Author's Corner

Thanks so much for all the lovely reviews! Here's the latest chapter!

Also, I thought I'd let you know that this fic and all my others are going to be put on hiatus after December as it's nearing exam season. I'll be back once that's all over, which should be around July (*fingers crossed*). I'll still be active on Tumblr if you have any questions or just want to chat and I might re-appear for special events just to post a little one-shot every now and then.

This isn't the last chapter before hiatus though so fear not and please enjoy your read!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha but if I did I would've given Kirara more screen time.

EIGHTH BLOOD

Chapter 18: Together

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Octavia knew she'd fucked up.

She hadn't meant to imply that he was anything like the monsters that engaged in illegal trafficking. She and Sesshoumaru might not always see eye to eye, but if the past few days had taught her anything, it was that people were full of surprises.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I know you'd never do anything like that."

"Do you?"

"Yes."

His expression was unreadable. "Two apologies in one day, hmm? Are you feeling all right?"

A startled laugh slipped past her lips.

The wheels on the wagon started turning as the oxen at the front set off into a steady trot. The other prisoners whimpered and shrunk into themselves, defeated. Octavia glanced over at the girl with the fox's tail and shot her a reassuring smile. She didn't return it.

"There may be an opportunity to escape once we arrive at our destination," Sesshoumaru suggested. "For now, we ought to lie low and bide our time."

"That'll take too long," Octavia said fiercely. "We need to act now. There's more of us than there are of them. We can use that to our advantage."

"And how long do you predict before the infighting begins?"

"I don't understand."

"These people would rather die than join forces."

As much as she loathed to admit it, he had a point. There wasn't enough space in the cage to form a proper divide, but they'd still managed to split themselves into opposing groups. Humans and youkai had been enemies for centuries. Octavia wasn't so disillusioned that she thought she could erase that, but change was necessary if there was to be a future that included both of them.

"No one's dying today," she told Sesshoumaru.

The cage shook as the wagon hurtled down the winding path. Octavia asked for everyone's attention and took a sobering breath.

"I need you all to listen to me. I know you're scared, but we can't just sit here and wait for them to ferry us to our doom. Right now, our numbers are greater than theirs, but that'll change once we make it to where we're going. We have to stop these wagons before that happens."

"How?" asked one of the prisoners.

"We have a sword that can cut through metal. We'll use the element of surprise and kill the ogres and their masters before they even notice we're out. But we have to work together."

Shouts of protest erupted within the cage.

"These beasts will turn on us the moment they're free!" yelled Ryuuya. "You can't trust youkai."

"You will if you don't want to become a slave," argued Octavia.

"If they're truly on our side, why can't they fight our captors for us?" a boy with a nasty scar on his face asked. "We're unarmed and malnourished! Youkai are better suited for battle!"

Octavia's chest tightened. "It won't work if only a few of us put in the effort. It has to be everyone. Otherwise, we'll die. Is that what you want?"

"At least our souls would remain pure. We would be reincarnated."

Sesshoumaru scoffed. "Pathetic."

Octavia gasped softly.

"What did you say?" Ryuuya hissed.

"A real man fights his own battles," Sesshoumaru continued. "He doesn't cower in fear whilst others fight them for him. Have you no shame? Or are you simply too stupid to understand the depth of your own inadequacy?"

Ryuuya's mouth fell open in shock. "How dare you—"

"Ogres are weak and unintelligent. It doesn't take a genius to quash one."

"Why don't you tell us how to beat them, then?"

"Aim for their spines. Damaging the nape of the neck is the most effective method of killing them, since the flesh is softer there. The lower back is also a good place to strike."

Ryuuya grunted in indignation. He clearly hadn't expected to receive such useful advice. Octavia hadn't, either. She gazed at Sesshoumaru curiously, wondering what had made him change his mind. His eyes slid to hers and she smiled. It seemed to catch him off guard.

"Thanks," she whispered.

His brow crinkled like an old newspaper. "Hn."

"We're still unarmed," another prisoner protested.

"We could use the chains," the girl with the fox's tail suggested timidly. All eyes in the wagon were fixed on her. She picked up one of the severed chains and tugged at the links. They held steady.

"Aren't your kind supposed to be magic?"

"We deal mostly in illusions, but my foxfire ought to be able to stun them for a short amount of time. It should give you a window to attack."

"Why should we trust you?" Ryuuya spat. "Kitsune are notorious for being tricksters."

"Because I want to go home, too," she answered earnestly.

No one had anything to say to that.

Octavia reached for Sesshoumaru's arm and whispered in his ear. "I have an idea."

"What?"

She flashed him another smile. "Just trust me."

Releasing his arm, she caught the eye of the female kitsune and asked, "What's your name?"

"Suki," she replied.

"What were you doing before you were captured, Suki?"

"I was playing with my friends."

"What about you?" Octavia asked another youkai with a twitching nose and floppy ears.

"I was on my way home," he murmured. "My wife just gave birth to a son, so I went to pick her favourite mushrooms."

"And you?" she asked a woman in a faded brown apron.

"I was going to visit my daughter. She's getting married."

Octavia turned to Ryuuya, who looked surprised she'd chosen him. "What about you?"

"I was . . . I was just walking. I lost my job, so I was feeling sorry for myself."

"There's nothing wrong with that. I stayed in bed for a whole week after I got fired from the nursery. Apparently, toddlers don't like listening to heavy metal music while they play."

No one laughed. She tried to ease the sting by reminding herself that since this was only the sixteenth century, they had no idea what heavy metal even was.

"Anyway," she said with a cough. "Can't you see? We're not so different. We all have things we care about. Hopes, dreams, hardships. It doesn't matter whether you're human or not. Humanity isn't a condition. It's a state of mind. And we all share it."

Her audience was entranced.

"Monsters can't feel love. It's what makes them monsters. But none of us is like that. We're united by our ability to love and be loved by others. It's how we know we're alive."

Sesshoumaru was watching her strangely.

The wagon suddenly lurched to a halt. The latch in the side creaked open, and an old woman holding a crowded set of keys stepped into the cage. She had frazzled grey hair and a blue ribbon tied around her head. Her eyes were the colour of blood.

"What's all the commotion?" she barked. "If you lot don't shut your traps, I might have to start feedin' some of you to the ogres."

"Go on, then," Octavia challenged. "I dare you."

The woman walked closer and examined her. "You're a weird un'," she muttered, rubbing her fuzzy chin. "You don't often see humans with green eyes. And your hair . . . It's more of a blonde, honestly. Tell me, girl, are you secretly a youkai?"

"Of course not. Haven't you ever seen a Westerner before?"

"A Westerner, eh? Interesting. Folks will be willin' to pay more for a dumb foreigner."

"Oi! Who are you calling dumb?"

The woman snorted. "Unbroken, as well. Even better."

Wrapping a hand around Octavia's throat, the woman leaned in and licked her cheek. Octavia grimaced and tried to pull away, but the woman's grip was too tight.

Sesshoumaru reacted like lightning and grabbed the woman's tongue with two fingers. Octavia used the distraction and yanked the Sword of the Firebird out of its sheath, thrusting it into the woman's stomach. The woman released a mighty roar and stumbled backwards, dragging Octavia with her. Sesshoumaru caught her before she could fall and heaved the sword out of the woman's stomach. Blood poured out from where she'd been impaled. It was as thick and black as sludge.

"Fools," she snarled, her teeth growing too big for her mouth. "I'll show you."

She shoved Octavia out of the way and seized Sesshoumaru by the shoulders. Her nails pierced his skin through his haori, causing blood to seep through the fabric. Octavia raised her sword, intending to sever the woman's head from her shoulders, when Ryuuya darted in front of her and swung a piece of broken chain at the woman's face. The other prisoners followed his example and took turns swinging at her. She howled in pain and relinquished her grip on Sesshoumaru.

He swayed on his feet, dizzy from blood loss. Octavia wrapped her arms around his waist, and he slumped against her, breathing heavily. His front was wet with blood.

"Talk to me," she said, blocking out the fighting.

"It's nothing," he replied with a grunt, drawing back. "She caught an artery."

Octavia's stomach sank. "Are you serious? Stop moving! You'll bleed to death!"

"My body isn't like yours. I'll be fine in a moment."

"You better not be fucking lying."

"I wouldn't dare."

She couldn't help but smile at his satirical expression. "You're delirious," she laughed.

His eyes danced. "Is the hag dead yet?"

Octavia lifted her head and saw the prisoners fleeing through the open latch. The woman's body lay discarded on the floor of the cage, covered in red welts. She nodded. "Let's go."

She draped his arm over her shoulder and helped him through the latch. They'd stopped at the edge of a cliff overlooking a deep chasm. The moon was rising in the east. Octavia watched as it began its long climb, accompanied by stars. Her thoughts were full of determination.

"Here they come!"

Octavia followed Ryuuya's finger to a horde of angry ogres. Among them were more of the old crones that commanded them. Sesshoumaru gave her shoulder a squeeze before withdrawing his arm and standing by himself. My body isn't like yours. He hadn't been kidding.

"Now is the time to strike," he said, unsheathing the Bakusaiga.

Octavia nodded and drew the Sword of the Firebird.

"Any chance I can borrow that?" Ryuuya joked, gesturing to the Tenseiga.

"It won't do you any good," replied Sesshoumaru.

The cliffside quickly became a bloodbath.

A pair of vipers flew towards the ogres and bound them with their bodies. They sunk their fangs into the ogre's napes, killing them instantly. Suki used her foxfire to stun one of the crones, creating an opening for a human boy to wind the chain he was carrying around the crone's thick neck. The crone gasped for air before eventually falling to the ground, dead.

Octavia hacked at an ogre's leg with her sword, making up for her lack of experience with her vigour. Sesshoumaru was never far from where she was fighting. He allowed her to draw the attention of their foes before swooping in at the last second and exterminating them before they could retaliate. "Stop stealing all my kills, you cheater!"

"They would still be alive if it wasn't for me. You're treating that thing like a stick."

"This is the first time I've used one! I think it's going pretty well."

"You're too slow."

"We don't all have super speed like you—" Before the final word had even left her mouth, she felt herself being picked up in a front lift. Sesshoumaru's arms were like clamps around the backs of her thighs. "What the hell!" she yelled, flailing like a fish caught in a net. "Put me down!"

"Hold on," he said, then bolted.

One of the crones was chasing them. Unlike the others, her skin was made of stone, and her head was hideously large. She sprinted after them with her jaws splayed wide. Octavia's legs tensed around Sesshoumaru's waist as she saw the distance between them closing.

"She's catching up! Can't you run any faster?"

"You're heavier than you look."

She tried not to feel offended. "Do you at least have a plan?"

"Her body is made of granite. The Bakusaiga's blade won't be able to pierce it. If I had my youki, I could charge it to be able to disintegrate the stone. Since that isn't an option, I'll have to settle for the old-fashioned way."

"Which is?"

"Hoping the hag tires herself out so I can ultimately throw her over the edge."

"What is it with you and ravines?"

The crone was almost upon them. Octavia clenched her teeth and braced for impact, but it never came. An electric blue light blocked her vision, making it impossible to see anything else. She shielded her eyes and waited for it to fade.

The light belonged to the Tenseiga. It rattled in its sheath, demanding to be freed. The Reikon Blade was acting similarly. Both weapons cried out loudly, the dagger mirroring the Tenseiga's vibrations. Everything around them had frozen. It was as if time itself had stopped.

Sesshoumaru stopped running and carefully placed her on the ground. She sheathed the Sword of the Firebird and lowered her gaze to the Tenseiga. Its light hadn't faltered.

Octavia could hear Sesshoumaru's thoughts. She shivered as the crystal in the Reikon Blade glowed brighter, beaming his mind into hers. She saw a memory of a man who looked just like him, except he wielded both the Tenseiga and the Tessaiga. The emotions attached to the memory weren't pleasant. Anger, hate, and most notably, betrayal. But buried deep, she felt love.

The moment Sesshoumaru removed the Tenseiga from its sheath, the light coating the blade suddenly exploded and hurtled towards the sky. It was like watching lightning strike in reverse. The sky turned grey, and thunder rumbled from above. Octavia forced her eyes away from the storm and locked eyes with Sesshoumaru through the wall of blue light. With the Reikon Blade creating a bridge between their minds, she finally understood what the sword meant to him.

"Does this look useless to you?" she asked.

His eyes widened.

She grinned. "You might not want this sword, but it wants you, Sesshoumaru." The light coming from the Tenseiga crackled in confirmation. "It's time to give it what it wants."

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