Blood.
The scent of his father's blood filled the air, carried to him on the back of the north sea wind. He was waiting for him on the beach, a sizeable pool of blood darkening the sand next to him. His father did not turn once he arrived, preferring to keep his back to him and his eyes on the turbulent sea before them. Only months earlier, he and Rin had stood on this same beach, perhaps even in this exact spot, to bid farewell to one another. He couldn't help but wonder if that was why his father had chosen it for their meeting.
He tried (but failed) to keep the ire out of his voice when he asked, "What happened?"
"Ryukotsusei," his father answered without elaborating.
Sesshomaru scoffed. "It's not like you to be so careless."
A pregnant pause stretched between them, punctuated by the steady drip-drip of blood from his fingertips to the ground below.
"Your brother arrived tonight," his father announced. "He is called Inuyasha."
Sesshomaru clenched his fist at his side. As if he cared that he now had a half-demon brother. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?" he snarled.
The Great Dog Demon went quiet once more. The blood continued to cascade down his arm, flowing from beneath his armour. Why had he not bothered to heal the wound? He was certainly capable.
"I know I ask too much to expect that you might be civil towards him, but I hope you will at least stay out of his way."
Sesshomaru responded with an irritated 'tch'. He had better things to do with his time than harass an infant. His kind might not embrace half-demons, but that didn't mean he would go out of his way to antagonize them.
"You should know," his father said, sounding weary, "that I am not long for this world."
"Then you've summoned me here to hand over your swords?" he intoned, already certain of what his father's answer would be.
"No," the Great Dog Demon replied. "None but Tenseiga will ever be yours, Sesshomaru."
His father tossed the blade at him, and he caught it easily. He slipped it into the obi at his side and drew it from its sheath.
"What do you intend to do with that?" his father asked, turning his head just so.
"To hasten your journey to the Underworld."
Sesshomaru focused his energy into the blade and cast a meido ahead of his father. It formed a large, perfect circle, like a punch hole cut into the fabric of their universe. He felt satisfaction swell within him as he gazed up at the visual evidence of his power. Countless sacrifices had gone into achieving such a result. Not even his father could deny the true extent of his power now.
The Great Dog Demon stood still and watched until the meido collapsed in on itself and vanished from view.
"It is an impressive meido, Sesshomaru. You have that human girl to thank for it."
Sesshomaru tilted his head, confused. "What do you mean?"
"The key to unlocking Tenseiga's true power as a weapon is to possess a compassionate heart. She taught you how to care for someone other than yourself, a task I had once thought impossible. But you should know, the power you possess within that blade will never be more than it is. In fact, it cannot grow beyond what it has. It has only formed a full meido now because it is near to Testsusaiga. Once parted from this fang, its meido will remain incomplete."
"So with your dying breath you would rob me of my birthright…" Sesshomaru declared, and angrily sheathed Tenseiga at his side to prevent himself from using it.
"My time is short, so let me be brief," his father said, and it sounded as though it took great effort for him to speak. "You have two paths ahead of you, my son. One will guide you toward supreme conquest, and the other to her. Choose wisely. Only one will bring true happiness."
"I already know what my path will be," Sesshomaru intoned, and the Great Dog Demon nodded his head, satisfied. It was only then that he turned fully to face him, revealing the extent of his injury. Ryukotsusei had sliced a gouge out of his side that was far too large to heal without intervention. Sesshomaru stared at the sizeable patch of blood covering his father's armour, then lifted his eyes to his.
"I've heard rumours that a group of demon pirates are abducting humans and selling them in slave markets on the northern island."
He stared blankly at his father, confused as to why he would tell him such a thing. Unless…
His eyes narrowed. "Has Rin been captured?"
The Great Dog Demon looked out towards the open waters raging beyond the shore. "I would not waste time if you wish to see her again."
Sesshomaru felt his anger rise as he stared at his father. He was the very reason Rin had ever been in a position to be captured by demon pirates. He was the reason she wasn't at his side now. Telling him such a thing now didn't come close to making things right between them. His fist clenched so tightly at his side his joints ached, but it was the only thing keeping him from lashing out.
"Farewell, son," his father said in parting, then transformed into his true form, that of a great white dog, and took off.
Sesshomaru watched after him until he disappeared from view, then stared hard at the dark horizon. Removing a single length of yellow silk from within his kimono, he wrapped it around Tenseiga's hilt and knotted it into place.
"Let's go find her," he said to no one in particular, and Tenseiga pulsed at his side.
Summoning his power, he transformed into a small ball of light and darted rapidly across the open water in her direction.
I'm coming Rin…!
oOo
Rin sawed at the ropes that bound her wrists and wondered just how she'd managed to end up in this exact situation twice.
She'd done everything right. She'd left the inn before daybreak and made her way to the pier, intent on catching the first merchant vessel headed for the mainland. She nearly made it, too, until the same demons who'd captured and sold her only days before spotted her by the docks. They'd chased after her and she'd done what she could to dodge them, calling up every technique Sesshomaru had taught her to fight them off and escape. But it wasn't enough. It could never be enough against a group of demons who were faster and stronger by every measure and intent on her capture.
She could recall something wrapping around her throat, and before she could blink, her back had met the earth. She'd woken up to find herself bound and trapped in a cage, back in the market where it had all began. After taking a few minutes to curse her rotten luck, she'd focused on escape.
She'd learned a thing or two from her last encounter with the pirates and had possessed the good sense to keep her wakizashi out of sight. It had taken some manoeuvering, but she'd nudged the top of the blade free from the sheath and was using it to saw through the layers of hemp rope binding her wrists. If she could at least get her hands free, she might be able to unbind her feet and find a way out of the cage before the auction began. That was her plan, anyway. There was no telling whether it would be a success, but it beat waiting helplessly for an uncertain fate at the hands of her auctioneers.
She kept one eye on her captors as she worked and had to stifle her delight when the ropes around her wrists finally snapped and fell away. She slipped her wakizashi from inside her kosode and tucked it beneath her legs. Using the sharp edge of the blade, she set to work sawing at the ropes binding her ankles. Hope stuck like a lump in the back of her throat as each strand of rope snapped free. She didn't want to get too excited about the prospect of escape, but it was difficult not to when she was so close to freedom.
It was as the last of the ropes broke away that she felt the first rumbles beneath her. The ground shook, rattling her cage, and she wondered at first if it might be an earthquake. They weren't unheard of, especially on the northern island, but this one felt different from the quakes she'd experienced before. It did not move like a rolling wave or a sharp jolt of the earth. Instead, it rattled through the ground at a steady pace, almost like footsteps...
Realization dawned, and she redoubled her efforts towards opening the door to her cage. She had no desire to be trapped inside of it when a demon of that size arrived in the market. She was still fiddling with the hinges, trying to cut them loose, when she heard the first screams echo through the market square. Demons ran past her cage, some looking behind them with wide, terrified eyes. Her stomach sank and her fingers shook as she fumbled with the knots that kept her cage door shut. If other demons were terrified, then what hope did she (or any of the other humans in the market) have?
The ground shook again, and she heard a great snarl pierce the morning air. It seemed to echo off the buildings, filling the market with chaos and fear. More screams followed, more demons racing past her cage. The last hinge finally popped open, and she scrambled out the cage door. Ignoring the gigantic beast bearing down on the market for the moment, she ran from one cage to the next, and hastily sawed open the hinges so the humans inside could have some hope of escape.
A great crash shook the earth, and a deafening growl filled the market. Terrified, Rin ran into the nearest alleyway and took shelter, along with a handful of other humans. They all wore identical, wide-eyed expressions of terror. Her fingers tightened around the handle of her wakizashi, more for reassurance than anything else, and she focused on steadying her breaths. The calmer she was, the easier it would be to think clearly. Sesshomaru had taught her that. So she pulled in one deep breath at a time, releasing each slowly. She knew her wakizashi would be useless against a beast that size, but maybe she could hold it off or distract it long enough for the others to escape.
When the footsteps came to a halt, she dared to peek her head out of the alley to sneak a look at the beast. It was a great white dog, double the size of nearly every building in the square. She watched it demolish the auction platform with ease, then turn its attention to the market stalls in the square. Between the crushing blows of its paws and the acid-like saliva that dripped from its mouth, the market was in ruins in a matter of minutes.
"My god..." gasped one of the captured men who stood behind her. "What hope do we have against a beast that size?"
"Run," she instructed with her eyes fixed on the demon. It lifted its head and sniffed at the air. The growl that emanated from its throat reverberated through the alleyway, sounding like thunder rolling through the mountains.
"Take everyone and run to the pier. Go now!" she whispered harshly to the man behind her. He wore a monk's robe, and his dark eyes darted between her and the beast.
"What about you?" he asked.
"I'll be fine," she promised and did her best to look brave. "I'm going to distract it so you can escape."
The monk gave an uncertain nod of his head. He looked reluctant to leave her behind, but understood that a sacrifice was necessary to assure the fate of the others. He gathered the group huddled in the alley and ushered them toward the pier. Rin waited until their footsteps had faded out of earshot before exiting the alley and walking to the square.
The demon's expression was even more terrifying up close. Its eyes were blood red, and its mouth filled with sharp teeth. Saliva dripped from its fangs, landing atop the earth in hissing droplets that burned everything they touched. She knew she should be afraid of the great beast before her, but she felt calm as she walked out from behind the last set of crates that had shielded her from view.
She sheathed her wakizashi at her side and waited for the beast to notice her. It turned its massive head and its glowing red eyes narrowed at her. She held her breath and waited.
In the blink of an eye, the beast disappeared and in its place stood Sesshomaru, looking exactly as she remembered him. She couldn't stop the wide grin that cut across her face at the sight of him, or the excitement and relief that had her flinging her arms around his neck and holding tight.
His hand cradled the back of her head and he asked softly, "Are you alright?"
"I thought I would never see you again," she blurted out, and her arms held him tighter.
He was solid and real against her, and her eyes immediately welled up with tears. Since the moment they'd parted ways, she'd tried to convince herself that she'd made the right decision to leave. She'd told herself countless times that she would be okay without him. She'd pushed down the ache of loneliness and ignored the hollow feeling his absence created in the centre of her chest. But it couldn't be ignored any longer. Only now that he was by her side could she admit just how much she'd missed him.
"I'm so glad you came," she whispered and pulled away to wipe the tears from her eyes and cheeks.
"We shouldn't linger," he cautioned with a glance down the long street that led away from the market towards the pier. She looked around at the cages strewn about with people still inside of them and shook her head.
"We can't leave them here," she said. "Help me free them."
To her surprise, Sesshomaru offered no argument. He simply walked to the first cage and sliced the door open with his claws before moving on to the next. They worked in tandem, with Sesshomaru opening each cage while she cut away the ropes binding the captive's wrists and ankles. When they'd finished, every cage within the market was empty and only the two of them remained in the now desolate square.
"We did a good thing here today," she said and gave a satisfied sigh as her eyes scanned the ruins of the market. She turned her face up to his and found his eyes fixed on her. They looked like liquid honey in the sunlight and her heart thumped hard inside her chest. He was impossibly beautiful and yet he looked at her as though she was the only thing in his world that mattered. The words dried up on her tongue. Apologies and a confession she'd rehearsed a hundred times since they'd last stood on that beach. But for the moment, all she could find the courage to say was, "Let's go home."
He responded with a nod, then gathered her into his side. With her arms wrapped tight around his neck and his fur stole wound securely around her waist, he carried her out of the market and flew across the dark waters of the sea, leaving the north island far behind.