Hope you don't want to kill me after the cliff hanger. I had to do it to keep you coming back! :] Forgive any typos.
Chapter 3:
It was easy to see what Shoichi had done.
After they had past the boundaries of the village - after hearing an immense amount of groveling and thankful praise from the bloodied, ash-strewn humans - Sesshoumaru had picked up the odor of the disgusting cat along with the scent of the army he was traveling with - an army of all humans no less. It seemed as though the cat had been trying to cover up his own stench with the stink of a hoard of ningens. Or maybe it was that Shoichi didn't have the influence to band together and command an army of youkai yet… maybe instead he had to rely on the ignorant devotion of humans. Sesshoumaru inwardly chuckled at the thought. That was Shoichi's first mistake, he thought to himself.
The snow leopard's scent clung to the air, twisting through the trees and brush. It was slightly masked by the smell of the humans, but Sesshoumaru keen, inu nose was able to distinguish between the two easily. At first, Sesshoumaru was surprised to have picked up Shoichi's scent in the first place - no well trained, well-learned commander would go out with his army to complete such a meaningless task. Destroying a ningen village was no reason for a high-ranking army commander to grace the field. That, Sesshoumaru mused, lifting his long nose in the air for another sniff, was his second mistake.
They had just entered the thickets of the woods when Sesshoumaru caught the faint sound of something very small whistling through the air. In an easy sidestep motion, the taiyoukai moved out of the way as a small, wooden arrow flew through the air. Instead of hitting its intended target, the arrow flew past the small group and into the brush just behind them. Jaken squeaked, his reaction much slower that his Lord's, and threw himself onto the ground, shielding his large head with his small hands. "We're under attack!" he cried, clutching the Nintoujou tightly to his body. Sesshoumaru stared down at the toad in aversion - the imp was an utterly pitiful excuse for a demon - for just a moment before he looked up to trace the arrow's origins.
This time, Sesshoumaru heard the quick snap of the bow as another arrow was released. He reached up to swipe the worthless weapon out of the air to snap it in half. Before the pieces had even hit the ground, Sesshoumaru had launched himself high into the air, scanning the ground below him to see his hidden attacker from above. In nothing more than a split second, he had a ningen warrior between his fingers and the ningen's bow clattered to the ground nosily. Sesshoumaru lifted the man off the ground and towards his face, smelling the fear as it fell in waves off of the human's dirtied skin. Sesshoumaru was rather impressed by the archer's skill - it took years of practice to shoot in the dark and this human seemed to have mastered such a ability - and maybe Sesshoumaru would have commented in any other situation, but now… now Sesshoumaru was just irritated.
"Where is Shoichi?" Sesshoumaru asked as his foot came down to crush the fallen bow in half.
The human warrior clawed at Sesshoumaru's hand and arm, struggling for the breaths that would not come. Sesshoumaru gave one last powerful, warning squeeze and released the human to grovel and gasp for air on the ground below. Sesshoumaru repeated his question again, flexing his claws for effect. "Where is Shoichi?"
The man's fear-stricken eyes did not raise to meet the taiyoukai's. Instead, he stayed deathly silent, his body shaking on the forest floor. Sesshoumaru turned away from the human, thoroughly irritated, when Jaken and Ah-Un came bursting from the trees. "My lord!" hollered Jaken as he dropped to his knees in front of his master. His big, yellow eyes flicked over to the human and he said, "Is this the insolent fool who dared to bring down the great Lord-"
"Shut up, Jaken," Sesshoumaru said coolly, raising his nose to wind, sniffing for the snow leopard. Instantly, he caught the scent, but it was heavily masked by the smell of the other human warriors. Sesshoumaru whirled around on his heels gracefully to reach down and snap up the trembling human by the collar of his haori. He jerked the arrows out of the wooden tube on the man's back and snapped them all in half with a flex of his hand before throwing the pitiful warrior back to the ground. Sesshoumaru stepped over the human to follow the cat's scent into the forest.
Rin pushed her way to her feet as the thing began to charge at her. It ran clean into the stone bench, crushing the object immediately beneath its massive body. She burst through the back part of the willow tree, catching herself in a thorny, blooming rosebush in the process. She stumbled at first, but regained her footing quickly as she took off at a run through the gardens. Her bare feet slipped and slid over the smooth, wet gravel, occasionally splashing in one of the puddles that were rapidly filling up throughout the area. She heard noisy cracks and crunches as the thing followed in her footsteps through the rosebush and out onto the gravel trail.
To her left, the shiro whistled and crackled under the heat of the flames that engulfed it and instantly Rin's heart was seized in sadness even as she continued to run. The home that she had spent the better part of the last decade in was burning. The little trinkets she had collected over the years and the elaborate pieces of clothing she had been given were now undoubtedly engulfed in flames, forever to be lost in a pile of ash. Even as her eyes pricked with tears, Rin's head was screaming to her, Keep running! Don't stop! Those things aren't worth your life!
The next moment was like a sick, twisted, overly-clichéd story; Rin's foot caught in a slightly upturned root in the trail as she ran and she fell, every sound becoming clearer in her head; the pounding of footsteps behind her, the cracking of the fire, the beating of the rain against the ground, and the rapid hammering of her own heart.
She hit the ground and her breath came out in a sudden huff. Her hands caught on the gravel and the small rocks imbedded themselves into the soft flesh of her palms, pricking little spots of blood here and there. Like a fish out of water, Rin flopped helplessly onto her back to watch with horrified eyes as the massive figure, silhouetted against the burning shiro, charged her way.
Lord Shoichi of the Southern Lands had a lean figure, but was at least a head shorter than his adversary Sesshoumaru. His icy gray eyes were calculating and quick and his pointed ears twitched at even the slightest of sounds. He had short, slicked-back silver hair that contained just a finger-width streak of black in it near his left temple. His pale face held sharp, handsome angles, thin lips, and a pointed nose. When he spoke, his fangs would flash in the sharp sunlight and his thick, silver tail would flick back and forth behind him. He was draped in the royal colors of the Southern Lands - violet and gold - but no armor graced his angular body. Currently, he stood on the hillside away from his ningen army, his hands folded delicately behind his rigid back and his firm jaw set tight as those icy eyes scanned the trees around him.
Despite them being shrouded in the blackness of the night, he knew it was ignorant to stand in the middle of this small valley, his army out in the open for anyone and everyone to see, his own body unprotected and vulnerable. His men were on edge, he could sense their uneasiness in the air. After all, he had only just sent out one of the archers to wait for the taiyoukai he knew was following them, only for the warrior to not return. Shoichi ignored the men's skeptical glances and hushed whispers as his cold gaze continued to scan the forest around them.
A sudden warm gust of wind wafted Shoichi's way, bringing along with it the scent of lingering rain and something… different, something… mangy. He lifted his pointed nose into the air again instantly recognized the scent to belong to that of a dog. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and, with the most dignified voice he could muster up, he turned to the woods behind him and said, "Lord Sesshoumaru, please, grace us with your presence." A smile played at his mouth, causing his fangs to tickle at his thin lips.
From the dense forest, Sesshoumaru stepped out of the dark shadows in which he had been concealed. Behind him, the dragon Ah-Un and the little imp Jaken marched out dutifully after their master. Instantly, the men of the army braced to attack, but Shoichi held up his hand at them casually, ceasing their actions.
"This Sesshoumaru is surprised at how good your petty cat senses are," the taiyoukai quipped, coming to a stop just outside the forest's boundaries.
"And I am still unimpressed by how miserable you dogs are at sneaking around," Shoichi shot back, his gray eyes narrowing even as another smile spread across his face.
"You are trespassing on Western grounds, Shoichi," Sesshoumaru stated evenly, gauging Shoichi for a reaction.
But there was none. The snow leopard simply remained in the same spot, that devious little smile playing on his lips. "Lord Sesshoumaru," he began, bravely taking a few steps nearer to the inu youkai. "How about we strike up a deal? You give me half of the Western Lands closest to the Southern borders and I will stop sending my army to destroy your villages."
Sesshoumaru actually had to laugh at that one. He let out a low chuckle and his lips faintly showed the trace of a smile. "You think a few measly human villages are worth half of this Sesshoumaru's land?" the taiyoukai chuckled, relaxing in his posture. Jaken shifted nervously at Sesshoumaru's side, not at all used to seeing this side of his master. "You think any human life at all is worth these Western Lands?" Sesshoumaru added.
If at all possible, the smile on Shoichi's narrow face grew and his eyes tapered in excitement. "No," he stated simply, "but I think you do."
Sesshoumaru grew quiet at these words and his spirited mood faded in an instant. At his silence, Shoichi continued, "I have heard stories about the Great Lord of the Western Lands… tamed by a human child," he explained, pacing almost excitedly in front of the taiyoukai. "They say you traveled years with her in tow after bringing her back to life with your father's sword." Shoichi glanced around Sesshoumaru's coterie with an exaggerated lift of the eyebrow and several seconds of dumbfound blinking. "Tell me, Sesshoumaru, where is your human now?"
The glow of the fire from the shiro caught on the figure's face and Rin instantly recognized it to be a demon of some sort. It was massive; the height of Sesshoumaru but the width of two Ah-Un's. It had dark, wild eyes, and massive hands that were surrounded… in flame?
In a split second decision, Rin's hands shot out around her, desperately seeking something to fill them with. Her right hand closed around a rock and in a hurried, uncoordinated motion she chucked it at the demon. Her whole body filled with adrenaline as she watched the rock crash into the demon's shadowed face and she instantly put that new feeling to use, scrambling to her feet and rushing away.
Unfazed, but slightly put behind, the demon sped after her. To Rin's horror, he caught up with her quickly, and reached out to snatch at her arm with his flame-engulfed hands. With a scream, Rin tried to rip herself away even as the demon's vise grew tighter around her small forearm. To her surprise, the fire that surrounded his grasp did not burn her, but the rain that fell against his hand instantly sizzled and evaporated - it was almost as if the demon wasn't trying to hurt her.
But this did not comfort the girl in any way. Rin jerked again, trying to free herself from the beast, only to hear a sickening snap. Nausea washed over her immediately as she let out a soft cry, feeling all control in her arm fade away. Blackness shrouded the edges of her vision as she began to sway. Seeing his obvious upper hand, the demon snatched at Rin's shoulder, dropping her newly broken arm. With a malicious flash in his black eyes, he raised his fist to bring in down over the girl's head.
Sesshoumaru's hand fluttered to the Toukijin. Bringing up Rin, he thought, was Shoichi's third and... final mistake.
The snow leopard caught the murderous look in Sesshoumaru's eyes at once and he held up his hands, palms outward, as if in surrender. "It must be true then," he laughed, and then added, "Calm yourself, Lord Sesshoumaru, I have done nothing to the girl," he confirmed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I have no desire to hurt a defenseless human child."
But Sesshoumaru's hand did not waiver from the hilt of the Toukijin.
"My master Sesshoumaru, let me do away with these worthless beings with a single blast from my Nintoujou! They are not worth your time or energy!" Jaken exclaimed bravely, stepping in front of Sesshoumaru, waving his staff around wildly. From behind, Ah-Un pounded his feet on the ground impatiently, as if itching for a fight as well.
"Fine," Sesshoumaru said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Jaken let out a low snicker as he raised his staff towards the army of twenty or so men. Sesshoumaru backed away from the scene as the men began raising swords and bows - he knew they would be dead before their arrows could leave the string or their swords could be raised defiantly into the air.
The fire erupted through the valley, lighting it up in a sick, deadly way, and screams soon began to fill the air. Sesshoumaru saw a flash of violet and gold rush through the night sky and instantly shot to the skies himself, hot on Shoichi's trail. They bounded through the trees for only a moment before Sesshoumaru rocketed himself through the branches, grabbing Shoichi by the back of his elaborate kimono. He dove towards the ground, using Shoichi as landing gear. The snow leopard hissed and growled as Sesshoumaru flipped him over, slamming him onto his back. The inu youkai lifted his right hand into the air as a green aura began to surround it and his golden eyes narrowed murderously. Sesshoumaru brought his sharp claws dangerously close to Shoichi's face so he was sure the snow leopard would be able to smell the deadly poison that dripped from them.
"You are still young and foolish so this Sesshoumaru will have mercy on you this one time," the inu youkai snapped, his voice in a low, violent whisper. "If you even step foot on the Western Lands again, if there is even a rumor of a coming attack, this Sesshoumaru will come and find you and will make sure that you suffer."
"Are you truly so protective of this human that you would go to such lengths to guard her?" Shoichi asked daringly, despite the fact that Sesshoumaru's claws were inching ever so precariously towards his neck.
"This is about my land and protecting that which is rightfully mine," Sesshoumaru shot back, wondering why he didn't just close his hand around the youkai's pale face and watch him squirm. He gave the snow leopard a low, fierce growl and whipped his hand backwards. Sesshoumaru leapt off Shoichi with grace, giving the snow leopard one last burning gaze before he turned to head back to Jaken, Ah-Un, and the smell of burning flesh.