyes widened briefly, and he obediently quieted. Sesshoumaru smirked at his half-brother before turning back to the bowl that Maina held before him. With an inaudible sigh and a slight roll of his golden eyes, he began to pick at the food with the chopsticks.
"Keep your hands off me, old woman," Sesshoumaru growled. Kaede just sighed.
"It was much easier to bandage ye when ye were unconscious," she muttered, gently peeling off the long bandage strip that was wrapped around his midsection. Sesshoumaru maintained a low growl, but took no action.
That is, until Kaede tried to apply some of the stinging antiseptic liquid from Kagome's time.
Sesshoumaru snarled and sent his clawed hand flying toward the miko, but Maina grabbed his wrist in midair a mere second away from its target.
"What do you think you're doing? I know you were raised to have better manners, Sesshoumaru," Maina said, nearly snarling herself as she spoke. He continued to glare at the miko, but made no further moves to kill her. Maina sighed. "I would prefer if you didn't require unconsciousness in order to have your bandages changed.."
"I could always knock him out for ya," offered Inuyasha, who stood by, watching his brother's amusedly demeaning ordeal. He clenched his fist for emphasis. Sesshoumaru turned his glare on Inuyasha, but was cut off before he could give his comeback.
"Thank you, Inuyasha, but I'm perfectly capable of doing so myself," Maina said with a smile. "And after all the crap I've put up with from him today, I would actually prefer to knock him out personally." Inuyasha grinned. The goddess might have been associated with Sesshoumaru, but her personality, fortunately, was nothing like his. He was actually starting to like her.
"Lady Kaede, perhaps you could teach me how to do this," Maina said seriously. "I believe he would.. Tolerate the procedure more readily if I did it."
"Oh?" Kaede replied simply. She didn't want to say anything, but she had indeed noticed that Sesshoumaru, who seemed to hate having anyone touch him, did not protest Maina's touch at all. He would tense up, however subtly, when Kaede touched him as she cleaned the wound, but if Maina touched him, he appeared to be completely unfazed, even comfortable, with it.
"He doesn't exactly like humans," Maina explained.
"Aye, that is a wise idea," Kaede said, smiling the slightest bit. She upheld the offensive liquid that had provoked the youkai's anger. "The liquid in this bottle came from Kagome's country. It's called antiseptic. Ye use this to clean the wound out - just wad up a piece of cloth, like this," she told the goddess, demonstrating, "and wet one side of it. All ye have to do is sponge the wound with it before you wrap the new bandage around it. But it does sting a great deal, so this can take longer than ye might think."
"So that's why you lashed out at her like that, because the an-tye-sehp-tic stung?" she asked Sesshoumaru accusingly. He simply 'hmmph'-ed and turned to face the far wall. Inuyasha smirked - the great taiyoukai was being disgraced more and more every minute, it seemed..
Maina took the prepared cloth from Kaede and tentatively began to dab at Sesshoumaru's stomach wound. The gash was still fairly wide, but she could see that it had begun to heal. Faint stripes were visible around the wound, where torn flesh had come back together, but in the center it was still open, still bloody. She could feel him tense up every now and then, but it was obvious he had taken her accusation to heart. Now he didn't dare show that the antiseptic was causing him any pain, and as she continued he stopped wincing altogether - she assumed he was forcing himself not to. But she could feel his eyes on her. Her heart tugged at her, like a child tugging on her mother's dress. She wanted to look back at him, ask him if she were causing him pain, but she ignored the notion. It was an irrational desire. Besides, his pride had been injured enough already.
Sesshoumaru watched her as she gingerly cleaned the wound. She gazed into it the entire time, never lifting her head nor her eyes, as if she were avoiding having to look anywhere else. He dismissed the idea - she was simply concentrating. She was, after all, a novice at treating wounds, and his was especially serious. Of course she would be overly careful and diligent this first time.
Kaede remained just as silent as the goddess and the taiyoukai were, but her eyes, unlike theirs, moved about. She watched Maina's hands for the most part, supervising her work, but she could not help glancing up at Sesshoumaru. He was as stone-faced as ever, though she noted a slight tensing of his muscles now and then, and he was watching the goddess intently. He uttered not one complaint, his face never showed pain nor anger. Just seconds before he'd been snarling and threatening at the touch of the stinging antiseptic, but now he was completely docile. Kaede smiled internally. The taiyoukai had his pride, yes, but she'd seen such things before. This was more than a matter of pride, of masking pain. The way he looked at her.. It was of course very subtle, as everything was where Sesshoumaru was concerned, but she recognized that look.
Inuyasha, too, stood silently watching. Even he had noticed the drastic change in Sesshoumaru's manner. Could it be this goddess held some sort of spell over him? But, she had said that she was a long-time ally of the inuyoukai tribe - could it simply be that he respected her? He'd never seen Sesshoumaru show respect for anyone, save their father, so he couldn't really tell for sure. Whatever it was, though, she certainly held a lot of influence over him.
"So all of ye are spending the night here as well?"
"Yes, Lady Kaede, I believe it's our best option," Miroku stated rationally. "We don't know where Naraku went, and his scent has disappeared again, according to Inuyasha. But the incident earlier today seems to have been targeted at Sesshoumaru, not Inuyasha, so for now, he's really the only lead we have."
"Besides," Kagome added, "Inuyasha isn't about to leave the village unprotected with Sesshoumaru here."
"If Naraku knows that Sesshoumaru is still alive, he may well come after him in his weakened state. We should stay nearby until he is healed, regardless of how dangerous and unpleasant he is," Sango remarked.
"Lady Maina may be able to give more insight into this ordeal," Kaede pondered. "Ye said that Naraku had captured and bound her, correct?"
"Yes," Miroku answered.
"Do ye know for sure that she was taken to lure Sesshoumaru into a trap? Could Naraku not have targeted them both?"
"Lady Maina herself is unsure about Naraku's intentions, but she said that the most plausible explanation was that he wanted to get to Sesshoumaru," Miroku said.
"Aye, I remember her saying something of the sort shortly after your arrival." Kaede quieted for a moment, thinking. "I suppose we should just decide on the sleeping arrangements for now. We can try to figure all this out in the morning."
"Wonderful," said Maina, coming up from behind the little gathering. She grinned pleasantly. "I've almost fallen asleep sitting up at least three times since dinner."
"That's no surprise. Sesshoumaru's boring as it is - he must be twice as boring when he's passed out like that," Inuyasha commented, jerking a thumb at his brother's sleeping form. Maina rolled her eyes.
"He might not exactly be the life of the party around here, but he does not bore me," she said dryly. "And he only fell asleep a few minutes ago, for your information."
"It's like he's trying to make up for all the sleep he's avoided in his lifetime in just one day," Inuyasha sneered.
"He needs to rest so that his body can heal itself more efficiently, Inuyasha," Maina retorted. If she had indeed been a wolf youkai, as they'd suspected earlier that day, he imagined she would be growling as she spoke.
"Inuyasha, could you stop insulting your brother for a minute? I don't like him any more than you do, but even I'm getting tired of this," Kagome said with a yawn.
"Fine, fine..," Inuyasha muttered. Sango let out an audible sigh.
"Can we just go to bed now?"
AN: Ah, I had much fun with this chapter. I'm really getting behind on posting though, because I just realized in editing this for that this is the first dream sequence I wrote for this story... And I've been writing/storyboarding dream sequences for quite a while. Heh. Laziness and immense school stress are not a good combo when you're trying to work out the complications of a plot. Oh well. (hugs the chapter) Tons of editing went into this baby, and what can I say, I'm pretty proud of it, which is a lot considering how critical I am of myself.
And if in fact there is even a single person reading this thing, would you mind reviewing? I really really hate to type that at the end of every chapter but do I have much of a choice? Look at this thing, there are four. Four! And I recieved the fourth after posting the third chapter, I think. It really sucks. I really want to see this story through, but it's difficult to do with school going on, with all the homework, stress, and sleep deprivation that comes with it, especcially when no one's even reading it. Some extrinsic motivation might be nice..