InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Spirit Forlorn ❯ what more could he want? ( Chapter 1 )

Snowfall had begun again that morning and as irritating as it was, it neither affected nor harmed him, immunity being a trait of his species.

 

Their chosen path was free and cleared of all offending demons; his strength and power was well known and hardly anyone would be foolish enough to battle him.

 

He was also famous for his lack of mercy and sympathy, normally choosing to sever several precious limbs from his opponent's body before watching them slowly disintegrate, as his poison took hold.

 

His retainer and personal servant, Jaken, trotted slowly, always a metre behind him. Even though he could not see it, he could practically imagine his eyes boggling every time his silver hair swished side to side, as it was doing now.

 

He had come to accept the toad's obvious adoration of his person, knowing that it could not be helped. After all, perfection was indeed a beautiful sight to behold.

 

Rin, ever happy and cheerful, sat perched upon the back of Ah Un staring at him innocently. She too was another one who held affection for him; he saw it filled inside her big brown eyes. Though he would never admit it, after he had revived the girl from her death, and grown accustomed to her completely alien ningen habits, he realised that he was starting to feel the same for her too.

 

At first the prospect scared him slightly. Love was a weakness on his part and to be avoided at all costs. He had always believed that there was no one special in his heart and there never would be.

 

His father, the great general lord InuTaisho had died from that same weakness, after bedding a human woman and siring a hanyou son.

 

Hanyou, a simply pitiful species. The child had been nothing but a nuisance from the start. Born of both demon and human, he had grown up without either his mother or father as both had died during his fifth year. Then twelve years later, he'd gotten himself involved with a shrine priestess guarding the sacred jewel, the Shikon No Tama. Apparently he too fell in love with this human, though she was a well-known and powerful miko.

 

Once Naraku heard of their pairing, he sought to destroy them by impersonating Inuyasha. The deeds performed by the vile hanyou, ended with his half brother being sealed to a tree for fifty years by the miko to whom he swore undying love.

 

If that wasn't good enough proof that love was unnecessary, then what was?

 

Two men in his family, brought down by the simple mistake of loving someone. Though his idiot brother had always been likely to suffer and end up doing something ridiculous, their father had been a proud man, who wouldn't accept mistakes or failures. He had learnt the hard way.

 

To him, it seemed as if the Gods were issuing a warning.

`Stay clear of love if you don't want to suffer!' The message was very clear.

 

But on the subject of Rin, he couldn't seem to decide. Should he abandon her? Or leave her in some village? Could he do that? Or would he regret it later? All of the questions had filled his mind till he felt like his head was bulging with his thoughts. It took another week before the answer came to him.

 

Her presence had livened up his small travelling party consisting of him, Jaken and Ah Un. Children were a mystery to him, having none of his own, and her wild antics and crazy obsession with picking flowers made him extremely confused. Even more so when she continued to offer them to him, not being put off when he glared at her at said `no'.

 

As amusing as her company was, he had to leave her when facing an opponent in battle or when he needed time alone. During these times she often whined, hung onto his clothing or started to cry. Her reactions had always surprised him; it felt strange to have someone show so much emotion at his departure. But, all it took was one simple command `stop crying' and she'd stop and start to smile.

 

To him, her safety was of the greatest importance and so he assigned his most trusted and loyal servant to become her caretaker. Jaken was not amused.

 

Nevertheless, the toad had nothing to say in the matter. He made the rules and they were to be obeyed.

 

A sudden stir from an overhead branch woke him from his reverie. He looked up, eyes widening just in time to see a large clump of snow tumbling forwards, straight for him. His body reacted instantly and tried to side step away but…

Too late.

 

Sesshomaru carefully wiped the snow from his head, looking as calm and bored as ever. People who didn't know him, would have been surprised at how little emotion showed in his face after something as annoying as that occurred. Others, such as Rin and Jaken, would have laughed in private, knowing that he was probably seething inside.

 

He looked up and saw that Rin was still staring at him, but with a different expression this time. The corners of her mouth were raised slightly as if about to smile, but when he looked her way she lowered her eyes, instantly feigning innocence. He turned away and continued walking. He didn't want to see her laughing at him.

 

Pride was an important thing in his point of view; anyone who dared damage it would pay with his or her life. Not that anyone would try.

 

His lands were a great source of pride and a frequent burst to his ego. Though it was still necessary for him to patrol, hardly any youkai trespassed for fear of their life and the ones who did were simply taken care of. Easy peasy.

 

Life was, more often than not, boring for him. He was incredibly young and wealthy and powerful, plus he had Rin (Jaken didn't really fit in the equation) to amuse him daily. What more could he want?

 

A very rare and beautiful smile graced his lips. Since Rin had turned around and Jaken was behind, no one had been able to witness the stunning transformation that had taken place. For under the calm and often angry youkai shell, lay a surface underneath that was hardly ever uncovered. The true Sesshomaru.

 

***

 

Her feet were aching.

It was unnatural for her, being a demon, to suffer at such an extent just because she was travelling on foot. Demon feet had soles like rocks; they were very hard to penetrate. Nevertheless, she was in deep pain and her ever -so- impenetrable soles were slowly, surely wearing away.

 

She stopped and sat down heavily under a tree. Her feet were bleeding quite a lot she realised and would need some time to heal.

`I'll just have a little nap to rest my muscles a bit.' She whispered rubbing her cold body.

She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her knees defensively. If anything came, she'd be on guard.

 

Hardly any time had passed when a sparrow hopped out from its hiding place in the white leaves to stare at her questioningly. One of her eyes opened, sensing the newcomer's presence.

 

`Go away stupid bird!' she thought, waving her imaginary hand to shoo the bird away.

`Be gone!'

 

The bird ignored her mental pleas however, and was soon joined by two others. In their small beady eyes she could detect a faint trace of amusement and her temper flared.

`Fools! You dare to mock me?'

 

The birds cooed loudly in protest, hopping up and down on the branch. she sighed in defeat. She never had been any good at arguing with birds they were just too smart.

 

She stood up slowly, cursing herself for her laziness and grabbed her sac.

It was time to go.

***

 

A few hours later she was there, standing before a small human village several miles away.

The place had been extremely hard to find as it was in a secluded valley hidden behind snow tipped hills.

`I suppose that they don't receive many visitors.' She mused staring appreciatively at her chosen place of refuge.

Though it was small, she could see that it held many people, probably a hundred or so. A small river ran beside the hill she had climbed earlier and it was completely frozen up. Some men had been standing above the river, bending down and braking holes in the ice for fishing.

Overall, it looked like a pleasant place to stay and she congratulated herself for her choice.

A small laugh emitted from her mouth and

 

She was on a high; all her worries would be taken care of as soon as she rested for a few days in this quiet, remote village in the middle of nowhere. Nothing could possibly make her angry now.

With a skip in her step, she strode up to the village, smiling brightly when some of the villagers came outside.

 

The humans gathered together, forming a tight circle, almost a barrier, around the village. A woman led all the children back inside leaving the adults staring at her suspiciously.

 

`Strange behaviour' she thought, puzzling for a second. `I wonder why?'

 

Her mouth opened slightly as she prepared to introduce herself but she stopped when she heard the sound of them speaking.

 

“Oh good Buddha! Help us now! Look at that demon!”

 

“Do you think that she will eat us?”

 

“We will not let her, we will fight!!”

 

“She's a demon! You cannot defeat her!”

 

“What of the children? Shall we tell them to flee?”

 

“I do not know, perhaps we should!”

 

“Of course we should! I will not have my babies killed by monsters!”

 

“Me neither!”

 

“Do you think we can escape if we run now?”

 

“No of course not! Demons are very fast!”

 

Her face didn't show it but she was extremely puzzled. Didn't they know that she could hear them? And why did they think that she would eat them? These people were behaving in the most peculiar way.

 

“Humans!” she called out commandingly. All heads ceased their conversation and positions themselves to run.

`They try to flee?' she thought incredulously `what madness has occurred today?'

 

She addressed them all.

“I will not intrude upon your homes longer than is necessary but,” she stared into each of their eyes, locking them in her powerful gaze.

“I wish to obtain some provisions for my journey.”

 

As she finished her sentence, she lowered her eyes away from their entranced faces. `Perhaps now they will behave normally.' She thought.

 

Once again, she did not receive a reply from the villagers. They continued to converse among themselves in loud voices, but she blocked her ears, not wanting to overhear their nonsense babble.

 

Finally, the village elder, shuffled towards her. When there was only a metre's distance between them, he bowed low.

`At last, I'm getting some respect from these people!'

 

“Please, my lady” he said, nose practically touching the floor. “It would be an honour if we could provide for you in your time of need.”

 

She wrinkled her nose distastefully. The man reeked of sweat and extreme body odour; he probably hadn't bathed for days. Her stronger senses began to hone into his emotions curiously. Something about the man seemed slightly false and she needed to know what it was.

 

A powerful wave of feelings engulfed her nose and her eyes were filled with the strong colour of blue. Immediately her eyebrows shot upwards. Blue was the colour of fear. Why was he so afraid?

 

After a slight hesitation, she probed further and realised that his fear was mixed in with something else. Hate.

 

The colour red burned bright as fire and as deep and dark as blood. The intensity of it was overwhelming. What could have caused such an effect to occur? When she looked around, she could feel the same torrent of red sweeping off the remaining men and women in the village.

 

`So they hate me do they?' she thought angrily. `Their kindness is only based on fear for themselves and their homes?'

 

Her face, despite its artistic beauty, contorted into an image of rage. Her bright mossy green eyes darkened and she let out a deep growl.

She needed to release her anger, her frustration, her madness…

 

The man raised his head fearfully, noticing her deep haggard breaths and slightly flared nostrils. She uttered one word.

“Run.”

 

All hell bent loose in the tiny village as the man ran back towards the huts yelling frantically “demon attack! Demon attack!”

Villagers started calling names in loud brash voices while others scrambled gathering their belongings and children.

The neat and calmly postured wives of the men scattered in all directions, knocking heads once, before realising their mistake and sprinting into their homes.

 

She began to advance towards them slowly, her demon blood rising and calling out to her. It demanded that she slay these humans, filthy ingrates that were not worthy enough to even wipe the dirt of her boots. Death and destruction were her powers, inheritance of her demonic ancestors; her flames of fire contaminated her whole being.

Her strides became more powerful, faster and faster she ran, burning the little huts they called homes.

Humans were everywhere, hiding in the silliest of places, under mats or hidden in wells. She would find them all.

 

Then, a little to her left, she heard the loud sounds of an infant child crying.

In seconds she was there, wrist gripped tightly around his neck, watching sadistically as his face turned purple from the lack of oxygen. His mother screamed hoarsely, a pain to her sensitive ears: she would be the next to die.

 

 

She squeezed tighter on the child's neck feeling his pulse slacken in her palm. The woman stood watching her baby die, with tears rolling down her cheeks and loud heart wrenching sobs.

 

She laughed. She had always been the best at killing.

Too long she had been kept away without feeling the misery around her. Now she was back again, now she was free. Now she was…

 

“Wait!”

A small girl, no older than fourteen, spoke to her, lowering her eyes timidly when the demon looked her way.

`How dare she! This stupid human brat talks to me? Outrageous!'

 

“Please,” she continued. “ Please stop.”

 

A strange itching appeared at the surface of her mind. The girl reminded her of someone she knew, someone she loved.

The red flames on her body died down and her breathing calmed. After a moment her vision cleared again and she saw everything.

 

Her hand released the limp boy and dropped him into his mother's waiting arms. She turned and observed the destruction around her.

 

`What have I done?' she wondered out loud, completely mesmerised by the flames and ashes that had once been a village.

Nothing in this peaceful little valley had remained the same, everything was gone; the trees were burned down, the huts were ashes. Only the people remained, living witnesses to the mass destruction she had caused.

 

“I'm not… I didn't mean to… please,” she started.

She looked up at their faces and looked away again. She could see it in their eyes; nothing she could say would repair the damage.

 

“I'm sorry.” She mumbled quietly. The humans regarded her spitefully, angry tears rolling down their cheeks. They had no homes, in the middle of winter, when the cold was at its peak. How would they survive?

The unspoken question hung in the air.

 

Without saying a word, she started running away from them in the direction she'd come, finally understand their reason for fearing her.

Her departure had been to quick for them to react, the saddened villagers looked hopelessly after her, their chances of survival ultimately crushed.