All characters, unless stated as original creations or additions, belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Media and Shogakukan. Blame them. I'm just taking their characters' concepts to a different place. Also, feedback would be appreciated.
How was Lord Sesshōmaru doing? Had he managed to get Rin to safety or had the Pantheress turned against him? Was she now standing atop his lord's corpse, laughing triumphantly and surrounded by her loyal warriors? No! No, no, no!
Jaken drove such thoughts from his mind once more. Lord Sesshōmaru could never be defeated by Tōran. In every contest, he had either beaten her or fought her to a draw. The master of Bakusaiga would always be victorious!
But what if Lord Sesshōmaru also had to face a Troll of comparable power? Could he match himself against two such demons? And perhaps their underlings as well?
It had been hours since the imp had left his lord's side and not a single moment of peace had he known. First he had worried over where they would marshal enough demonic warriors to face a large and powerful clan like the Northern Trolls. As far as he knew, the Demon Dog clan's warriors were few in number, which was why they were never seen outside the clan's stronghold. Sesshōmaru's father, the first Inu no Taisho, had carved a demonic realm around the Demon Dog clan's small holding and made it safe through his own immense power. Jaken had witnessed it often enough after pledging himself to the son. But in those rare instances when an army was needed, Sesshōmaru's father would always assemble a host of warriors from his realm's demonic vassals. The result was always different. Sometimes, many powerful demons would answer the summons. At other times, few would show and the army raised would be a large but weak force. It was always in contrast to the surrounding polities.
Each clan surrounding their territory was large enough to boast its own army numbering in the thousands. So they would always field large, homogenous armies while the army of the Demon Dog Lord would always be a mixed force. But Jaken had consoled himself that such unpredictability had always worked for Sesshōmaru's father. Until he recalled how just such an army, lacking powerful captains, had almost lost the field to the second Panther invasion. But if Jaken's travels with Lord Sesshōmaru had taught him anything, it was that many powerful demons lived in the realm now and some would surely answer the call to arms.
That was how he had fallen in to his latest anxiety. Lord Sesshōmaru may be unbeatable on a battlefield but he was woefully unprepared to stop an assassination attempt.
A-Un, the two headed dragon upon which the imp rode, turned itself upside down and suddenly Jaken's thoughts were not far away. They were very clearly focused on the immediate problem of his increasing closeness to the trees. He cursed the dragon which simply hovered above, watching. "You traitor!" Jaken yelled loudly.
Just as suddenly, a hand snatched Jaken out of the air. "Oh, Jaken-sama. What are you doing here?" Kohaku asked, holding up the little imp, whose short limbs were flailing as though he was still in freefall.
"Eh? Kohaku? But I didn't see you," Jaken replied, still shocked by the experience.
"I waved to A-Un, who saw me. He dropped you right after that so I could catch you," the teenaged human boy replied, pointing at the descending dragon now.
"He could have just landed!" Jaken declared as Kohaku set him down onto the ground. Kohaku laughed uncomfortably before replying.
"I think he wanted you to clear your mind?"
"Blasted dragon!" Jaken cursed again as A-Un landed on the ground and ignored the imp. The demon did not communicate much and never to Jaken. It only obeyed Lord Sesshōmaru and Rin. Jaken wasn't even sure what Lord Sesshōmaru had done in the past to earn the dragon's loyalty.
"So what brings you out here, Jaken-sama?" Kohaku asked, handing the nintojo over to Jaken.
Jaken straightened himself up and shot one last angry glare at the two-headed dragon, which looked at him inquisitively. Then he puffed himself up and said imperiously, "Lord Sesshōmaru has sent me here to recall you to his service. The Northern Troll demons will be invading soon and Lord Sesshōmaru wants you to fight against his enemies."
Kohaku's eyes rose with astonishment. "I-I am honored that Sesshōmaru-sama remembers me and considers my skills worth being used against his enemies. But I am just one demon hunter. And there is the matter of payment."
"Payment? How dare you ask for payment from Lord Sesshōmaru after all the kindness he showed you!" Jaken screeched until a gust of wind bowled him over.
"Please understand, Jaken-sama," Kohaku tried not to laugh at the ill-timed gust, "I cannot work for free and Sesshōmaru-sama knows this. As a demon hunter, I work on commission. But we can discuss my fee later. I will join this fight but first, I need to collect something from Tōtōsai -sama. You should come along."
"Please tell me you're joking!" the elderly swordsmith declared when Jaken had explained why he was with Kohaku. The two visitors looked at each other with some confusion.
"No. Lord Sesshōmaru is convinced they have already infiltrated his lands with scouts," Jaken insisted tartly.
"Are they that difficult an enemy?" Kohaku asked.
"Oh this is terrible. I told him they'd be back! Trolls! Hmm… Individually, no, they're generally big, strong dumb brutes. But they make babies so often that they're bigger than every demon clan in this realm. And the ones who are smart and powerful find they can wield powers too. What does Sesshōmaru plan to do? His father's plan was to simply throw an army of demons at the trolls while he charged their chief. Almost didn't work too."
Jaken hesitated. That was exactly Lord Sesshōmaru's plan as far as he knew. His silence was answer enough for the swordsmith.
"I thought as much. His father was a poor general and a terrible administrator so he's going to have to find better role models. Have you at least warned the rest of the clan?" Tōtōsai asked.
"Um… I believe Lord Sesshōmaru is doing that currently," Jaken said without much certainty. He simply assumed that was where his liege would keep Rin.
"Good because I can't go there anymore. That old girl banned me from entering years ago," Tōtōsai explained, waving his clenched fist at the sky. "A fire hazard! Me!"
"But you were her husband's friend!" Kohaku said, surprised by that revelation. He had assumed the power wielded by Sesshōmaru's mother was simply what she had inherited from her deceased husband.
"Nonsense! They were never married. They only agreed to a relationship to produce an heir who would inherit both realms. This land," Tōtōsai swept his hand out, "was conquered by Tōga-o when he was a wandering demon, exiled from his own clan. He used his immense power to proclaim his overlordship. The castle belongs to the Demon Dog clan and its rightful ruler is the brat's mother. She's the daughter of its previous lord. Sesshōmaru, when he actually takes up the responsibility, will rule over a combined empire inherited from both of his parents."
Jaken, who had spent years at his liege's side, had never known any of this. Truly there were depths to Lord Sesshōmaru which he had never known. But it also explained one thing to him. His lord was so intent on proving his own strength and carving his own empire because he was already bound to inherit so much from his parents. He needed to prove that he, Sesshōmaru, was capable of just as much as his father.
In the fight against Naraku, Jaken felt Lord Sesshōmaru had come into his own as the most powerful fighter. None had been able to defeat him since he had laid claim to Bakusaiga. But now that Tōtōsai said so, Lord Sesshōmaru had never displayed any other qualities of a ruler. He had not commanded troops in the field nor had he governed a large body of vassals. Even during the second Panther invasion, Sesshōmaru had left his army to duel with Tōran.
"Oh yes, Kohaku. That reminds me. Catch," Tōtōsai dug around his workshop before finding a long package wrapped in leather and throwing it the teenaged human. "Your sword."
Author's notes:
1) I am getting very annoyed by the "ō" in every other name. But it looks better as "Tōran" than "Touran."
2) I am not using any real system for honorifics. I'll try to keep it consistent with the show but I doubt it'll be perfectly accurate. Also, I think Jaken is probably the only who won't be using honorifics. It seems to add to his sycophantic nature to say "Lord Sesshōmaru" in place of "Sesshōmaru-sama."
3) Tōga (or Tōga-o, if we're using his honorific) is the unofficial name for the Inu no Taisho if the wiki is to be believed. Now we just need an unofficial name for the mother and things will be so much easier.
4) Made a chapter about Jaken and Kohaku since it felt better to break up the scene with this. Plus, I think it was a better way to explain how I perceive the relationship between Sesshōmaru's parents.
5) Happy New Year