Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha only my Oc :(
It was nearly dawn when Shiori arrived to where she last left Sesshomaru. She quickly treaded through the marshy waters and searched for everyone. Surely Sesshomaru would be back by now. The thick fog made it a little difficult to see anything, but that didn't matter. She couldn't sense any life force anyway. She was completely alone in the swamp. Eventually, the fog began to lift and she felt a negative energy. She was definitely headed in the right direction. Shiori briskly walked towards the energy source.
"This must be it," she said. "The portal!"
She found herself standing in front of it. The portal of the black pearl from Inuyasha's eye; a swirling black vortex. She couldn't believe her own eyes! How was Inuyasha unable to detect something like this all these years? Was he really that weak? Shiori took a step forward and stepped in a gooey substance. As she removed her foot, she realized it was the Unmother's body.
The Unmother's putty body was smeared all along the grass. Her head had already been stepped on, Shiori could easily pick out Sesshomaru's shoe print. Emi said Unmother died while taking a blow for Inuyasha. So that meant he went out of his way to smash the corpse's head in.
"That hellhound," She thought. "He has absolutely no respect for the dead. He wasn't supposed to kill her. Then again, she wasn't supposed to protect Inuyasha either."
Shiori gave the creature a proper burial and said a little prayer. While she didn't care much for the living, Shiori had a great respect for the dead. This was part of the reason she didn't want to enter the Great Dog Demon's tomb. She couldn't bring herself to defile his grave. Having respect for the dead was something she learned from her father. He was a great shinigami indeed.
She could see the sun beginning to rise off the horizon. It twilight was coming to an end. Where could he? Sesshomaru should have been back by now. Surely he wasn't having that much troubled dealing with a half demon. Shiori fought the urge to enter the swirling vortex herself.
"How careless of them to leave this open portal unprotected. Anything could come along and go inside."
Shiori took it upon herself to protect the portal so nothing could enter it. That at least gave her some sense of purpose for remaining outside the portal. It also kept her mind of the events going on inside. Though, it didn't help much to ease her wondering mind. What was taking them so long?
She began to grow a little tired. Though she didn't need to sleep as much as a human, Shior did still need her rest. Her entire encounter with her tennin sister, Emi, left her exhausted. Even though she didn't directly exert any energy, Emi caused her great stress. In fact, all of the tennin exhausted did. How dare she demand that Shiori return with her! And then had the gall to threaten her life just because she wouldn't do as they wanted? The nerve of those white haired vixens! She hated every last one of them. Shiori didn't want to admit it, but she could feel the sadness in Emi's heart as she flew away. She wasn't lying about wanting Shiori live and was genuinely concerned about her. But that didn't make Shiori like her any better. The tennin were full of self-righteousness, and Shiori hated that. She hated everything about her tennin heritage, including her cowardly mother.
Shiori's attention was seized by the pulsating portal—someone was coming out! She took a looked up to witness a huge ball of light gushing out the vortex. It quickly shot over her head. It was him, Sesshomaru! He continued on into the sky and disappeared over the horizon. Where was he going now? Shiori felt something sticky on her forehead. She slowly wiped her forehead and examined the substance. It was blood...from Sesshomaru.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" called Jaken's voice from the vortex. "Don't leave me!"
He popped out of the portal and tumbled at Shiori's feet.
"Jaken, what happened in there?" she questioned.
"huh, Shiori? Where have you been?"
She shook her head, "never mind that now. What happened?"
Jaken stood up and brushed the dirt from his kimono before speaking again.
"Oh it was terrible! It was that Inuyasha! He stole the tessaiga from Lord Sesshomaru!"
"Tessaiga?" said Shiori a little puzzled. "Oh yes, that must be the name of his father's sword."
"Yes, it was stuck in a stone deep inside the remains of the Lord's father. He couldn't pull it out because of some kind of barrier it had to keep demons away. Inuyasha couldn't pull it out either, but was still able to touch it. The barrier didn't shock him like it did Lord Sesshomaru. The one who was able to draw it out was that wretched human girl!"
"The girl was able to draw tessaiga from the stone, you say?" Shiori listened in amazement.
"Yes! Inuyasha took hold of it, but at the time it was a rusty old blade! Then my lord took his giant dog form and attacked Inuyasha. Suddenly, the sword turned into an enormous fang shaped blade! And Inuyasha cut off Lord Sesshomaru's left arm! My poor lord!" cried Jaken.
"Amazing, how was the girl able to draw the sword?" Shiori baffled as she stroke her chin.
"Eck!" screeched Jaken. "Didn't you hear me? I said Lord Sesshomaru's left arm has been cut off!"
Shiori lightly bunked Jaken on the head, "Yes, I heard you. And I'm sure everyone else along the countryside did to. Keep your voice down."
"But what will we do? My lord is somewhere dying from pain and agony!"
"He's in pain no doubt," she said casually, "but his wounds are nothing compared to his damaged pride right now. "
"My poor lord, brought down by his worthless younger brother! He must feel terrible! That stupid Inuyasha!" Shouted Jaken.
"Who you calling worthless and stupid, you ugly old toad?" said a voice from the vortex. It was Inuyasha and Kagome. In his hand, was the prized tessaiga.
"I warned you to keep your voice down," Shiori snickered.
Jaken ducked behind Shiori's leg and peered his head out. Inuyasha was pointing the tessaiga in their direction with a smug on his face. The Kagome looked at Inuyasha and then to Shiori.
"There's something odd about this girl," Shiori thought. "I've never seen such strange attire before. Could this girl be from the continent?"
"It's that girl again," thought Kagome. "The girl with the sad violet eyes. Why am I getting such a weird feeling from her? Inuyasha has his sword inches from her face, but she doesn't even flinch."
"Hey, it's you! Sesshomaru's mate or something, right?" asked Inuyasha.
"Wrong," said Shiori coldly. "Very wrong."
"You better get back, half vermin!" yelled Jaken, "unless you want to die!"
"That's some pretty big talk for someone hiding behind a woman!" mocked Inuyasha.
"Silence! Shiori, slay him!"
She ignored Jaken, "You must be very proud of yourself Inuyasha. Or would you prefer I address you formally. You are still the Great Dog Demon's son even, if you are just a half demon."
"What?" scoffed Inuyasha. "I don't give a crap about titles and stuff! What are your connections with Sesshomaru?"
"Demanding are we?" she jeered.
"You better answer me, or you'll be hacked to pieces by my blade! The fact that you even associate with Sesshomaru means you're no better than him! So I'll have no problem killing you! Come on, draw your weapon."
Jaken continued to cower in fear. Why hadn't Shiori attacked him yet? He wouldn't even be here if Lord Sesshomaru had just waited for him. Now he was about to be killed along with Shiori!
"Your fight is with Lord Sesshomaru, not with me," she said sternly. "There's no need to become cocky just because you found a new toy to play with."
"Oh, I get it! You're just afraid to face me!" Inuyasha teased. "Afraid you'll be slain by a half demon, huh?"
She narrowed her eyes, "If you're trying to provoke me to violence, it's not going to work."
"Oh yeah? What if I called you Sesshomaru's mate!"
Shiori death glared Inuyasha. Although he wouldn't admit it, her glare sent a chill down his spine. Kagome, on the other hand, looked visually terrified. She could have sworn she saw a lightning bolt behind Shiori. She really didn't want Inuyasha to provoke this girl into fighting.
"Stop, Inuyasha," Kagome pleaded. "She's no threat to us."
"Shut-up Kagome," snapped Inuyasha. "I'm not about to let her go free! I'll take her on! I'll take anyone on! With this sword nothing will stop me from collecting the jewel shards and becoming a full fledge demon!"
Suddenly the tessaiga began to pulsate. Inuyasha watched in horror as the sword shrunk in size and width.
"It reverted back to its original form," said Kagome. "Why?"
"What?" yelled Inuyasha. "No! Work, you stupid thing, work!"
Inuyasha began slamming the thing against the ground over and over again. He even tried sharpening it on a stone, but nothing seemed to work. Kagome said nothing as she observed Inuyasha's frantic actions. She too wondered why it switched back; of course she didn't even know how it transformed into a fang in the first place.
"Well it appears your weapon has malfunctioned, So I'll be leaving now," said Shiori as she began to levitate into the sky.
"Hey! Shiori, or whatever the hell your name is, get back here!" bellowed Inuyasha. "I can still fight you!"
Jaken realized that his protection was now gone; Shiori was floating directly above him, leaving him exposed. He was about to be left behind again!
"I told you, your fight isn't with me. I have no quarrel with you," She lifted herself higher into the sky. "Until we meet again!" With that, she flew off into the direction Sesshomaru went in.
"Shiori! You stupid wretch!" Jaken hollered after her. "How could you leave me like this? Come back her this insta-"
He felt himself being yanked up from the ground by his collar. He twisted his head and found himself looking into Inuyasha's smug face. "Oh great," he thought.
"Now, what were you saying earlier about me being useless and stupid?" He questioned with a brassy tone.
"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about? I never said anything! Nope not me," Jaken stammered.
Inuyasha looked at him with a blank expression and Jaken began to cringe.
"Shiori! Shiori, help me!" He continued to call out to Shiori, but she was long gone. "Come back! Don't leave me here!"
"Oh I get it, you wanted to go with her," said Inuyasha in a friendly tone. His expression softened as he gently smiled at Jaken. "And she left you all alone."
"Uh, well….sure?" Jaken was a little put off by the kindness in his voice. Did that mean was off the hook?
"Here, let me help you with that!" Inuyasha's voice suddenly turned hostile as he flung Jaken into the sky.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh," screamed Jaken as he flew towards the horizon. "Lord Sesshomaru! Shiori! Save me!"
"Serves you right you freaky imp!" Inuyasha called after him.
Kagome watched in amusement as Jaken disappeared from her range of sight. That stinky toad was finally gone. She smiled in satisfaction.
"It's weird that tessaiga transformed like that," She said after some silence.
"It went back to being a useless piece of junk! How am I suppose to find jewel shards when it's like this?" He said with an irritated tone.
"Inuyasha's sword transformed into a great fang after he agreed to protect me from Sesshomaru. Then it reverted back after her threatened to attack that girl and use his sword for a selfish reason. Maybe tessaiga is a weapon that's meant to protect someone against a demon" Kagome pondered quietly to herself. "But why was I able to pull it from the stone?"
"What are thinking about?" asked Inuyasha. He was curious about her solemn expression.
Kagome blinked, "Oh, I was just thinking about something. That's all."
"Ha," Inuyasha laughed. "Don't do too much of that, or you'll strain your brain!"
A vein popped in Kagome's forehead as she glared at Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha," she said with chargin. "Sit boy!"
Inuyasha's beaded necklace suddenly lit up and he plopped to the ground head first. He hit the ground with such force that the entire forest shook. Kagome folded her arms, turned around and walked back towards the village. Inuyasha cried out in pain as he weakly tried to pull himself up.
"Was that necessary? You stupid girl!" He screeched.
"Sit!" she called from a distance.
Once again, Inuyasha was sent falling to the ground.
...
"Lord Sesshomaru, where are you?" thought Shiori as she soared through the sky. "Curse that hell hound for making me take flight."
Shiori hated flying, especially during the day. She much preferred to travel by foot. It was way too easy to be detected in the air and she liked to stay well hidden. Of course she could still be detected if someone wanted to find her, as the tennin often demonstrated. Shiori figured she'd find Sesshomaru much faster if she flew. Jaken mentioned that Sesshomaru's left arm was hacked, She had to go check on him.
"It's not that I care about his injuries, I just want to see the damages for myself," she told herself. "The Great Lord Sesshomaru, defeated by his bastard younger brother."
Or maybe Inuyasha wasn't a bastard. She wasn't given the details of his birth. She'd only just recently learned about his existence. What she did know was that the blood of a great demon flowed through Inuyasha's veins. That very same blood ran through Sesshomaru's. He should have known not to underestimate opponent like that.
"Although, Inuyasha also underestimated a potential opponent-myself! Ha, guess those 2 are more alike than they really know. Stubborn pair of hell hounds."
Shiori stopped, and hovered over a nearby mountain chain. "Speaking of which." It was faint and slightly weakened, but Shiori could sense Sesshomaru's life force. It was coming from the direction of a human castle. "Lord Sesshomaru."
She flew to the edge of the forest surrounding the castle and landed. She would walk the rest of the journey. He wasn't too far from where she landed, and she could sense his energy signal was getting stronger. Shiori wondered why he'd chosen this place to rest himself. Maybe because there were only humans in the area, and there was nothing to pose a threat to him.
Shiori traveled deeper into the forest—She was definitely getting closer. As she continued on, Shiori could sense the presence another person near Sesshomaru. A human? Finally, after much searching, she spotted Sesshomaru propped against a tree. For some reason, Shiori felt her heart….freeze up...
Sesshomaru's back leaned against a tree as his head was tilted a little to the left. He was using his pelt for comfort. His body was covered in bruises and dripping in blood. Shiori couldn't tell if he was unconscious or just asleep. Either way, she was disturbed by the scene. She didn't expect him to look so….vulnerable? She stepped closer to him.
There was some rustling in the bushes behind her. That human was still there….silently watching. She decided to just brush it off as insignificance.
"Lord Sesshomaru," she said softly.
Sesshomaru's eyes fluttered but didn't open, "Shiori, it's you."