Chapter 11

Footfalls Echo in the Memory

Sesshomaru barged into Kaede's hut flaring at the nostrils. He had set off a disturbance of animals and objects, al fluttering about in a calamitous clangor. The old priestess and Rin, barely rid of sleep, felt a supreme upset in their spirits at the assault of the senses, leaping into an unnatural awakening as frost and snow billowed into the hut.

"I don't smell her…she's not here." His eyes sprang to all corners of the room scanning everything wildly. His eyes were red and a primal tonality was present in his voice.

Instinctively, Kaede shielded the child and tried to stifle her frightened coughing.

"Shinokiri-hime left one night without notice."

By now the sight of Sesshomaru in such a volatile state had so deeply affected Rin that she began to cry. This melted the taiyoukai out of his inflamed state and steadied himself. It would be his greatest displeasure to have the little girl be petrified of him.

"Stop crying Rin."

With a succession of muting sniffles she complied. Wiping her tears, she popped her head up from Kaede's comforting embrace and wiped her face on her yukata sleeve.

"I don't know why she left Sesshmaru-sama. We just woke up and she was gone. She never said anything."

The inu took in the full scope of the words and looked to the ceiling in dissatisfaction. His head turned as if questioning the walls before he stepped out of hut to see Inuyasha coming toward him.

"What the hell Sesshomaru?! I can hear you from—"

The poor hanyou's face was stopped and caught unawares by its sudden connection with Sesshomaru's fist.

"She was in your charge, half-breed."

Inuyasha held his jaw as he grimaced up at his half-brother from the grey accumulated sludge of re-frozen snow he had found himself in.

"What was I supposed to do? Chain her up? She wanted to go."

"Hn. How long?"

"I don't know, about a week. I thought she would've just gone off to find you. Guess she's sick of your shit." Inuyasha forced a chuckle from his groans as he nursed his back.

"M'lord! M'lord!" Jaken heaved as he caught up to the action.

"Stay here Jaken."

The inu youkai darted off into the forest leaving everyone behind, not quite sure of what had just occurred.

Sesshomaru, much to his own chagrin, could be described as being in a state of panic. His nose searched and searched for her scent. If he could pick it up then he could find her, trace out her path. It was to no avail, it seemed as if she had made a concerted effort to travel with the wind.

It was happening again, and that was maddening to him. Little traces of her scent hung on branches or by the river, but offered him no direction. It was like it had been before, when only the ghost of her seemed present in all things.

The stream…

It occurred to him that she must be swimming, knowing full well the water would obscure her scent to him. Her scent was going downstream in the water, but upstream by the banks. She seemed to be headed in the mountains. Yet, it still was unclear as to why she would leave so abruptly to do this.

What unfathomably dim scheme is she involved in now?

With a clear head and objective, Seshomaru made way in altitude. As the river turned into a stream, he could finally pick up her scent again. She could tell she was traveling at a saunter…did this mean she had no focus? Why was she up here?

The air was thick with fog, whether it was hers or natural was unclear, but up the mountain path leaping from height to height, the demon could only catch glimpses of what was below. It was as if he had entered another realm of dreams, quickly clipping from one image to the next, all the same but somehow altered. Everything was white and grey and black. Everything was slipping into each other. All was murky and unsure.

They both seemed in a whirl of silk and hair. Dewy, they clung to each other lost in their sense of touch. Sesshomaru propped himself above her and looked deep into her eyes. Warm amber eyes….warmer than his own. His fingers raked through her bangs as he took in the gaze of his mate. Even beneath him one could tell she was an imposing figure; large for a female. Her eyes always met his; never left his when challenged.

Shinokiri chuckled and broke contact. She was relaxed. In this moment, there was no need to battle him on anything. "I have no idea what the outside world is like anymore."

Sesshomaru plopped back down on the fabric of the mattress. "To my pleasure."

"Am I your prisoner then, my lord?" A lilting quality entered her voice. She was amused.

"You are mine."

Though eloquent in manner, Sesshomaru could never be mistaken for erudite.

Sesshomaru halted, he had gone as far as he needed to go, somewhere in the tones of gray there would be his mate; her fragrance overwhelmed the air here.

"I wish you would not have followed me up here."

"What is your purpose in this Shinokiri?

The demoness stepped into view before him looking distantly passed him.

"I am tired my lord."

Seshommaru stared at her blankly. What on earth could be her meaning in this? She seemed to nod in understanding and elaborated.

"It's time for me to find my own path to follow. I have gone too far away from myself…this is how I feel."

"Insolence. You belong to this Sesshomaru, you will not leave again."

Anger and confusion built up inside the demon lord's chest. This bolting in and out of his life was wearing him thin. She had to learn her place. Her pace was by his side. Before the will of Inu no Taisho should have been his own will. It had been 200 years and he had only just now managed to wriggle from his shadow. It was time now for her to fully subjugate herself to him.

"No."

His frustration mounted at this, "No?"

"I belong to myself, and I must find what it is that means for me. I must know what it is to live for myself before I leave this world."

Sesshomaru closed his eyes in contemplation. The whole thing seemed flippant to him. His attention moved to Shinokiri's arm rising to her ponytail, unsheathing her naginata and pointing it directly at him. Circling each other, there was an obvious hesitation at play.

"Please leave my lord. This is something I must do."

His only response was to wield bakusaiga in retaliation. Charging at her as she side-stepped him, flipping the naginata around to lunge at him. He made no attempt too truly attack her with the yoki of his sword, rather using it simply in its docile sate. They battled as humans would, attacking, defending, evading. Neither made an attempt at serious harm, and as such the great inu became complacent and was nicked in the thigh.

All fell silent and still as they both watched the blood rise to the surface of the wound. Sesshomaru's livid eyes shot to his mate as he swung his sword at her with the full extent of his might. Shinokiri barely managed to block it and slid back, close to the edge of the mountain. Now crouched, trying to find her center of gravity, she looked at a piece of her naginata back and forth to each hand. He had cut it clean in half. The vibrations of which could still be felt in both of their hands. From the broken naginata through to hilt of the demon lord's sword.

"Your weapon is inadequate Shinokiri."

She looked up at Inu no Taisho as she slid the weapon back into her hair. He was right, making up for the weakness of the weapon itself was slowing her in her tasks. Though many a dead oni lied before her, she was aware that Inu no Taisho could dispose of a far greater number in one fell swoop. It only had its recognition of her as its master, and its outstanding size in its favor. There was nothing else to recommend the weapon besides her peculiar partiality towards it.

The daiyoukai thought of Shinokrir wielding the mediocre weapon as a gross waste of potential. Yet, this was the first time he made any real mention of it, and he had expected her to use her connections through him to obtain a more suitable instrument.

"Yes, I know it is limited my lord, but it is mine."

"Totosai, can forge for you a much better naginata. At the very least, let him modify this one."

Shinokiri turned and started to walk away, "It's all I have left."

Inu no Taisho seemed to understand and let the younger demoness be. He only chuckled and made his way in the same direction.

A large inner struggle waged within Shinokiri. A clean break. She squeezed the fractured naginata in each hand making the color drain from her knuckles. A clean break.

She had been reborn from Kogane's belly into a new world, one where she must question every inclination she had ever had. They had proved to weigh her down, to drown her in a lake of other's imagining. In the dark of the snake's stomach she could feel the resentment grow within her.

"Kogane!"

Shinokiri had found her. Deep within a petulant swampland the serpent resided, engulfing passing merchant caravans. As they traveled across the moors she snatched the life from within them. It was flesh that sustained her, but the glittering of precious trinkets that attracted her eyes.

She had poor sight and so it was that which was precious which always came to her attention. She could feel the energies of men lie with their treasures and so obtaining their gold meant obtaining their flesh. They never seemed to let go. Through that she became covetous of the metal and anything of comparable preciousness.

In turn, most human men made the grave mistake of attempting to kill her. Bewitched by her glittering scales many men wished to skin her and become rich from her flesh. Others were only enticed by the beauty of her human form. Whichever, it would be the greed of men that met her hunger.

At the call of her name, Kogane slithered onto the heath.

"What do you want inu?" Kogane raised herself up to full stature, puffing out to intimidate the strange intruder.

"By the command of Inu no Taisho, I am to guard something which resides within your stomach."

The snake hissed. "Do you mean to retrieve it from me then?"

"I mean to protect it."

Kogane laughed scornfully.

"Stop wasting my time."

She meant to slither away, but the rival demoness had drawn her weapon out of nowhere. It seemed she would have to address the issue.

Shinokiri shakily held her naginata. She knew what she must do, but not how long for. This was at great risk to her own safety. How long should she stay in there…could she actually get out if she tried? Inu no Taisho made no attempt at easing any of these concerns. Should she just blindly carry out his instructions, he had long since been dead. There would be no love lost from the grave.

Shinokiri quieted her mind as the snake's mouth engulfed her.

With everything she could muster she discarded the weapon over the side of the mountain. That was it. The greatest inanimate anchor to her past had been thrown aside, and so now she turned to her greatest animate one.

"The price has not been paid, I am not yours." Shinokiri growled through gritted teeth as she raised herself from the ground.

Quickly, Sesshomaru went to close the distance. He tenderly put his hand to her cheek and stroked it with his thumb.

"This is not what you truly believe."

Shinokiri boxed his hand from her face and spat bitterly. "I believe that I have been yours Lord Sesshomaru. I have been your receptacle." Hot tears stung at the ducts in her eyes.

The white clad taiyokai's shoulders rounded and gave Shinokiri a strange and alien look to what she had ever received from him. He continued to look at her as she dug her heels to the ground and breathed deliberately and defiantly. He met this with a long and labored sigh.

"A price?" He asked a question he very much knew the answer to. For a moment he looked to the grayness above in wonder. Quite abruptly, he seized hold of her ponytail, forcing her closer to him.

"Then I shall meet your demands."

Shinokiri tensed throughout her body, not at his grip, but at his word. No. She would not be toyed with. She would keep her resolve. This was just a cheap ploy.

She looked him directly in the eyes and moved her hand to his chest. "Say it then, Sesshomaru-sama."

"You will bear me an heir." He said it in a low firm rumble and the words shook through each of the demoness' nerve endings. Her hands traveled downward and slithered into his hakama.

"An heir." She leisurely repeated while maintaining eye contact. The satisfied look on Sesshomaru's face would dissolve into rage as Shinokiri's hand found her mark and threateningly pressed into it with her claws. He had never experienced such a vile betrayal of trust. The threat loomed in the air making it dense and unbreathable.

"Your words are hollow Sesshomaru."

He took her neck in his glowing hands, ready to poison her or even push the life from her lungs, but she was steadfast.

"Let me go."

It was Shinokiri's voice that uttered this. She was close to the edge now, but she demanded rather than pleaded.

"Let. Me. Go." As if in punctuation she pressed harder into him. With a gulping swallow of his pride he let go. He watched as she kicked herself off of the rocky ledge, disappearing into the ether.

A/N: Hey guys, I just wanted to take the time out to personally thank all of the people who have followed, favorited, and reviewed my story!

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