InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ 30 Shards of Jaken ❯ Fire Fight ( Chapter 22 )

Theme: Rain

 

Genres: Humor/Action/Backstory

 

Rating: K+

 

Word Count: 1,958

 

Fire Fight

 

Jaken shivered with excitement as Ah-Un sped him through the air. His great and noble lord Sesshomaru had sent him on a most important mission, and he was determined to prove his worth.

 

The two-headed dragon bellowed and began to dive past a wave of black fumes. They were descending to the foot of an active volcano in a land of poisonous vapors. There was not an inch of grass or form of life to be seen in this dead land. This couldn't be right, Jaken thought, but Sesshomaru had assured him that Ah-Un knew where to find his quarry. And today his objective was a youkai sword-smith Sesshomaru had described as old, wiry, and bug-eyed. His name was Totosai.

 

Ah-Un landed at the base of a great, hollow youkai skeleton, whose teeth were as large as the stalagmites of a cave. Jaken hopped off the dragon's back, his staff the Nintoujou in hand, and peered tentatively into the dark dwelling. He could see nothing. “Hello?” he called tentatively, and his voice seemed to echo.

 

For a moment all was still and quiet. Then suddenly Jaken yelped and dived out of the way as a strange, three-eyed ox came charging out to meet him. And then a gruff yet loopy voice came issuing out of the bones.

 

“Heel, Momo! You dumb ox! Is that any way to treat a potential customer?”

 

Soon an old youkai of humanlike form walked out, bent backed, wiry limbed, with gray hair and a scraggly beard, and a slightly off-kilter look in his large, bulbous eyes. He was carrying a large metal mallet in one hand.

 

The ox mooed indignantly.

 

“Hush, you!” the youkai said, and then turned to Jaken. (Actually he turned in Jaken's direction, but his line of vision was much higher than the little imp's head. He blinked in a confused fashion for a moment before Jaken let out an angry, indistinguishable squawk and the old youkai's eyes turned downward.)

 

“You're a runty one, aren't you?” he said. “Sorry, I didn't even realize you were there!”

 

Jaken let out a huff, but decided that his mission was more important for the moment than his pride. “Are you Master Totosai the sword-smith?”

 

“I am Master Totosai,” the old youkai said. “The legendary sword-smith.”

 

Jaken harrumphed. That was debatable, he thought, but he merely said, “I have been looking for you.”

 

“Of course.” Totosai sat down and began picking at his partially bald scalp idly. “You want to commission a sword I presume. Well, I am sorry, little one, but I just don't think I could make a sword that would accommodate your particular stature.”

 

“I am not little!” Jaken bristled. “But that is besides the point. I am not here for your skills, but for your mind.” As he said these words, he noticed Totosai had pulled something small and fuzzy out of his ear and flicked it away. This did not inspire confidence in Totosai's mental capacity, but he continued anyway. “My master the great and mighty Lord Sesshomaru requests some information from you.”

 

“Lord Sesshomaru… Lord Sesshomaru…” Totosai wondered aloud, digging in his ear again. “Where have I heard that name before? Oh yes, he was one of the Inu no Taisho's idiot sons. The older one, I believe.”

 

Jaken spluttered. “How dare you!” he cried. “Lord Sesshomaru is not an idiot!”

 

Totosai blinked his large, watery eyes several times. “Of course not.” He got up and started pacing, dusting off his hands. “Well, what does the idiot want to know?”

 

Jaken's face turned red with anger, but he reminded himself he had to put the mission first. “You were an old friend and servant of my lord's father. Surely you must know the location of the Inu no Taisho's grave?”

 

Totosai stopped in his tracks, his back turned to Jaken. In the near distance, Momo bellowed softly. The ox had wandered next to Ah-Un, and the two (or rather, three) of them were holding their own private conversation, discussing both the perils and benefits of working for their masters.

 

“I suppose,” Totosai said slowly, “that Lord Sesshomaru wishes to pay respects to his late father?”

 

“What Lord Sesshomaru needs the grave for is none of your business,” Jaken snapped. “The only business you need concerned yourself with is giving me the location.”

 

Totosai sighed, shrugging his shoulders and turning to face the little youkai. “I wouldn't know.”

 

“Impossible!” Jaken cried, stamping his foot in frustration. “My lord tells me you were one of the last people to see the Inu no Taisho before his demise.”

 

“That much is true,” Totosai said, almost sadly. “The last words the great captain spoke were to me, his faithful servant. But the location of his grave I do not know.”

 

“Miserable old bat!” Jaken screeched. “You are lying!” And with that, he stamped Nintoujou on the stony ground, and a wall of flames issued out of the staff's mouth in Totosai's direction.

 

“Attack me in my own home, will you, runt?” Totosai yelled, giving a surprisingly dexterous leap out of the way. “I won't stand for that. Take this!” The old youkai's cheeks puffed out to a ridiculous degree, and just as Jaken was about to laugh at the comical sight, Totosai spit a barrage of fire towards the imp.

 

Jaken dove out of the way, but the seat of his robes was singed. He rolled around on the ground until he was no longer aflame, and bounced to his feet angrily.

 

And so began an epic battle. (Well, it was epic in the two combatants' minds. To Ah-Un and Momo, who looked on from a safe distance, they thought it was rather stupid.)

 

The two fire-wielders leaped and pranced around in an elaborate show, spewing fire at each other and diving, ducking, dodging, and dancing out of the way.

 

“Take this, you old codger!” Jaken cried, striking a fresh blow with his Nintoujou.

 

“It'll take more than that to defeat me, you little shrimp!” Totosai cackled, puffing out his cheeks like a toad and belching fire back at him.

 

The two walls of flame collided with each other, seeming to stop each other's flow only the way demonic fire can. Neither flame gave an inch.

 

After fifteen minutes of this nonsense, both youkai seemed entirely worn out but too stubborn (or too stupid) to stop. Jaken huffed and puffed, and Totosai's breath was coming out in wheezes.

 

“Had enough, old timer?” Jaken shouted in a whisper, trying to catch his breath. He struck Nintoujou on the ground, but it was more like a gentle tap. A puff of smoke came out of the staff and disappeared into the air harmlessly.

 

“I'm not old, runt!” Totosai gasped. His cheeks filled halfway with fire, but he accidentally swallowed his ammo in exhaustion, and collapsed to his knees.

 

“And… I'm not… short!” Jaken wheezed. He had fallen on his back next to Totosai, and the two took to hitting each other with all of their remaining strength, Jaken with his staff and Totosai with his mallet. (Unfortunately what remained of their strength wasn't much, and so it was more like they were tapping each other gently with sticks.)

 

It was clear at this point that neither one was going to give up, no matter what, but Momo and Ah-Un had had enough of the stupidity. Ah-Un sighed.

 

“What should we do?” he said, alternating the words between his two heads, in a language of snorts and whinnies that only Momo could understand.

 

“I have an idea,” the ox bellowed back. “Follow me.”

 

And so, the two friends flew into the sky where they gathered enormous rolls of rain clouds from afar the way only creatures of legend can, blowing with their great dragon and ox breath until the skies above the volcano were dark with impending rain. When enough clouds had formed, the water burst from the sky and showered down onto the two idiot combatants, drenching them instantly.

 

“You're… just… lucky…” Totosai wheezed, his fire breath useless in such a downpour. “I'd have… finished you… off otherwise.”

 

Jaken shook Nintoujou fruitlessly. “It appears… we have… a draw…” he gasped. “Very well.” He called weakly for Ah-Un to come. No sense fighting in this weather anyway. And he wasn't going to waste any more of Lord Sesshomaru's precious time on this old fart.

 

By the time Ah-Un arrived by his feet, Jaken had caught his breath and was squeezing the water out of his robes, quite uselessly, as the rain was still falling heavily. Likewise, Momo flew down to his own master's side, and licked his burnt face. Totosai sighed; the rain felt good on his charred skin.

 

As Jaken mounted Ah-Un's back, he called to sword-smith. “I take my leave of you, Totosai. But know this: My master will be very displeased,” he warned.

 

“Bah!” Totosai said, waving his mallet angrily but weakly. “I'm not scared of him.”

 

“Then you're an even greater fool than I thought,” Jaken said, and he spurred Ah-Un's sides with his tiny feet. The dragon bellowed a farewell to Momo, whom he thought was an excellent fellow, and took off into the air just as the clouds seemed to subside.

 

Momo mooed a goodbye in response, and sat down next to Totosai, who leaned against his side, still rather exhausted. “Momo, my friend,” he said, shaking his head. “I have a feeling we'll be seeing that little youkai again.” He let out a great sigh. “So, what do you think of moving?”

 

 

Jaken fretted during the entire journey back. He had not found out the location of the grave, and he was sure his lord would punish him for his failure. He was not looking forward to the inevitable lump on his head. In order to delay his fate somewhat, he decided to take a short break along the way. Ah-Un landed in a forest near a human village, and Jaken leaned his back against a tree, biting his claws.

 

It must have been a fortunate day, for in that very tree were perched two bird youkai talking amongst themselves. Jaken's mother had taught him that eavesdropping wasn't polite, but he decided to make an exception. And it was in this way that he learned that not long ago, a hanyou who had been spellbound to a tree in the area had mysteriously woken up, and was now roaming free again. With a gasp, Jaken realized that this very hanyou must be none other than Lord Sesshomaru's wretched cur of a brother, who surely must know where their father's grave lay. (Unfortunately, this very same gasp cued in the birds, who did not care for eavesdroppers, to Jaken's presence and they chased after him, pecking his head until he was able to escape on Ah-Un who flew much faster than they.)

 

The next day they reached Sesshomaru, and Jaken threw himself at his feet.

 

“I have some good news for you, milord! I—”

 

But Sesshomaru interrupted him. “Did you find Totosai?”

 

“Yes, but—”

 

“Did he know the location of the grave?”

 

“No, but—”

 

“Then you have failed me.”

 

“Yes, but—”

 

There was the sound of a thwack… and when Jaken regained consciousness hours later, he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Sesshomaru reprimanded him for taking so long to wake up, and began walking off at an impossibly brisk pace to make up for wasted time.

 

As Jaken struggled to catch up, and called after his lord, begging not to be left behind, vaguely he wondered if there was something important he had forgotten to do… or say.

 

Oh well, he thought. He was sure it would come back to him… eventually.