Inuyasha sat stone still as his brother brushed past him. He kept his battered head down, ears laid flat, and stayed quiet wanting to disappear to the ground. Something was off with Sesshoumaru, normally they would be trading insults or threats by now, but he remained silent and aloof. The crash of metal hitting the floor had Inuyasha jolting upright and looking at his half-brother. He watched as the demon lord carelessly removed his swords and armor, leaving them scattered in his wake. This was a side of Sesshoumaru he had never seen before. He was the poster boy for perfection and elegance, even when his armor shattered in battle, he would appear unbothered.

"You should be grateful, Inuyasha. Until now we have shown leniency and tolerated your foolish actions." Sesshoumaru's voice was low with a guttural quality to it. Almost as if two beings were speaking at once.

A wave of power washed over Inuyasha as Sesshoumaru placed a demonic barrier around the tent. With nowhere else to go, his domineering aura continued to swell in the small space suffocating the half-demon. He struggled to remain upright while spitting out blood that began pooling into his mouth.

Now only dressed in his haori and hakama, Sesshoumaru's bloodthirsty eyes assessed his little brother. His wounds were superficial and would heal in a matter of hours. The beast rumbled with excitement wishing to have a blank canvas to work with, but this bloodied used one will have to do. "Do you know why we summoned you here?"

Summoned? He called this being 'summoned'? Inuyasha gritted his fangs together in frustration as his initial terror faded to the background. "No, you asshole, I have no idea why you sent your bloodhounds after me!"

The air was thick with a hissing sound and a pungent, acidic odor as Sesshoumaru raised his lethal claws, exhibiting the green poison dripping from them. With his long, slender fingers flexed, he gazed down at the half-demo and his crimson eyes fixed on his prey. "It is time your beast learned its true place. We are not only your Alpha, but the Alpha to all under our rule." He moved closer at a slow pace, observing Inuyasha's struggles and attempting to move back to evade his grasp. "That half-formed mongrel inside you will feel the full force of our power. Even when it whimpers and begs for leniency we will show none."

In that moment, Inuyasha was consumed by a feeling he had never experienced before, a deep and primal fear. The sheer magnitude of Sesshoumaru's power was overwhelming, causing every fiber of Inuyasha's being to scream for him to submit. However, his humanity remained steadfast and refused to be intimidated, urging him to seek answers.

"You've had all this time to invoke your stupid demon hierarchy, why now?" Inuyasha was trying to keep a calm face, but with every drop of Sesshoumaru's lethal acid burning a hole in the canvas floor his courage waned.

The demon lord began to circle the half-demon, never taking his predatory eyes off his target, "You attempted to take what belongs to your Alpha. Such treason is punishable by death." Stopping for a moment behind Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru let his poison fall onto the chain holding his right arm in place. "Killing you would be a mercy you do not deserve."

Once the demon chain keeping his arm in place dissolved, Inuyasha yanked himself free and reached for his Tessaiga the soldiers had dropped a few feet away. He didn't get far before an acid lace hand grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back until a loud crack echoed through the tent. The beast was now taking full control and snarling in Inuyasha's ear, "Was this the hand you used to assault her? To grab hold of our bitch until bruises marred her delicate skin?"

The pain of his flesh melting, and the snapping of bone had Inuyasha screaming in agony. Fangs snapped at one of his flattened dog ears and instantly he quieted. The pubescent beast inside him was showing its belly in hopes of pacifying his Alpha. However, it only further enraged the hellhound.

In an instant Sesshoumaru was crouching in front of Inuyasha. Wild bloodthirsty eyes stared into watery amber ones. "What are your inferior instincts telling you now? That if you submit to your Alpha all will be forgiven?" His voice was now mixed with snarls and deep growls. He leaned in closer and sneered at his younger brother. "It is far too late for that, brother."

As Inuyasha stared back at the beast before him he felt his body go ridge and lock into place. He had never experienced such an instinctual reaction like this, it was like a piece of his demon half he didn't know existed had woken up. For once the half-demon decided to go with his unfamiliar instincts in hopes it would temper the demon lord.

Unfortunately, Inuyasha had no idea he was already in a lose-lose situation. The lack of response from the pup sent Sesshoumaru into a frenzy and he tore the remaining chains from the ground and grabbed hold of his brother's uninjured limb. With one powerful pull the demon lord wrenched the half-breed's left arm clean from his shoulder. Anguished screams and the smell of piss filled the tent as Sesshoumaru carelessly tossed the newly detached appendage aside.

Red eyed, and now completely feral, Sesshoumaru snarled into Inuyasha's face, "What made you think you could take our mate from us? You abandoned her and it was us who took the bitch into our pack. We saw to her care, protected her, claimed her. She. Is. Mine!" He then stood tall and wiped the half-breed's impure blood from his flawless face. Although he held no formal claim to the priestess, the welp did not need to know that.

Inuyasha laid in a crumpled heap of red and white. Peering up and seeing his brother's immense body surrounded in raw unbridled power, he knew he had to try to reason with the beast before bleeding out. Shuffling around until he was on his knees, Inuyasha leaned forward and placed his head on the ground in front of Sesshoumaru. Mustering as much strength as he could, he whimpered out, "I fucked up, okay? I never meant to hurt Kagome, but her powers just kept growing and..." Inuyasha paused and coughed up more blood before continuing. "I couldn't take it anymore! This monster inside me wanted to force her into submission and mate. So, I did what I had to and kept her safe from it." Tears were now falling and mixing with the blood beneath him. "When I saw Kagome again for the first time in so long, she looked amazing, like she had flourished without me by her side. Then I smelt you on her and I snapped, my instincts took over and I lost control again."

Glaring down at the pathetic mutt Sesshoumaru sneered, "You lost control? How pathetic that even a half-breed can't command his own beast. You are nothing but a disgrace to our fathers bloodline." The hypocrisy behind his words did not matter. The half breed had no way of knowing that he once almost lost control around the priestess. Instead, a clawed hand gripped the matted hair on the back of Inuyasha's head and hoisted the boy up until his feet dangled just over the ground. Tilting his head to the side and letting the crimson fade from his eyes, the demon lord considered his brother's words for a moment. "So, you left the priestess in the village because you feared your beasts desire to dominate her once her powers grew."

Unable to move his only arm to try and stop the strong hand from ripping more hair from his head, Inuyasha squeezed his eyes shut and croak out, "I was ashamed, and I couldn't tell her that was the reason why I left. That I might not be able to stop my demon blood from pushing her too far."

Releasing his hold from the tangled locks, Sesshoumaru watched his half-brother fall to the floor and lose consciousness while sprawled in a puddle of his own bodily fluids. Stepping over the mess and making his way out of the tent, he stopped for a moment to look over at his brother one last time. "You are even weaker than I thought."