Author's Note:
Well, sorry for the extreme delay in updating this, I really struggled on this one, I really wanted to get it right, so hopefully you guys arent too mad at the delay, it's here now, and hopefully it wont be that long again. I'm going to keep steady with this til its finished, which as i've said, wont be long now. Thanks for wonderful reviews, and readers, i love you all, as ever, and hope you like the chapter. (since I know you're all itching to find out what happens to the most smexy brothers in anime XD).
Thankies for all reviews! Hope you enjoy, and review please!
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Instil Morality; The End Of Days
Nineteen
Kagome felt her heart clench in her chest as she laid her sleeping son into the nook she'd created with the furs, tucking the blankets snugly around him and his sister gently. I didn't even get to give you names, she thought sadly, stepping back slightly, and gazing upon her children with a tortured realisation that she could not delay her departure any longer if she hoped to carry out what must be done.
Mere moments after she'd watched her mate disappear from her sight from what she knew to be the last time, a disembodying strength brewed somewhere deep within, seizing her weak, frail body. Her skin had practically hummed with the tingling sensations of power coursing through helpless veins. The sheer pure intensity almost stung, ears ringing slightly, even now, as she stood there, partially unwilling to do what must be done. Her priestess powers had returned, and with them, her resolve to finish this, once and for all.
Her hand trembling slightly, Kagome placed the hastily scribbled note on the side of her children, turning with weighted steps. "Lady Kagome?" A wheezy surprised gasp sounded, and she jumped, nearly colliding with Rin, who was standing before her. "Where are you-"
"-Listen, I've seen things – I know where to go, I know what's happening out there to the people we love – and I'm the only one that can stop it!" Rin looked confused, even a little scared.
"But your children are-"
"-I…If I don't go…they won't have a world to grow up in – and if the western lands fall, they'll spend their lives in hiding – in fear, I can't let them suffer that…" A tormenting silence fell between the two women, who had recently been brought together through their shared trials.
"B-But," Rin said shakily, interrupting the deafening quiet, "if you and Inuyasha don't-
"-If both of us don't come back…you'll protect them – raise them, take care of them, I beg of you," she muttered weightily, though in hastened whispers, trying not to think of the outcome if she didn't come back. "Make sure they're never alone – promise me?" Rin nodded unsurely after a few lengthy moments, still watching the obsidian haired priestess carefully.
"But where are you-"
"-There's no time," Kagome cut her off, casting another regretful look at the sleeping infants, "they'll cry when they wake up," she muttered quietly, barely audible, "they'll want me or Inuyasha…if you cant calm them, wrap Inuyasha's kimono round them, the scent will send them off…"
A slender hand rested on Rin's shoulder, and the woman regarded Kagome with a frightened look, that begged her to reconsider. "I hope to see you again," the priestess said, voice weighed down with heavy sorrow. "I don't know if our boys will come back but…if either of them does, I know you'll offer all the support I may not be here to give." This said, Kagome turned, releasing Rin at the last possible moment, walking from the secluded safety of the cave.
Striding with shaky steps into the glaring, painful sun, Kagome raised her head at last, her dark gaze meeting fiery crimson eyes. The creature purred dolefully, as Kagome's fingers skittered over her light fur, as she clambered onto the cat-demon's back. The feline offered a reassuring growl, awaiting the girl to settle securely on her back, fully comprehending what was happening.
"Come on, Kilala," the priestess muttered, holding onto the fire-cat's fur at her neck gently. "Let's go." Not an instant passed after those words. Before she could blink, wind rushed in her ears, whipping obsidian hair back behind her, as the ground fell away swiftly, the red sky greeting her with a foreboding wash of unnatural colour. "You know where to go, Kilala." The demon seemed to nod in answer, completely comprehending the plan her friend held.
***
White silk was splattered with crimson blood, Sesshomaru crashing to his knees. His golden eyes looked blearily up at Katsura's bloodstained sword which shimmering ominously under the blood – his own blood. His vision wavered, body swaying before he toppled sideways, with all the lack of grace which seemed so unlike him to show. Blackness crept across his eyes, feeling the sounds, the battle, the pain ebbing ever so slowly away. The blood flowing from the vicious wound that tore his left arm from his body, the loss of the fluid seeming to be swiftly drawing him away with it. His brows twitched at the seemingly distant sound of his brother's tortured voice, and he gazed up. Still Katsura stood over him, triumphant, his sword rising once more.
"NO!!!" The scream tore through the air, and Sesshomaru tried to move, tried to say something, though merely choked on the blood beginning to regurgitate in his throat as he watched and felt Inuyasha leap over his body, putting himself between the sword and Sesshomaru. The blade ripped into the half-demon's shoulder, and though blood stained the fire-rat hitoe, Inuyasha merely snarled, seizing the sword and pulling it from his wounded shoulder, tossing it aside as he advanced on Katsura.
"You stinkin' bastard," Inuyasha growled, a harsh tone that carried the sound of his inner-demon, though he was still very much half-demon – merely raging with fury. "You have no limits do you…?" Clawed fingers groped for Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha's gaze never wavering from Katsura. "I promised myself I'd kill you quick and mercifully – that I wouldn't lose myself to the extermination of your stinkin' hide…" He raised his father's sword, the glaring crimson sun reflecting forebodingly in the blade. "But I'm gonna make it last. You're gonna beg for death before I have the mercy of sending you to hell. You'll pay for hurting the people I care about…" Again, that tinge of 'Demon Inuyasha' reached his voice – but that was all it reached.
That horribly confident laugh shudder down Inuyasha's spine, but he wasn't afraid. His father had always kept him from real battle. He had once thought it was to preserve his life, but only recently had he realised, it was to preserve the naïve innocence that Sesshomaru lacked. Inuyasha hadn't even killed a spider before now, yet here he stood, with all the blood-lust and hunger to bite, to rip, to tear this insect apart until he was nothing resembling what he was now. His insides burned with the desire to feel Katsura's life choked from his body under his own hands. For the first time in his life, Inuyasha harboured an unconquerable hatred he'd never known before, and with all his being – with all the misery of losing his mother, and Sesshomaru – of Kagome being tortured, and his father's near-death, he wanted to obey that thirst, and kill and kill, until his own body died…
Katsura was still laughing – was still amused. "You can't kill me, boy," he barked, claws flexing dangerously. "I was an old demon long before you were ever even conceived…I served your father – and Sesshomaru's mother, long before the Great Lord Inu-no-Taishou, was rendered and simpering fool by a mortal whore, and his lands fell prey to unfounded, idealistic believes of equality-"
"BASTARD!" Inuyasha screamed, his voice and Tetsusaiga cutting off Katsura's words, the fang shooting forwards, slicing the demon across the face viciously. Katsura winced, glaring at the half-demon whose face bore a pleased smirk. "My mother was a Lady – she was a princess, and I'll take you piece at a time to avenge her death, and my brother's…" The filthy glare receded into that same revolting smirk once more, creasing Katsura's pale face.
"How noble," he acknowledged sarcastically, "pity you yourself will greet them in death, before you succeed." Again, Tetsusaiga shifted slightly in its master's grasp, as if agreeing with Inuyasha's words before he'd even spoken.
"You wanna bet?"
It happened so suddenly, that for a brief moment Inuyasha didn't know what had happened – the blow that Katsura threw himself into swiftly, slamming his fist across Inuyasha's jaw, relishing in the half-demon's frantic expression as he stumbled out of the way, the claws previously paused to tear his throat out merely grazing his cheek. Inuyasha twisted his body swiftly, spinning to face the demon, raising the blade to strike – too slow. Katsura shot towards him, claws raking into Inuyasha's wrist. A tortured howl resounded, the arm that held Tetsusaiga quivering in agony, as the claws in his flesh sank deeper with a vicious hunger, twisting slightly to cause him more pain.
"All these years…" Katsura growled in his ear, foul breath steaming onto Inuyasha's face, making him wince. "I watched that pathetic half-demon hide of yours flourish as Inu-no-Taishou's lapdog – a pet more than a son, and all that time…how I wanted to slice you to ribbons for bringing down the mightiest lord that has ever been…" Inuyasha snarled his free hand launching towards Katsura's throat, his own claws biting nastily into flesh. His fangs glistened with the disturbing desire to taste blood. The half-demon winced at the notion, throwing Katsura backwards, sending the demon flying into the dirt, spluttering for breath and clutching his throat.
Tetsusaiga dropped from Inuyasha's hand, the half-demon clutching his bleeding wrist to his chest, approaching the murderer still in the dirt. Crimson flashed across his vision, the demon brewing to the surface, lurking like a savage creature in the shadowed depths of his soul. The darkness whispered in his ear, and a smirk reached his lips, Katsura frowning – for the first time unnerved, as Inuyasha shook his head, seemingly at nothing in particular. He'd seen Inuyasha's demon side, he'd suffered by its cruel, sadistic hands, and there, he swore was a foe to be feared. No remorse, no guilt, no desire at all except to kill, and kill some more, until there was no breath left in his lungs.
"No," muttered Inuyasha under his breath, seemingly talking to himself. "I want to watch him die with my eyes, want to kill him with half-demon claws and fangs," his voice still bore the raspy danger of his demonic blood, and yet, his eyes remained gold, cheeks unmarked by the crests his inner-demon possessed. "I don't need you, not anymore… Go away." Katsura's eyes widened, sure this fresh deranged fury had driven the brat mad, his approach causing him to scramble on all fours towards a blade lying carelessly nearby.
A scream tore free from his throat, staring up at Inuyasha with enraged agony. At this, Inuyasha smirked again, with that same demonic malice that didn't look right on his face, grinding his heel with unbearable force into the already broken fingers that had mere moments before been reaching for the sword to kill him with. "You're wrong…" Katsura gritted his teeth, no sound uttering past his lips – until…
"W-What're you-"
"-You're wrong about me – about everything. You may be older but I've realised things in two-hundred years that you could never come to understand in the two-thousand-years of your pitiful life…" He leant down; foot still crushing Katsura's hand nastily, though his words shuddering into Katsura's ear, his fangs dangerously close…
"Your followers are going to watch you fall to your knees before a half-demon, and they'll know, that Lord Inuyasha of the western lands gutted you like the slimy serpent you are – for screwing with his family." Inuyasha straightened up, slamming his heel with a final crack, Katsura howling in pain. As suddenly as the cry sounded than it was silenced – Inuyasha's other foot shot up, smashing into Katsura's nose and sending him skidding across the dirt. The battle around them seemed slowly to halt, the warriors looking on with a mix of fear and interest, neither side sure what to. But Inuyasha didn't care.
Katsura sat up as swiftly as his agonised body could manage, cradling his wounded hand to himself, watching the savage hunger on Inuyasha's face, and recoiling – afraid for the first time in his life. Leisurely, the half-demon approached, claws flexing slowly, a slow torturous advance, enhanced by that still venomous smirk. "Half-demons are powerful – I told you that once… You hate me, you fear me – that stink of fear is because I'm a half-demon, and I'm stronger than you…" He growled, a dangerous, foreboding flair to his words. "And I say it again… When your body is nothing but ash, Kagome and I will be happy, together, and the memory with you, will be nothing…it won't even exist…"
Suddenly, the last few steps between them were spanned swiftly, the half-demon leaping into a crouch before Katsura, who was rigid with fear. Again, Inuyasha's smirk broadened, gaze flickering to the broken, bleeding fingers of Katsura's right hand. "You know what fingers those are, don't you?" he snarled venomously. "You touched My mate with those stinkin', tainted fingers…" Before Katsura could even take in those words, Inuyasha's hand shot forwards, the fingers on his left hand making a sickening snap, as they were forced backward in a way they shouldn't have been.
"HALF-DEMON'S ARE POWERFUL!" Inuyasha screamed, his voice causing several members of the halted war around them to jump, drowning out the tortured cries of the person that held almost all the responsibility for making his life an utter misery. "All of us are powerful, and we're part of the world too – we shouldn't have to fight each other to share this world!" He released the demon's hand, again, Katsura shrinking backwards, hugging his broken limbs close to him. "You touched my mate, my son with those hands, and now you've reaped the 'rewards'."
"P-Please – NO-" Inuyasha cut him off, claws sinking into his throat, sneering at the blood that oozed from the wounds, though not releasing him, his grip tightening, causing the demon to choke violently, struggling for air.
"Listen to me – LISTEN TO ME! He insisted, repeating himself when the spluttering persisted. "You beg me – you DARE beg me? Do you know? Do you even possess a number high enough for the amount of times I lied in my bed begging for this all to stop? For the times I cried as a child for some form of peace? Pleaded to be accepted, to be considered part of the world?" Katsura stared up at him with wide, horrified eyes, his blood staining Inuyasha's hand as he failed to release him. Now it was Inuyasha that stared back, with all the fiery intensity as if he had transformed, though he hadn't – that flash of crimson would never cross his eyes again – he knew that now.
"And you did that…didn't you?" Katsura didn't answer, and Inuyasha growled under his breath. "You did that to me, a child, I didn't ask to be born, I didn't ask to be a half-demon – but you know what? You went out of your way to make me regret that I was, didn't you?" Again, there was no answer save for the eerie silence of the still battlefield, and the demon beneath his mercy's agonised spluttering. "Well let me be the one to say, you failed… My mother was a human, my father was a demon, and they loved each other – they had me – I'm a half-demon – My pups are part of each and you know what? I'm glad, because unlike you…" He paused; allowing his words to sink into his victim's dying mind. "I have people who love me…"
At last, he released him, standing up straight over him, wiping his blood from his claws with a sickened grimace, not even looking at him as the blood pooled around his feet, the life fading from his face as he bled to death, horrified eyes fixed on his murderer – and Inuyasha didn't care, though he would, he knew he would. Katsura was the first person he'd ever killed, and though he deserved it, he could feel the throbbing guilt already settling its weight in his chest. It hurt, so much so he couldn't even bear to watch what he knew were the foul creature's last breaths in the world, turning his back to him. "Karma's a bitch," he muttered to the demon viciously, still not looking at him, "the vile things you do always come back you bite you in the ass…"
Bitter tears brewed in golden orbs, but not for Katsura. Hate himself though he might for killing (which was ironic considering his demonic heritage) he wasn't brought to his knees by such a thing. He kneeled down in the dirt, fingers skittishly moving toward his brother's still form, unsure whether he wanted to touch him – whether he could touch him. Misery overcoming the guilt-ridden triumph within him, he pulled his brother into his arms, gnawing his lip to prevent the tears from spilling, and staring down at his blood-stained face.
His free hand reached shakily forwards, brushing bloody bangs from his brother's forehead. Suddenly he jumped, his hand snapping back in surprise as his brother's form shuddered as Sesshomaru drew in a heavy, shattered breath. Crimson eyelids fluttered, until older, golden eyes stared up at him with the same brilliant complacency they always had. "Se-Sesshomaru?!" he gasped, not willing to believe his eyes. Sesshomaru drew in another breath, each inhalation easier than the last, though his usually emotionless face contorted with a pained grimace. "Are you-"
"-Alright? Hardly," Sesshomaru muttered sardonically, sitting up slowly, his right arm hovering over what remained of his left. "I do not believe this wound is beyond healing – though it will take decades for it to grow back as it was before. I have a lot of blood to recover, until then, I am afraid I will be unable to battle." Inuyasha flashed him a smirk, helping his brother to his feet.
"Well, I don't know for certain but…I don't think you'll need to." They looked around, the once spectators now straying from their positions around them, and streaking off, stooping to inspect their fallen comrades – evidently assessing whether they were wounded or dead.
"Do you think it's over?" Inuyasha asked, a distinct hopefulness to his voice, though Sesshomaru didn't look at him when he replied.
"Father has yet to return," he said, and by the weight pressing with a restrained anxiety, Inuyasha knew that meant it was a mission from which Sesshomaru didn't think his wounded father would return. "He has gone after the leader of the revolutionaries – to finish this once and for all." Inuyasha wet his lips nervously, staring at his brother who was lost in uncertainty, something he had never seen before.
"You think he won't succeed?" At last, Sesshomaru turned to face him, meeting his eyes.
"I know he will… But I fear, with his injuries…that he will die trying."
There was a pause, in which they held each other's gaze, and within that short silence, they seemed to draw the same conclusion.
"Let's go," said Inuyasha, "if we hurry we may get to Father before he gets himself kill-" He cut off, and for a moment, Sesshomaru couldn't register why, until he watched his baby brother lower his eyes, both of them gazing at the blood staining the fire-rat kimono area his stomach, and the blade that remained there, that had run him clean through.
Inuyasha met his eyes, the golden orbs widened with shock, staring into his as if pleading for his help, though for once, Sesshomaru was lost, not fully comprehending anything for that brief moment. Clawed fingers knotted into his kimono, and Inuyasha collapsed forwards onto him, Sesshomaru's only remaining arm capturing him before he plummeting to the unforgiving earth. "No…" he muttered, staring down at the blood seeping from his brother's parted lips. "No… Inuyasha… No!" His voice was panicked for the first time in his life, as he sank to the earth, bringing his brother's slightly quivering form with him. His head shot up, staring this time at the glistening blade that had stabbed his brother, and the demon that held it. A sneer met his face, and he shot to his feet, abandoning Inuyasha to seize the sword from Katsura, who could barely stand, and raised the blade, bringing it across in one raging blow. The body of the wretched demon fell to the ground, separate from his head.
Within a flash, the Heir of Inu-no-Taishou was on his knees this time gathering Inuyasha to his chest as best he could with one arm, the boy's body shaking furiously. Inuyasha's hand clamped over his stomach, trying to stop the bleeding, panicking and coughing hard. "Inuyasha-"
"-S-Sess…shomaru…" he managed, "what's h-happening…?"
"Inuyasha," Sesshomaru repeated, gazing from his little brother's face to the wound, panicked again, not sure what to do. "It is alright, you'll be fine – we just have to-"
"-T-This is – I don't – I don't want to die!" he gasped, free hand clawing the back of his brother's kimono in desperation. "I tried – I tried to be like you, like Dad, but I…I don't want to go – I'm scared – I admit it – I don't want to die!" Sesshomaru felt his chest ache with an indistinguishable feeling he'd never felt before, at the sight of his brother reduced to nothing more than a frightened child. And he still didn't know what to say.
"It is alright," he repeated, as softly and steady as he could, "You are losing a lot of blood, you will just…just close your eyes, and go to sleep for little while…" For the first time since in his memory, tears pricked the backs of his eyes, and he paused trying to keep his voice steady. "And when you open your eyes again, you will see Kagome, and those pups of yours – It will be alright, Inuyasha…" His voice broke off, and he continued to watch him, frowning with glassy eyes as Inuyasha offered him a bloody smirk, his body stilling.
"T-Thanks… Brother," the half-demon managed, still gazing up at him. Sesshomaru frowned in confusion, and Inuyasha continued. "F-For the lie… Look after the pups and Kagome…for me…" The claws that had been unknowingly grating into his back fell slack, the smile fading from blood-stained lips, and Sesshomaru drew in a confused, shaky breath as he watched golden eyes flutter closed.
***
A clawed hand clasped to his wounded, armour-clad side, his dignified movements betraying the agony that impaired his walking. He was alright – he'd won battles in worse shape – why he was on the verge of death in the battle against Lord Takemaru. Then again, he thought, the building from which his sons had rescued those they cared for, not so long ago. Sesshomaru aided me in that battle… It mattered little, however. He knew he'd defeat whatever lay beyond the great doors that suddenly lay before him, he had to and that was all there was to it.
And so it was alone – without Inuyasha and Sesshomaru – without Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga at his side, that he threw his weight into the doors, the wood flying forwards and open, permitting his entry. A small smirk played at the corners of his mouth; Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were on the battlefield, fighting for the people they cared about. Yes, even Sesshomaru, he thought his smirk broadening as he advanced into the dimness ahead. And far from ashamed or disappointed that they were not there to help him, he was…proud that they were fighting for each other – fighting for the end of these cruel, harsh days.
TBC
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A/N: Likey? ALOT of cliffhangers in there ne? I'm sorry, I thought I could go further with InuT's scene and make it longer, this chapter was only around 11 MS Word pages long *sigh* nevermind though, you get two chapter updates today :) Neways, lots of yummy reviews and I will update asap so you can find out who I kill off *ducks flying vegetation* Okay now stop that, how am I supposed to tell my Mum I've got a concussion from virtual flying fruit? Lol. But at least He-Who-Now-Has-No-Head is dead at last rofl. Neways, reviews wonderful readers, hope ya liked! And see ya next week ^_^
Shigure-san
x chuu x
