A\N: Okay, woosh, this chapter was almost fluffy, but I think I twisted some angst and darkness into there as well.
Got some sleep last night.
Now my body and mind have no idea what to do with all the energy, but seem to think going back to sleep would be a good idea.
Anyway...
-Black Betty - Well, you're going to have to wait, as you can see, because it's gonna take me a while yet to get them together. If I ever do, that is. Still, it should be fun getting there.
-Wish-full thinker - Woosh! That's a long read! Lol, now I know how you guys must feel when you go through my rants! -- Lol, your taste in music isn't strange, at least in my opinion. I don't think I've ever heard a single song you've got on there, but that doesn't really matter. Some of my preferred songs are on the LotR soundtrack or sung in a language I don't understand. Lol, I like Irish and celtic music. I don't listen to it on a regular basis, but I still like the sound of it. But I've got a lot of Irish and Scottish in my blood, so... Or I've at least got the temper of an Irish person. That's what everyone says, anyway. -- I think the song you're thinking of is I'm gonna be (500 miles) by the Proclaimers. OH! So I have heard a song on your list! Lol, anyway, I'm glad you paticipated in this-- I actually just expected everyone to skip over and ignore it. -- And I'm not asleep yet! That marker better not be permanent!
-Sexy Kat - Well, as the saying goes "Don't throw your computers out of your window, throw the windows out of your computers." Lol, my computer is incredibly old, actually, so... and I think it might have had something to do with the site more than my computer anyway. -- Lol, I like lively songs. Sometimes. You have to catch me in the right mood. But I've never heard any Gundam Seed songs. I don't actually watch that show...
-RamblingPhilosopher - Well I hope you get some sleep soon. And maybe I'll try and give Amaya an opportunity to get some. But I doubt it. If I have to suffer so does she! -- I don't think anyone can wait till the battle, but they'll have to. I've had this one plan for the battle in my head for a loooooooooong time, but it's just taking a long time to get there. Anyway, I'll get around to it sometime, I'm sure, and until then, we'll just have to keep chipping away with these chapters.
-wolfygirl13 - Lol, You, me, and RamblingPhilosopher. Maybe we should get some Benzodiazepines or something. -- Lol, pepsi and coffee are good and all that (If you like em) but food with high caffeine would probably work better. Lol, it would probably give you more energy, and give you something to do. -- Anyway, hope you get some sleep soon! I'll give you some more pocky if you can get all rested up!
Nowhere Else
Inuyasha sighed, staring at the clouds painted pink and orange in the setting sun.
The Western lands were spread out before him like an artist's landscape-- beautiful and amazing to behold, but something about it always not feeling quite real.
Kohaku was off at the dojo.
Inuyasha had finally coaxed him into really beginning to talk again, and Rin had been pestering non-stop ever since.
Sesshomaru had sent the boy off to train at the dojo, both in an effort to save Kohaku and relieve all of them from her endless stream of words as well as get him prepared for battle again-- should it come to that.
Kohaku had revealed much to Inuyasha about Naraku-- the biggest factor of which had been that the youkai lord wasn't really. He was still a hanyou-- the jewel had not transformed him. It seemed both the demon inside and Midoriko found him unworthy of becoming a full demon.
There had been several other more vital things that the boy had retold to Sesshomaru, but Inuyasha couldn't really get past this one little fact.
And now he wondered-- had he been successful in killing Kikyo (which he now remembered attempting to do) and getting the jewel from her-- would the jewel have turned him full demon? Would Midoriko have found him worthy? Would the demon have?
No sound, just a shift in the air, and Inuyasha had Tetsusaiga in his hand, spinning around and stopping just short of slicing the intruder's head off, his face a mask of anger and determination, and then grim surprise when he realised his sword was now positioned millimetres from piercing his brother's neck.
He sighed and slowly sheathed his sword. 'Dammit Sesshomaru, you shouldn't sneak up on me like that! I could've killed you!'
Sesshomaru raised one elegant eyebrow.
'I was not sneaking, little brother. And had I wished to dodge your rash assault, it would have been only too easy.' He said, and Inuyasha glared, getting used to his brother's harsh comments. He had learned Sesshomaru's strategy by now: If you irritate the "rash" little hanyou enough with words, then it will spur him into more vigorous action. And now that he knew Sesshomaru's plan, he also was beginning to resist the urge to slice his brother in half for saying things like that.
Sesshomaru came to stand beside him and the two brother's stared in silence out and the forests and fields before them.
'You have improved.' Sesshomaru noted in a nonchalant tone, and Inuyasha's eyes flickered toward his brother in their sockets before staring at the shadowy land before him again.
'You have trained me well.' Inuyasha stated back, feeling the sudden need to be formal with his brother. He had never had a trainer before that he could remember-- had always lived and learned from his experiences. Thus had he developed his harsh, drastic (some had even said barbaric) fighting style-- having grown to have little patience for learning the required skills that came with such things.
"You rush forward with hastiness that does not suite, brashness that is not required, and anger that is not called for, swinging your sword almost blindly at your enemy. Yet you have a certain strategy as well-- you move so hastily and haphazardly that you give the enemy very little time to attack and almost always force it into the defensive." The samurai's words echoed in his head. He hadn't known the man, but he had come and watched when Inuyasha had fought once, and then had proceeded to lecture him on fighting techniques. Inuyasha had been tempted to kill him just to show him that he wasn't as stupid and reckless as the man seemed to think, but had resisted. It wouldn't be worth it, and he was still exhausted from his battle with the other demons.
That had happened a long time ago-- well before he met Kikyo-- and he was surprised he had remembered.
He remembered lots of things now.
Most things.
And it was strange.
Everyday was like an adventure he was unsure he wanted to be part of, wandering through the pieces of his mind and examining the parts of his life that he knew he was involved in, but still felt strangely detached from-- like they weren't his own, and he was seeing them from an outsiders point of view.
It was strange and confusing and he did not much like it.
What's more, Amaya had not come in several days and he was beginning to worry. He wanted to know if Kagome was alright-- especially now that he actually remembered the girl and what she had meant to him.
A shadow spread, not just over his face, but over the lands before them, and Inuyasha frowned, glancing at Sesshomaru, before following his brother's example and turning his eyes toward the sky.
Some sort of large cloud appeared to have risen out of nowhere and was moving rapidly toward them.
Too rapidly.
And, though there was little wind today, it was still travelling rapidly against it.
Which could only mean that it wasn't a cloud at all.
'Come, Inuyasha.' Sesshomaru said, grabbing his wrist and yanking him away before he could get a better look at the strange "cloud", pulling him quickly-- almost too fast for Inuyasha to keep up-- back up and into the castle, shoving him blindly to the side as he shoved the door almost violently shut behind them.
Inuyasha frowned at his brother's actions, opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Sesshomaru, who let out an icy hiss of "Silence!" causing the words to die on Inuyasha's tongue.
He stared at his brother, who was staring with narrowed eyes at the door, not-quite frowning, and with an expression of deep contemplation on his face, and to Inuyasha it looked as though his brother might be listening for something.
So he closed his mouth, tilting his head slightly to the side to listen as well.
At first he heard nothing, and his frown returned and deepened.
Then the faint, almost inaudible but growing in volume with each passing moment, sound of insect wings beating rapidly against one another reached his ears, and Inuyasha was filled with a strange sense of familiarity, anger, and faint traces of fear.
And as the sound grew louder and the insects grew closer, the anger dulled and the familiarity became unimportant as his fear began to take over, and Inuyasha, unwittingly, began to shake from it.
He knew those wings.
The Saimyoushou.
Naraku's insects from hell.
The insects Naraku often used to torture him, letting them sting him repeatedly-- and not always using their poison, but sometimes just piercing his skin, biting him occasionally as well.
They were the one's to find him first whenever he had attempted escapes.
They were the one's who reported anything he did against Naraku's wishes.
They were the one's who had made certain that he had no sense of freedom whatsoever, made certain that every little thing he did was punished, made certain that he had no happiness or joy in his life-- nothing but pain... and the desire to serve his master.
As the Saimyoushou surrounded them and shadows began to fly past the covered windows, Inuyasha's legs decided that standing was no longer an option, and he sunk to the floor, still shaking violently, pressing against the wall, his ears flattening as that sound surrounded him-- nearly enough to drive him to the brink of insanity.
He heaved, dry, wracking sobs, but did not throw-up as the terror coursed through him like blood-- Naraku had found him, and would take him back and break him all over again, and the memories and darkness of his time with the demon began to surround him.
The fear radiating off of his brother was nearly enough to choke Sesshomaru, and he glanced over in confusion at Inuyasha, not knowing why his brother suddenly seemed so overcome by despair.
And Inuyasha began to sob, oblivious to him, driven completely by fear and despair.
A long, low whine, so full of sadness and despair and agony that no living creature should have been able to make it tore it's way from his throat, and Sesshomaru mentally cringed away from it, aghast that that noise was coming from his brother.
The insects were gone by now, and Sesshomaru rushed over to Inuyasha's side, trying to reach his brother through the oblivion he was surrounded in.
He had hoped Inuyasha would be ready for battle soon, but if those simple insects were enough to reduce his brother to this... this, then he could not imagine what an encounter with the dark demon himself would be like.
Slowly, he pulled Inuyasha away from the wall, drawing his brother against him, causing Inuyasha to let out another of those whines that sent shivers up Sesshomaru's spines, and began stroking his brother's hair, whispering soft, incoherent words to the distressed hanyou in his arms until Inuyasha finally quieted, laying still for several moments, before finally daring to open his eyes.
He was met with the dark and narrowed eyes of his brother-- though there was concern and not anger filling them, and Inuyasha snapped his eyes shut again. He didn't want to see Sesshomaru. He knew his brother probably thought him terribly weak-- it had simply been insects, insects that could no longer reach nor harm him-- yet he could not get passed the past, could not forget how much harm they had done, and he could not stop the terror or memories from taking over.
'Inuyasha.' Sesshomaru said quietly, and Inuyasha whined quietly, tears filling his eyes as more memories tried to surface-- as the fear of rejection began to take over him.
His clawed hand tightened on the shoulder fabric of his brother's kimono, and Inuyasha buried his face against Sesshomaru's chest, begging for the comfort only Sesshomaru could offer.
Sesshomaru was startled by the intimate gesture-- the sudden display of need and velnerableness, and stared in shock at Inuyasha, who was quivering and letting out small whimpers and whines into Sesshomaru's chest, silently begging his brother to let him know it was alright.
Sesshomaru frowned, and then slowly, gently, brought his arms up to wrap around the hanyou, one rubbing small circles on his back, the other gently resting on the top of his silver head.
Inuyasha tensed slightly, then let out another whine, burying deeper into Sesshomaru, and his brother let him for now, knowing somehow that Inuyasha needed this, and that his brother would be able to find it nowhere else.
He silently wondered when they had become so close that Inuyasha would even bother entertaining the thought of asking Sesshomaru for comfort, and then decided it didn't matter.
Inuyasha had asked him from comfort-- not with words but with actions-- and right now Sesshomaru knew that he had to give it. Inuyasha needed it, and, in some ways, Sesshomaru thought that he might need it too. Even if it was from each other-- both of whom had never once dreamed that they would be in this position with one another before.
That didn't matter either, because they could go to nowhere else.
And, if they were entirely honest with themselves, they didn't want to.
END
A\N: Well I think my brain just exploded. Lol, that chapter was a bit longer than the last I think, but maybe not as interesting to some people. I don't know, I like Sess and Inu, they're my fav characters, so I like writing about them.
SpEcIaL tHaNkS tO: Black Betty, Wish-full Thinker, Sexy Kat, RamblingPhilosopher aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand wolfygirl13 -- They're the awesome reviewers from last chapter and the main motivation for this chapter!
CMoC - Toy Soldiers - The Last Stand ( -- I don't actually know the title or singer of this (The last stand isn't the singer I don't think) I came across this song by accident on WMP and it was labelled that so...), Kagome and Inuyasha - (Don't know who composed this...), Right here - Staind, Angels or Devils - Dishwalla ( -- This is a good song, people should check it out), Somewhere out there - Our Lady Peace, Fake Wings - (Umm... it's from the .Hack/Sign show, but I don't actually know who sings it), My will - Dream and Sotsugyou Sayonara wa Ashita no Tame ni (Graduation: Farewll is for Tomorrow) - Tackey and Tsubasa ( -- I still say this is an awesome song!)
Also, just thought I'd point out, my updates will likely remain a little slower for three reasons:
1. My computer's an ass.
2. The other site is coming back up next week, and I need to be ready to do some major updates there.
3. I am currently in production of another story for this site. I don't know when I'll get the first chapter up, but I really want to put some good hard effort into it. -- It's based on an idea that a lot of people keep mentioning, but I don't think anyone has actually done.
Anyway, those are the reasons, so you'll just have to be patient with me for a little while.