Author's Note: So I missed some of the dialogue between Sessh and Naraku in the last chapter; the part where Naraku warns him about the Kazaana and what kind of hive it is. I've decided to just let it go instead of going back and changing it. Sorry if that's disappointing. I'm planning on having the next chapter out soon. I've been really inspired to work on this again. Thank you all for all the wonder reviews as well as the favorites, kudos, and follows!
~*Flame
Disclaimer: InuYasha & Final Act are all owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Viz Media & Madmen Entertainment.
Chapter Seventeen
The screams of the humans filled the air as the Oni crushed buildings beneath its feet and claws. Though the earth shook with each step the beast took, Jaken and I traveled comfortably on its shoulder. I sat, looking relaxed for any who dared glance in my direction while fleeing from the Oni. But I was far from calm. The moment Inuyasha and the Houshi Naraku warned about came into view my blood boiled.
Normally, I wouldn't care about the Houshi, but he was tainted by his alliance with Inuyasha. I was about to loose everything thanks to Inuyasha. And I would make him pay for it. I barely noticed Kagome and the small kit hiding behind them as I glided down from the Oni's shoulder.
While still in the air I took two fingers and let my Dokkasou pool in my palm. It glowed slightly and as I landed, releasing the poison as a thick cloud that melted everything it touched; scorching the very earth. Kagome and the Houshi were the first to run screaming, though it didn't take Inuyasha long to leap away. He wasn't hit with the Dokkasou directly, but the fumes still affected him.
Inuyasha stood far in front of the two humans, coughing into his sleeve. Hand still aglow and Dokkasou fumes rising, I nearly snorted at the pathetic dodge. "Slow as usual, huh, Inuyasha?" He continued to cough, barely standing outside of the scorched ring of earth.
"Damn you, Sesshoumaru!" He snarled, taking a threatening step forward. "Whaddya want?"
"Don't ask me stupid questions. I'm here for the Tessaiga." What else did he think I was here for? As if he had already connected with the blade, he grasp the hilt. It seemed more as a protective gesture than a threat in my eyes. He may have only had Tessaiga for a short time, but he was already attached. How unfortunate for him, especially as I was fairly certain that he had yet to unlock the fang's potential. His lack of knowledge would aid in stealing the fang from him.
"You still haven't given up?!" I could hear the Houshi and Kagome speaking not too far away but paid them no mind. Unless they interfered I would leave them be. I was only here for Tessaiga after all. Well, Tessaiga and issuing the punishment Inuyasha so rightly deserved.
"Draw your sword, Inuyasha. Or will you hand it over quietly?" I didn't have much time, not now that I've received the summons left for me at the Western Fortress. But as expected, Inuyasha could never do what was needed of him.
"Shaddup! This time, I'll cut off more than your arm!" He drew the fang, leaping over the scorched ring, blade high over his head and leaving his entire body completely open for attack. Had I still wished to train him, this would have been a perfect opportunity. Too bad for him the only thing on my mind other than Tessaiga was his pain.
With a quick step to the right, Tessaiga slammed into the earth, kicking up rocks on either side of the blade and tossing some in the air from the force of the impact. Inuyasha followed my move, keeping his eyes on me for a change. Without any hesitation, he slashed out with Tessaiga, aiming to cut me in half. It was simple to jump over the attack, avoiding the blade completely and landing a step back from where I started when Inuyasha first drew the fang.
Still keeping his gaze on me, he looked a bit surprised at my quick movements while holding Tessaiga up and poised for attack. Did he believe the loss of my arm affected my speed and dodging skills? I nearly scoffed.
He took a lunging step, once more slashing out to cut me in two, but again, I easily jumped away to land behind him. By the time I turned to the side to stare at him so my back wasn't fully facing him, Inuyasha had already pivoted to keep his eyes trained on his enemy. At least the pup finally learned that lesson. Too bad his swordmanship skills were so severely lacking. Leaving the fang in his possession would be a travesty.
"Inuyasha… You still haven't mastered the use of the Tessaiga." He might not have been able to notice the veiled snark in my tone, but I knew Kagome would. I was hoping it, along with the fight with Inuyasha, would be enough to distract her while the Oni slow drew closer to the mountain not far from where we stood. The last thing I needed was for her to alert anyone to the plan Jaken and I had put in place to showcase Tessaiga. It wasn't just for rubbing in Inuyasha's face the power he lost, but also to ensure I would be able to use it.
"W-what?!" I turned to face Inuyasha completely as he bent his knees and prepared to lunge at me once more. "Cut your jokes, damn you!" He shouted while taking a running leap toward me, Tessaiga held above his head in a one handed grip.
With my right hand, I grabbed Inuyasha by his wrist, stopping his attack before he could even swing it. The look of angry surprise on his face nearly made me smirk. So did the surprised gasps from the sidelines. I let him struggle in my grasp, long enough that he knew escape was impossible.
"Such pitiful swordmanship… You can't handle that large a sword." Then, without giving him any warning, I filled my grip with Dokkasou. His flesh under my palm began to melt away as he screamed and intensified his struggle to escape. I ignored the Houshi and Kagome, keeping my focus on Inuyasha and the amount of Dokkasou I used. Unlike him, I had no plans to take his appendage from him. But he didn't need to know that.
"If you don't release the Tessaiga, your arm will rot and fall off."
"Before that happens…" He bit out, surprising me a little by pushing through the pain and using his other hand to grip the bottom of Tessaiga's hilt, effectively pinning my hand between his arms. I narrowed my eyes as he used the new leverage to force me to release him or risk breaking my arm. I let him push us back, lowering the angle of our arms to try and keep any advantage I could. "I'll split you in half!"
"Damn him…" I sneered, feeling the strain in my arm. Letting go, I leapt backwards into the air and instantly sent out my whip, aiming for Tessaiga. Inuyasha wasn't expecting the blows so soon after our grapple. While he blocked the first snap of my whip, the second sent his blade twirling through the air, landing far to his right.
With a burst a speed, I landed next to Tessaiga just as it began reverting to its resting form. Inuyasha had only just started running toward the blade by the time I landed to claim it. He cursed, stopping after barely making it a few feet. I didn't wait any longer.
Using the human arm, still as pale as a corpse, I grasped Tessaiga's hilt. Inuyasha and Kagome who had witnessed my humiliating rejection previously were utterly shocked at the change. I could feel the blade registering the mix of human and youkai energies and transform in the borrowed hand.
Holding the fang felt as though Father were still walking the earth; abet muted of course, but his presence was still there nonetheless. I ignored the feeling of loss threatening to tighten my chest, instead focusing on the fissure where Inuyasha's and my youki collided.
I had never seen the phenomenon before, but I had heard of it; and, it wasn't hard to sniff out since I was looking for it. Without a word, I lifted the sword out of the earth. Turning around, giving the attack a cocky flourish just to anger him, I sent a Kaze no Kizu toward Inuyasha.
It was a small one, more of a surprise than an attack. Even if it hit him, it wouldn't kill him. Though he leapt out of the way in time regardless. The attack cut a deep groove in its path, exploding in the spot where Inuyasha once stood. Dust filled the area, and I held out Tessaiga, prepared to perry should Inuyasha use the lack of visibility to counter. I shouldn't have worried.
As the dust cleared, Inuyasha landed not far from the explosion, fear clearly visible on his face. If he were scared now, I could only imagine how he will feel witnessing what was to come. "I shall show you Inuyasha… The Tessaiga's true power." Shifting to the side, I called out to Jaken, giving him the signal as we discussed on the journey here.
"Yes my lord! I shall summon all the mountain youkai!" The Oni moved closer to the mountain standing tall next to our battlefield at Jaken's command. It raised its massive arm, smashing its clawed hand against the side of the mountain. The whole area, including the earth beneath our feet, shook with the force of the impact. I watched in rapt excitement as the glow from dozens of lesser youkai rose above the tree tops. They flew across the sky, enraged at being disturbed, some voicing that rage in haunting screams and moans.
"Watch me well, Inuyasha. In one stroke… The power to slay a hundred demons in one strike…" Finding that vital fissure between youki once more, I pulled the human arm back as far as I could behind me, twisting to give it all the force I could, before sending the fully powered Kaze no Kizu at the lesser youkai.
They designated to ash upon impact.
A deep crater ran up the side of the mountain as Inuyasha sputtered in shock, proving he knew nothing about the sword. That vile human mother truly told him nothing of Father. I knew she had witnessed the power of Tessaiga first hand during one of the many times Father had protected her.
Sparks danced around the charred remains of the trees, patches of the crater glowing with molten heat. Holding Tessaiga across my body and looking upon the destruction filled me with glee. This is why the West was feared. This was why I sought Tessaiga for so long. This was what I needed to return with when visiting the Western Court to stay any retribution for my loss of an arm.
Turning back to Inuyasha, I lowered the blade, unable to keep the satisfied smirk off my face. "Now that is the true power of the Tessaiga, the supreme sword forged from our father's fang! Unfortunately, it does not have the power to choose its owner." Wanting to emphasize my next point, I used Tessaiga to point at Inuyasha.
"Do you realize now that a hanyou like you can never master it?" Even without that woman's blood running through his veins, he wasn't worthy of Tessaiga. Not after the blow he delt to the West by crippling me.
Kagome shouted his name, running toward us only to be stopped by the Houshi. If he was going to join the fray I would need to incapacitate Inuyasha. He had already proven himself capable of violating his own family once, I would not give him another chance while distracted with the Houshi.
"Become a victim of the Tessaiga… That's a fitting end for you." But it seemed that the Houshi was a bit faster than I had anticipated. Before I could even move, he stood in front of Inuyasha, protecting him from my attack. It was irritating as I knew Tessaiga woldn't work against him. It was created to protect humans, not slay them.
"I can't stay quiet any longer." The Houshi was clearly trying to reason with me and deescalate the situation. Kagome must have believed he would be successful as she too came up to stand beside Inuyasha. "Enough of this silly sibling rivalry." Inuyasha voice the objection we were both feeling. Though I was beginning to understand Naraku's warning about the Houshi. I lowered Tessaiga, not able to do anything with it with the human in the way.
"Stay back, Miroku!" Inuyasha elbowed the Houshi to the side, trying to place himself in front of him, much to the Houshi's annoyance. It was clear that either Inuyasha was not the alpha of his pack, or the Houshi wasn't part of it, when said Houshi pushed his way back in front of Inuyasha.
"You can't handle this alone!"
"Shaddup! Get behind me!" Listening to the two of them bickering like children was bad enough, but when Kagome's sheepish chuckle reached my ears I'd had enough. This wasn't a game. Even Jaken realized the inappropriateness of the behavior. I heard and felt the Oni move closer before I heard Jaken.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, leave this Houshi to me! No sense in wasting your time with him." I glanced slighting in Jaken's direction, still keeping Inuyasha in view.
"That's true." Though it was more so that I didn't want to reveal Tessaiga's weakness against humans in case they weren't already aware. "I'll just watch." Looking back at the group I wondered what it was about the Houshi, other than his convictions, that made Naraku believe him to be more troublesome than Inuyasha.
"Onward!" Jaken shouted commands at the Oni. "Smash them!" The Houshi ran forward as the Oni's outstretched hand reached for them.
"Everyone, get back!" He shouted while removing the rosary from his right hand. The second the rosary was gone, he held the hand out toward the Oni, bracing it with his other arm. An unholy wind began sucking everything toward the dark void in the center of his palm.
I could instantly feel my feet slipping closer and jumped back, forcing Tessaiga into the ground in front of me as a brace. And still, the wind dragged me forward. I watched as the Oni was slowly sucked into the void; Jaken struggling to escape down it's back. I've never even heard of such a thing. No wonder Naraku warned me of this Houshi. Without the hive, I would have no way to stop this.
Pulling the hive out for my haori, I looked down at it with suspicion. Naraku claimed it would be useful against the Houshi. "Hn… We'll see if he was right." I tossed the hive into the air, releasing a swarm of Saimyoushou. Unsurprisingly for a trap, the insects flew straight into the Kazaana.
It was clear the moment the trap sprung. The Houshi closed the Kazaana with the rosery, falling back toward his companions, gripping his cursed arm in pain. I had seen many creatures poisons in my lifetime and was pleased with what the Saimyoushou had done. The Houshi would no longer be a concern as he fought the miasma spreading through his body.
The corpse of the red Oni collapsed to the ground now that the wind was no longer holding it up. When the Houshi closed the Kazaana, everything being sucked though was instantly severed. The Oni may have survived had the Kazaana been cut off earlier, loosing only an arm. But it's head had been halfway through the void, leaving it no chance at survival.
Jaken came out of the ordeal in one piece, hopping down from the Oni's corpse to settle back upon the ground while Inuyasha and the kit dispatched the remainder of the Saimyoushou flying about. Or the kit tried to at least. He ended up being chased by the insects more than he defeated them. Kagome focused her attention on the Houshi and giving him what aid she could. For the most part I stood there watching as the mutilated bodies of the Saimyoushou littered the ground.
Once most of the insects had been delt with, Inuyasha returned his attention to me. Sinking his claws into the severe burn I left on his wrist, he sent the blood infused youki at me. Just lifting Tessaiga before me was enough to block the attack. Though, it seemed he reached his goal nonetheless. It was just a diversion to allow him to grab the Houshi and take him to safety; the kit carrying his Shakujou and covering their retreat.
It was noble of him but no use. He was injured and his pride bludgeoned; but, it was far from the punishment he deserved. They had taken shelter behind the body of the lifeless Oni, inside the crater it created upon impact with the ground. But hiding wouldn't prevent the inevitable. Sword poised before me, I advanced upon the corpse. The kit pocked his head out at one point, gasping at my approach. Stopping a bit away from the Oni I nearly sighed. "How hopeless he is." I started preparing for my next attack, one to clear the battlefield and hopefully end this encounter. "This is it."
Tessaiga flared to life, the little youki channeled through the human arm aiding the Kaze no Kizu. "Die!" With a quick cross slash, I sent the attack toward the group. The force cut through the corpse of the Oni, exploding as it reached its large stomach full of digestive gasses.
The light from the explosion made me want to shield my eyes, but it would have been too good of an opportunity for Inuyasha to get one last counter attack in before collapsing. So I waited it out, regardless of the pain. As the light faded, large chunks of flesh rained down, the only remnants of the once massive Oni.
Then, like a flower coming back to life after winter, or more adeptly, like a cockroach, Inuyasha clawed himself out from beneath the earth and entrails. I couldn't stop the laugh from escaping. Even half buired as he was the look of sheer determination on his face was ridiculous. How was he still so opstanant when facing against such insurmountable odds? He should be begging my forgiveness to avoid further pain, not enticing me to continue.
"You are such a fool! You can run and hide. That would totally be expected of you." I smirked, knowing physical pain would not be the only thing I inflicted on him. "Living in this world only adds to your disgrace."
"Will you shut up?" He growled, finally starting to drag himself fully from his near grave. It was about time. He was more of a target than an opponent partially buired as he was. "Getting a hold of one sword sure loosened your mouth." He chuckled humorlessly while completely freeing himself from the earth. "Well, lemme tell you something. When you kill someone, make sure you do it right! Otherwise, you may just end up…" He leapt into the air, the last of the debris covering him tossed up from the movement. "Eating your words!"
I didn't bother to dodge his claws; simply shifted Tessaiga to block the sloppy move. Was he being serious? Had I actually wanted him dead, he would be. Were he one to have any semblance of family loyalty he would have known that.
He followed his initial attack with another from his left claws. This one I was forced to dodge, leaping back and into the air. What right did he have to lecture me? Ever since he was born either that woman or he himself spat at any who reached out to them. For centuries I ignored my instincts to force him to heel, and for what; for him to ultimately betraying the very blood we shared? He didn't even need Tessaiga! I was the one who's very purpose was on the line thanks to him.
Drawing back Tessaiga as far as it would go, I was tired of pulling my punches all the time. He wanted to lecture me on battle? I would show him a real battle. "I've had just about enough!" I slashed down, flying toward him to give the attack more force. Then, in a move I would have thought beyond him, Inuyasha blocked the blade using it's own sheathe.
Lighting crackled where the two met, neither technically stronger than the other. That in of of itself wasn't surprising, but the fact Inuyasha hadn't slid back at all was. He chuckled, as if just as surprised as I was; the cockiness on his face making me want to claw it off.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Jaken drag himself out of the earth and Oni's remains. As too did the Houshi and kit. Considering the power of Tessaiga's sheathe, it could have protected them, even without them holding it. I wasn't overly concerned, Jaken could hold his own against them, especially with the Houshi weakened and the hive still in play somewhere on the field.
I kept my attention focused on Inuyasha, pushing harder against him with the sword. Finally, he slid back a few inches before once more gaining his footing. "You hope to resist me with a sheathe?"
"Well, this is no ordinary Sheathe! You'll soon see… When I crack open that head of yours!" It was a rather creative threat. But I doubted the sheathe alone would accomplish what he wished.
"The sheathe, huh?" I baited him with a half-hearted chuckle. "What sheathe?" Pulling back just a bit, Inuyasha started to fall forward, no longer fighting against any resistance. Using the opening, I slashed at him, aiming at the sheathe to kock it out of his hands. It was a move he anticipated. Had this been before he mutilated me, I would have been proud. As it was, it only served to annoy me.
Inuyasha flipped backwards in the air, intending to land far enough away to regain his footing and put enough space between us to try and strategise. But I didn't give him the chance. Before he even landed I was already flying towards him. There was barely enough time for him to bring up Tessaiga's sheathe and block each slash sent his way. Finally, after the quick onslaught, he lost his grip and the next hit sent the sheathe clattering behind him.
Smirking, I stood straight, lifting Tessaiga, ready to finally deal Inuyasha his punishment. "One swing… Just one more swing." Finally, he would pay for what he's done. Raising the blade higher, I sneered at him, doubting he would ever realize what his actions had wrought.
Before my muscles could even bunch to swing, a lone arrow hit the tip of the blade, ricocheting away from Inuyasha and I. Reiki and youki fought along the blade, crackles of lightening running up and down its surface. Frowning, I lowered Tessaiga, the reiki overcoming the youki and forcing the sword back into its slumbering state. The troublesome arrow embedded itself in the earth not far from Inuyasha, the two of us focused on the now innocent looking projectile.
"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome's enraged voice dragged our attentions away from her arrow and instead had us gazing at her. Though I may have only given her one lesson, her stance was nearly perfect. Seeing her standing atop a boulder, bow aimed and poised for another shot filled me with a wide range of feelings; pride, hut, longing, betrayal. She looked every bit the warrior I knew she could be, but hoped she never would have to become.
"The next one is aimed at your heart!" I stared at her, even as Inuyasha called out to her, trying to decide if she was truly serious. With my armor it was unlikely she would actually reach my heart, but it's not easy shooting to kill. Especially toward one who used to be a friend. Or at least, one who she claimed to have been a friend. Perhaps she wouldn't have any trouble shooting to kill after all.
"Inuyasha…" Her arms began to quiver from holding her arrow at the ready for so long. If she was going to shoot me, she should just do it and preserve her aim. "Make your escape! Hurry!"
