Disclaimer: This story is based on "Inuyasha," copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement of copyright intended or implied.
To Forge a Heart
Totosai pulled the blade out of the quenching vat with his tongs, and gave it a long, narrow-eyed survey. It's youki surged and pulsed, eager and restless to be about what it was being made to be.
"Hmph," he muttered to himself, lowering the blade. At least the fang was no longer throwing sparks in an outraged attempt to destroy him, every time his hammer or fire came down. The youki had yielded at least that much to his command, and had begun its transformation in purpose. The lower edge of the long, slightly curving blade already glinted with sharpness, though he had yet to start the process to put a true edge on the blade.
Tessaiga-to-be understood very well its new function—to cut.
Other features the Inu no Taisho desired, however, were not yet present.
The passion to protect. The need for its owner to have compassion, and the desire to protect human life.
Most youkai blades were only crafted to be responsive to a youki of sufficient strength to handle the blade; or to respond only to the youkai whose flesh and youki had been used to create the blade in the first place.
But the Inu no Taisho wanted more for his blade.
Totosai sighed and glanced up. He had moved his forge outside the cave after the very first effort to heat the taiyoukai fang. He hadn't wanted to further risk the destruction of his home. Now, the full moon rode high, but obscured by a high mist. A good sign for the next step, he decided. The inu youkai, as with the wolves, tended to follow the moon; their youki rising and falling with its cycle. And the obscuring mist was even a better sign. Water was the balance to his nature. He could not make swords without water's ability to quench the fire he raised.
From an inner pocket, the smith pulled out an object he had been reluctant to use, though it had been the inu youkai's idea. Stepping back over to the flat block he used as an anvil, he set the blade down, and then he tossed the object, muttering beneath his breath as they floated down.
Two hairs, closely entwined, settled down on top of the glimmering blade. One was white, one was black. One came from the head of a youkai, the other came from a human. Totosai studied the pattern, acknowledging silently that the dog lord's instincts were good. The hairs would carry the pattern he needed to set into the blade's core being: caring and compassion; protection of the weak; and the ability to bond to a being who carried the blood of both youkai and human. The fang carried the power, but the twined hairs would create its 'heart'…
Totosai raised his mallet, drew a deep breath, and began the most important part of Tessaiga's forging.
Author's Note: This was written for the Inuyasha Themes community on LiveJournal, for the prompt "Mist." It was originally posted on December 14, 2010. (12/30/2010)