Please pardon the occ-ness and grammar mistakes please.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. All rights are solely reserved to Rumiko Takahashi, Viz, and Sunrise.
Chapter 5: Thrilling Pain
All watched in awed silence as the prisoner's flesh was rented and scarred for life as the dreadful piece of torture equipment came down upon the bondman's back. The captain, their callous captain watched with a stoic expression that betrayed nothing he felt as he watched this act of discipline. His crew was amazed that not even the slightest twitch of a muscle appeared on his handsome face to reveal what he felt as his own flesh and blood was being punished. Captain Sesshomaru Blood did live up to his name quite well for being one of the most cruel and unaffected gentlemen of fortune who ever sailed the seven seas.
Sesshomaru observed with a stern and righteous countenance as his younger brother was whipped with the lovely cat o- nine tails. He had ordered twenty-four lashes and so far with the mere twelve Inuyasha had been given; the half-demon's back was shredded into thin ribbons. His tainted blood spilled from the wounds like rain drops and dripped to the smooth deck under his feet. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes and found this sickeningly amusing display of torture was still not enough. There was so much more he could concoct that surpassed the pain and agony the cat o' nine tails could ever do. Yes, so much more and he was saving the very last punishment for last. But for now, Sesshomaru would carry on with the frivolous punishments his crew feared and those which were not enough for Inuyasha.
The cat o' nine was raised high in the air and was about to be brought down, when Sesshomaru himself grabbed Kohaku's wrist and stopped himself dealing the last blow. Everyone stood in attention and listened as their captain spoke.
"I will be the one to strike the last blow Kohaku. Thank you, now please stand aside." Sesshomaru said and took the whip his in long slender hands and weighed the tool in his hands. It was light in his touch, but as he had watched Kohaku wielded the whip, he had noticed it was a bit too heavy for him. He would have to learn how to tolerate the weight if Sesshomaru ever intended to use him again to whip anyone else in future acts of mutiny and disobedience.
As the whipping had proceeded, not a word did Inuyasha stutter nor did he emit any sounds of pains. To Sesshomaru's astonishment and displeasure, Inuyasha took all lashes with a fearless and valiant demeanor that acknowledge they did share the same blood. That small acknowledgement of being linked by blood, however did not stop Sesshomaru from lifting the cat o' nine high in the air and bring it down with such a force that the noise it made sounded like cannons being fired and what was worst by far was the sound the nine leather knots and fish hooks made when they came down upon Inuyasha's back.
It was the most bone-chilling thing any member of the crew had ever seen or heard—and that was saying a lot considering that they had heard the sounds of war and battle before so many times that they were accustomed to it. But this sound now, it was inhuman and diabolical. Up until now Inuyasha had stayed silence and endured each lash, but now his tolerance for the pain was ruined and he ejaculated so loud that it hurt everyone's ears. It was only Sesshomaru who found Inuyasha's screams lovely and soothing. To him his cries and whimpers were like the playing of the violin if played right.
As soon as the lashes had rained upon his back, they were over and Inuyasha's fettered wrists were freed and he dropped to the floor with an ungraceful thud. His long tousled locks of dull silver veiled his pain contorted features and he stayed still. Inuyasha clenched his hands into fists and allowed the pain to wash over him. This was just the beginning, he knew it was. There were far worse things in store for him before Sesshomaru granted him the right to death. As much as he was consider, Inuyasha believed even hell showed more mercy it its inhabitants then what Sesshomaru did to him.
There he lay for a few seconds before being hauled to his feet and had the chance to stare up into the brilliant blue sky before his world turned back and he was once more in the hold. The cell door to his gloomy prison was locked and the key tucked into the watchman's jacket. Inuyasha straightened himself up as best he could without irritating his raw and bloody back. Straight ahead of him there was a small lantern that hung right above a barrel of water. That small glisten of light was the same diminutive size of his care for life. In this new gruesome and devastating adventure which he had to thank his incoherent emotions for, Inuyasha's disoriented memories recalled to life that day weeks ago, the day and moment of his life when he and his pride had died.
To his ken, it was Sesshomaru's wench who had pleaded that his life not be ended. Little brat, he thought bitterly. Not only was he refused death, but she has soiled his damn reputation which he had strived so hard to shape and maintain. Inuyasha hissed in pain as he felt a rat's prickly fur rub against his rented back. Sesshomaru's beloved ship was not saved from the presence of rats like any other vessel of war. It sickened him to think that he was still alive because of a woman's weeps and tears—that was to say, however, it was only Rin's tears that produced a nauseas feeling in the pit of his stomach.
The tears and panting that moved and astonished him were those of Kagome. In all the time they had sailed under the same glorious liberal flag that the articles which they lived by and they had all signed decreed, she had never shown any of her weaknesses. Her tears that she shed when he was dubbed a prisoner by Sesshomaru, made him feel more the lost of the war that he could have won. Could have…he should have won, but something stopped him. No, it was something else that he wanted to ignore.
Now it was all over. His ship was probably sailing somewhere along the coast of Venezuela, destined to return to Japan with its new captain and crew. Along with his own crew, there were two new additional party members that was the only reason why his crew and ship still remained sailing on water, rather then being buried underneath it. At his command, Sesshomaru had decided Rin and Kagura were to be returned to Japan via of Inuyasha's ship and crew taking them back. He believed Rin had seen enough bloodshed and heard enough guns of war to make due with the rest of her life.
Inuyasha closed his tired eyes and decided it was best to get some rest before he was awoken with blows. As he drifted to sleep, he heard the soft mumbling of words above him. He tried to keep awake, but the only words he could make out before closing his eyes were, "I just 'ere our Captain has in mind to sail us all to the coast of France. Now what says you to that, lad? Hah, no doubt them French will be welcoming us all with—" Inuyasha heard no more. He was fast asleep.
In his cabinet, Sesshomaru, with his new master's mate, Kohaku, who would turn out to be a fine gent of the sea soon, went over charts and maps of the city of Porto Bello. Word amongst his zealous gun crew was that they were going to plunder and ravish the French, but Sesshomaru was not yet done with the Caribbean. He still intended to take by storm the coffers Spain had established in Porto Bello.
Sesshomaru pointed to the fort where the gold was housed and said eloquence, "It is safe to assume that will arrive at Porto Bello in a fortnight. Until then you and I will have to use this time to see how we will manage to enter the port without attracting attention and storming into the fort and seize the gold." Kohaku nodded his head in agreement, but he could not help suggesting something that might aid them.
"Aye, sir, but one ship alone cannot anticipate taking over the fort. It is no doubt well guarded by at least a hundred well armed men of His Majesty. We should in the least considering calling for assistances, if I may be so bold to suggest to you, Captain." Kohaku offered. Sesshomaru looked up from the map spread out on his desk, which was held open by two daggers at opposite ends, and regarded his second-in-command with an imperturbable smile that frightened the boy.
"You're suggestion Kohaku is indeed correct statistically, however, practically you are wrong. My crew and I have managed to overwhelm Her Majesty's ships by ourselves on more than one occasion and I see no reason why we cannot capture Porto Bello. Or do you find my train of through outlandish and precarious Kohaku? Speak you mind for I have no intentions of denying you the right to say what you truly feel." Sesshomaru informed the boy impassively, yet sincerely enough that Kohaku opened his mouth to answer.
"That be true Captain Blood, but they could well play a dirty trick on us. It would be more practical to assume they would and have a helping hand." Kohaku returned firmly to get the other to see that anything could go wrong. To his surprise, Sesshomaru smirked dryly at his second-in-command and observed, "Kohaku, you think me a fool don't you. Nay boy, I have planned this ransack long before I came to find my bastard brother Inuyasha and put him in his place. That is why I have suggested we use this fortnight wisely to plot. Here," Sesshomaru said and handed him a document, "These are my plans for the fort and I want you to study them and tell me if you find it promising. If you don't, come back to me and we will discuss it over until we are both satisfied."
"I will do so, Captain." Kohaku said whilst rolling the document and tucking it inside his blue coat and stayed where he was for a moment before hesitatingly clearing his throat once more and inquired bashfully, "Forgive my intrusion on matters that have no concern to me, Captain, but what are we going to do with Captain…I mean the prisoner?" Kohaku stood still and knew he had struck a cord in his captain's nerves. Sesshomaru glanced up from his writing log and arched a startled brow. He laid his quilt down and closed the log and directed his attention to the boy in front of him.
Kohaku was no more than a boy of seventeen; from what Sesshomaru could deduce, he had been training to be a lawyer before he had been forced into piracy. In his opinion, a lawyer and a doctor were allows good to have on a pirate's ship. Sesshomaru seat erect in his chair and said dispassionately, "What of my brother Kohaku?" The boy visibly cringed and stuttered quickly to explain himself, "I—I meant do you intend to keep him alive, sir." At once Sesshomaru understood his mate's discretion. The boy was worried he was going to go back on his word that he and Rin had made before separating and kill his brother. He had been, after all, one of Inuyasha's gunners. It was nature that he would display some sort of affection for him.
Sesshomaru could image how painful it must have been for Kohaku to hold the cat o' nine and whip his own captain without restraint. It was almost touching, but not enough to make Sesshomaru feel remorse. Of course he was going to kill his brother, but not without making him suffer. Sesshomaru saw no amusement killing him off quickly; it would be much more thrilling to see him turned into pudding. Red pudding now that he thought about it.
"That is not for me to decide Kohaku. It depends on how much Inuyasha can endure before he can't bear anymore." Sesshomaru declared with an emotionless complexion that Kohaku got the feeling there was more to his new captain's words, then what he could image. Kohaku said nothing more on the matter and excused himself before swiftly leaving Sesshomaru to his writing. After he had left, Sesshomaru opened up his log book again and wrote down the day's events. Starting by writing down the weather and the longitude and latitude they had traveled, to Inuyasha's whipping and only writing down that he and Kohaku had talked about an upcoming raid, and hardly wrote anything down about their talk on Inuyasha's life.
Once he was done, it was already time for dinner and the shifting of the watch. His ship was in order and that made him content. Later on when things were more still and uneventful, Sesshomaru was going to pay a little visit to his brother's cell and ask how he was doing, then test out his theory on him. It was just a matter of time now. Three hours to be exact.
AN: Well my dear audience, it's been almost five months since I last updated this story. I'm really sorry about that, but nothing exciting seemed to cross my mind for a new chapter, but here it is if anyone is still interested! I'm sorry I skipped the battle scene between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, but I couldn't write it without making it sound boring, and skipped right to a few weeks after their quarrel. It's a short and confusing chapter, but it will hopefully make more sense when I come up with the next chapter. Thank you for reading and for your patience. Please review and tell me what you think please! Until anon, by dear readers!