InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Confrontation II: Trials and Tribulations ❯ Haunted Childhood Memories ( Chapter 19 )

A/N: Once again all characters will be walking that fine line of OOCness. Zetsumei Kyo, means death's cry. This chapter started out as the second half of the next chapter, but when I got into the heart of it, I decided that it deserved it's own spotlight. Nothing much to say except thanks for your continued support and to my wonderful beta, Neko Lady, you out did yourself this go round!! Thanks ever so much!!

 

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership to anyone with the exception of Teela, Kanomaru, Joudama, Susamajii, Mana, Rinji, Reinto, and Masotako. Everyone else belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz.

 

Chapter 19:

 

Haunted Childhood Memories

 

Reinto sat high in the branches of the largest tree he could find, waiting patiently for the humans to settle down for the night. He'd been here since early afternoon watching them…stalking them…waiting for the perfect moment to strike, for lack of a better word.

 

He watched patiently from the hidden branches as the ninjen children played silly little games with one another, ignorant of what heartbreak the night would bring. He'd watched the men till the fields and the woman scurry busily to and from the river that sat not far from the village.

 

He'd been ordered to this village…the village of the hanyou, Inuyasha. He was told that all inhabitants with the exception of one, was to be killed and the village burned to the ground. Reinto supposed that one person was to be left alive so that they could inform the hanyou of the carnage. This in return would make him leave the Lord of the West's home in hopes of salvaging what was left of his own home.

 

`Kill everyone,' he thought grudgingly as he stared down at a group of women walking right below him, chatting about what he saw as absolute drivel.

 

His heart, for the most part, had resigned itself to the fact that what he was ordered to do was wrong. Perhaps as retribution for this, in his next life, he'd come back as a slug or maybe a flea and would be killed within a second of his birth.

 

`For the lives that I've taken…that I will take, I deserve nothing less.'

 

He'd grown accustomed to waiting and watching, sometimes he even enjoyed it, because it gave him a glimpse into the lives of other people...species. That in itself was a double-edged sword. He was not only getting a glimpse into their lives, but he was also watching and mentally recording their last moments on this earth.

 

Looking away from the women and towards the village, he noticed an old hobbled woman exit one of the decrepit looking huts with a two-tailed cat in tow. `A demon?' he questioned, not expecting to find any other youkai's here. However, this didn't unnerve him in the least. It was merely a Neko youkai, and he was an Inu youkai. Dogs always won over cats.

 

He watched as the cat stopped and glanced towards the forest, and then continued its stroll with the hag. Reinto knew that if anything, the cat had probably sensed a faint demonic aura and dismissed. After all he was downwind and had his aura wrapped so tightly around himself that it could have choked him.

 

Sitting, he stretched out his legs along the branch and sat back so that his back was pressed against the bark of the tree. Crossing his arms over his chest, he closed his eyes and listened as the villagers continued with their mundane activities.

 

His mind drifted ever so slowly back to a time, an era, when he was innocent, free of the bloodshed that now coated his hands, and weighed heavy on his heart.

 

Flashback

 

“Father, you're back?” the four year old, white haired, and blue-eyed pup yelled as he swiftly ran towards his father. Leaping into the demons arms, he wrapped his short arms tightly around his neck and hugged him.

 

His father laughed heartily as he replied, “So you've missed me, eh?” Setting his son down, he inquired softly while patting his heir's snow-white mane, “Have you been a good boy, Reinto?”

 

He nodded agreeably. “Yes sir. I even killed a rat demon. He tried to get away, but I hunted him down, Father, just like you taught me. I used my nose,” he finished, pointing to the stout appendage.

 

Staring down at the boy with pride, the elder Inu inquired, “It was a good kill, right? You didn't seek him out, did you?”

 

“Nope,” Reinto replied happily. “He snuck onto the grounds and was trying to steal my lunch, and then he scared Mother!”

 

“That's a good boy. You must always protect what's yours at all cost, but you do not take anything from another that is not given to you willingly. That is the only thing that separates us from the beasts and murders. Always remember that, Reinto.”

 

“Yes sir,” he replied standing back, his little chest puffed out and his shoulders squared. He could tell by the look in his father's eyes that he had made him proud.

 

Removing his sheathed sword from his waist, the older youkai knelt to meet his pup as he asked, “Now where is your beautiful mother?”

 

Pointing towards the path that lead around their home and into the garden, Reinto stated, as if it were a secret,“She's sitting by the Koi pond reading another one of her boring books.”

 

Standing to his feet, he smiled down at his son for a moment contemplating something. Handing the child his sword, he stated, “It's heavy, so be careful with it.”

 

Reinto felt so proud of himself at that moment. His father had never trusted him with cleaning the famed fang named, Zetsumei Kyo, or even holding it. Looking down at the sheathed sword, than over at his father who was quickly disappearing down the path that lead around their estate, the pup grinned from ear to ear as he hugged it to his chest. `I'll take good care of it, Father. I'll clean it really well, because one day…one day it'll belong to me.'

 

End Flashback

 

Reinto sat up reaching for his hip. The sword…the only thing that he still had that had once belonged to his father wasn't there! For a brief moment he'd forgotten that it was locked away in the land of the west, on order of Lord Sesshomaru for the duration of their stay, hidden from his sight…his reach.

 

He growled low in his throat. `Zetsumei…Kyo,' he thought. The blade had become like an extension of his body. He went nowhere without it and allowed no one to touch it. It was all he had left of his heritage…his family…his father.

 

A deep frown marred his brow as he tried relentlessly to stop his mind from wandering back to that night…The night he became Zetsumei Kyo's sole owner. Even to this day, he still wasn't sure how or why things went so wrong. However, he did know that it was the night he became an orphan. It was the one-day in his life that he couldn't…didn't…was unable to protect what was his.

 

Flashback

 

Reinto sat up with a jolt, unsure at the moment of where he was or why. All he knew was that he felt like he was being suffocated. His nose was clogged with smoke, which was filtering in through the cracks in the weaponry room where he had been cleaning his father's fang.

 

`What's going on? Where's this smoke coming from?' he thought as he jumped to his little feet and hurried to the door. Pushing against it, he quickly retreated back as the heat from what he knew could only be fire, burned his little hands.

 

“Father, Mother!” he screamed frantically. “Help me! I can't get out!” Coughing, he tried to cover his mouth and nose as best he could, but to no avail. The smoke was everywhere as if it was a living-breathing thing, hell bent of seeking out and destroying everything in its path.

 

He could hear frantic voices screaming and shouting at one another outside the door, but none that he recognized.

 

Looking around the room, Reinto tried to find something that he could use to get out but the only thing he saw, that he could possibly use, was Zetsumei Kyo. Picking it up, he ran to the opposite wall and jammed it in between the cracks. Pushing it with all the force that his little body held; he pried one plank loose than began working on a second.

 

Hearing a woman screaming his name, he stopped what he was doing and ran back to the door. “Mother, I'm in here! I can't get out!” he screamed.

 

All he heard in response was his mother's earth shattering scream and a man mumble something that he couldn't quite comprehend. He smelled her blood and felt her youkai slowly disappearing as if it was being erased from his mind.

 

“Mother, mother, can you hear me! Are you okay! Mother,” he shouted as he ignored the heat of the fire burning on the other side of the door and pounded relentlessly against it, trying to get to her. “Mother, I'm coming! I'm coming to protect you, I promise,” he screamed.

 

Running to the opposite wall, he took off full speed and threw his small body against the wall trying to break it down but it didn't give an inch.

 

`Don't…don't die, mother! I'm coming!'

 

Running back to the plank that he'd already broken, Reinto clawed at the wood. Pulling against it with strength he didn't know he had, the wood snapped in two, but the space still wasn't big enough for him to fit through. He grabbed his father's sword and repeated his actions from before until he heard a snap. Dropping the sword, he tugged and pulled against the wood until it broke as well.

 

Sparing just a moment to grab his father's trusted steel, Reinto crawled quickly through the hole. After sprinting around the building, he was stopped dead in his tracks by what he saw.

 

His home was ablaze! Fire…Fire was everywhere, roaring and volatile like a creature alive and breathing with a mind of it's own. The Sakura trees and the beautiful gardens were trampled and littered with dead bodies of youkai's that he knew were loyal to only his father.

 

His little mind couldn't accept what his eyes were seeing. His heart pounded within his chest as his grip tightened on the sword that he was dragging behind him. Turning in a slow circle, he saw youkai fighting, cutting, and slashing ruthlessly at one another.

 

`What's…what's going on?' he thought as his eyes fell on a woman lying in a pool of her own blood. Upon closer inspection, he realized that she was Lyako, his mother.

 

Dropping the sword, he ran to her, his heart hammering as if it was a rhythm-less beat of a drum. She couldn't be dead, she couldn't be! Dropping to his knees, he screamed, “Mother, Mother, I'm here!”

 

Her body was dead weight as he clumsily rolled her over.

 

Blood was everywhere! It covered her chest, her neck the side of her face, and even her hair. He could clearly see where a sword had been slashed down her front and where the same weapon, he supposed, had entered through her back and punctured through her chest.

 

“Mother,” he whispered hoarsely as he pushed gently against her shoulder. “Mother, please…please get up. We…we have to go, we have to find Father.”

 

His mother didn't open her eyes or move an inch and the little youkai's heart sank into the depths of his stomach.

 

Looking around for someone…anyone that could help him, Reinto screamed, “Somebody please help me! My mother, she's…she's...” He couldn't finish that sentence. If he admitted it…if he said it out loud…Turning his attention back to her body, he threw himself down on her so that he was hugging her neck. “Please mother, don't leave me! Please,” he cried heart brokenly.

 

“R…Rein…” she whispered weakly.

 

Sitting back, he stared at her, his heart overjoyed that she hadn't died. “Mother?”

 

“…My baby…” she whispered, her voice growing softer with every word that fell from her lips.

 

“I'm here, Mother, I'm here,” he cried as he cuddled closer to her, her blood now coating the front of the short boy's kimono he wore and the side of his face.

 

She tried to smile at him in order to reassure him that she was okay, but instead she coughed harshly causing blood to sputter out of her mouth, yet still she tried to speak, “Run.”

 

He heard her clearly. “No Mother. I can't…I can't leave you. I'll go get Father. He'll save you, I know he will!”

 

Her hand came up to grip his arm tightly as she stated again and for the final time, “Run…now.” As the last word fell from her lips, her eyes rolled to back of her head as her body shook violently then went deathly still before him.

 

He wanted to cry and scream, but he was too stunned…to ashamed that he couldn't do anything to save her, to spare her the death she didn't' deserve.

 

`Mother,' he thought sadly, falling back on his bottom. “I'm…I'm sorry,” he whispered as he stared down at her half opened eyes, silently praying that she'd get up and tell him that she was okay.

 

He felt like he was being forced to grow-up a year a minute. He was a child, he was not supposed to see his mother die like this, he was just a pup, for Kami's sake! This couldn't be happening! Maybe…maybe he was still sleeping… Maybe this was nothing more than a nightmare!

 

“Reinto, Lyako?” he heard his father shout desperately.

 

Jumping to his feet, he spared one last moment to gaze down at his mother's corpse before he took off towards his father, Zetsumei Kyo dragging behind him. “Father, they…they killed her! They killed Mother!” he cried as he rounded the bend and ran dead into his mentor.

 

His father was drenched in blood. Whether it from him or his enemies that he'd taken down, Reinto didn't know. “Father?”

 

The elder youkai dropped to his knees, pulling his son to him, he hugged him tightly as he stared at the body of his mate. It was as if he knew that this was it, because what he said next shocked and sent the boy's heart plummeting into his stomach all over again.

 

“Reinto, I need you run. I need you to run to the West.”

 

“But…But Father?”

 

“There are no buts! Run Westerly until you reach the ocean, you will find help there!”

 

“Father, I don't…” His words died on his lips as he looked away from his father's face and up at the massive amount of demons now surrounding them.

 

Someone spoke from the darkness, the voice cold, distant, filled with hatred. That voice… Those words would haunt the child for years to come, “Masotako, your reign comes to an end this night.”

 

Looking at his father who was now staring at him with a regretful smile on his face, Reinto stepped back, understanding without wanting to, exactly what was happening. These people had caught his father off guard! They had come to kill him! They'd come to take what wasn't theirs! Lifting his arm, he held Zetsumei Kyo out for his father to take. “Here, I cleaned her for you, father.”

 

Why weren't the men attacking? His father had his back to most of them. He...both of them were vulnerable at this point. What were they waiting for?

 

Reinto watched as his father stared over his shoulder at the body of his mother, a grime expression marring his manly face.

 

Masotako stood slowly to his feet as he shook his head in a negative manner. Pushing the sword away, and towards his son, he stated, “Remember what I've taught you, my son.”

 

He watched his father…his mentor turn his back to him and square his shoulders, his head held high…proud. There was no scent of fear; there was neither anger nor hatred, only regret and heartache.

 

Reinto watched his sire move to and through the youkai's with so much speed, grace, and voracity that it stunned him. He stood there watching his father decapitate demon after demon. He watched him rip his claws down and through a few of their bodies then flip through the air only to land in front of another youkai who'd within seconds crumble at his feet.

 

He stood their watching in awe and praying that one-day he'd be able to fight like that. His father's eyes locked with his for an all too brief moment. Time slowed to a crawl as his father passive face turned to one of sheer pain. Someone…someone had attacked from behind.

 

“Father,” the pup screamed, but stopped as his father spun around and raked his claws across the face and chest of the man that was cowardly enough to attack him from behind.

 

“Reinto, run,” Masotako ordered.

 

Staring for only moment longer the child knew that his father was going to be killed and that this was his way of saving him. He was trying to keep the demons busy while he got away.

 

Backing away as the remaining demons crowded around his father once more, Reinto wasted no more time as he took off at an incredibly fast pace into the woods that would carry him to the west.

 

Moment's later, he smelled his father's blood penetrate the air around him and he stumbled but caught himself on the fang that he knew now belonged to only him.

 

Tears began to pour from his eyes as he pushed himself on, determined to get out of harms way. `Father…Mother', he thought as a low branch slapped him in his face. He paid it no mind as the shouts of the men that had just killed his father and mother floated to him on the wind.

 

They were gaining on him swiftly, too swiftly. His little legs would only carry him so far, so fast. What was he supposed do? Where was he supposed to go? He couldn't defend himself against them. He wouldn't be able to stop them.

 

The little boy stumbled and fell to the ground, his heart racing within burning chest. He didn't want to think…he didn't want to face the truth that he was now alone, that his father had just been killed. He couldn't… He refused to accept the truth even though the air around him was permeated with a mixture of both his parent's blood.

 

The little boy coughed as he pushed himself to his feet. He would not die here! He would not die without a fight! Picking up the sword, he quickly pulled the blade free and turned to the men that were coming out of the trees around him.

 

Turning in small tight circle, he counted them. `7…these 7 demons killed my father.' His little mind knew that it had been way more than this that had his father surrounded. Did that mean that his father had killed more than 20 of them?

 

Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he stated proudly while trying to hold up the heavy blade, “I am Reinto. My Father is Masotako and my mother is Lyako of the Middle Lands. I will not die without a fight!”

 

“What will you do, runt?” one of the men asked coldly while stepping towards him.

 

Reinto stepped back and stopped. His father hadn't raised coward! These men had killed what was his. They'd taken everything from him! They'd left him alone with nothing but the sword he held in his hands!

 

Anger unlike anything he felt before boiled up in the child. He saw glimpses of his mother smiling and laughing. He saw his father's face and heard his voice echoing within his mind, `You do not allow anyone to take anything from you that you are not willingly giving away.'

 

Reinto growled and charged at the full-grown youkai, but was back handed across the face and knocked into the base of a tree.

 

Pushing himself up to his feet, the boy swayed slightly but held his ground. Wiping the trail of blood that drained from his torn lip, he growled and charged at the man again, this time with his tiny claws outstretched before him.

 

Reinto felt a fist connect with his face and then there was nothing but darkness.

 

Upon waking up he saw a strange demon sitting across from him and the men that had killed his family and tried to kill him, were nowhere in sight..

 

Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he heard the demon say, “You have been gravely injured Pup, lie still.”

 

Reinto ignored him and crawled away and towards the nearest tree. Looking around him, he jumped up frantically and shouted, “Where's my sword? Where's my father's fang? Give it to me, you thief!”

 

The demon narrowed his eyes at the boy, and then forced a smile. “Your sword is right here,” he replied as he patted the ground next to him.

 

Running over to the youkai, he snatched up Zetsumei Kyo and ran back to the tree. Clutching it to his chest, he stared at the demon, as a slow tear trickled from his eye. Wiping it away with the back of his hand, he looked away from the demon and towards the fire that he must have built.

 

`Did he save me? What happened to the demon's that killed my mother and my father?' he thought. Looking back at the youkai that was staring at him, he inquired softly, “Did you…did you save me?”

 

As if he had to think that over, he responded, “Yes, I did.”

 

“You…you didn't have to do that. I…I could've taken them.”

 

Pushing his long silver hair over his shoulder, he stared at the boy for a moment longer, his silver eyes seemingly devouring him. “If you were conscious, I'm sure you would've,” he responded sounding serious.

 

Standing up, the nameless demon turned his back to the pup, as he continued, “It's best that you come with me.”

 

Springing to his feet the child backed away. Looking in the direction of his home, which he couldn't see, but could still smell the smoke and the blood. “My father told me to go to the West. He told me that I'd find help there.”

 

“I see,” the Inu stated stopping, “My name is Susamajii, Prince of the South. Your father and myself were allies, pup. I'm just sorry that I didn't come in time to help him. You may come with me, or you may traverse the territory to the west alone, the choice is yours.”

 

End Flashback

 

Reinto sat up shaking his head as he stared out into the night. That was how he met Lord Susamajii. That was how his life became this…this…indescribable pit of murder, blood and regret.

 

After arriving at the castle of the southern lord, Susamajii had advised him that he'd sent word to the West to inform them that he was alive and well, but there was never a response received.

 

Even to this day, Reinto still wasn't sure why his father wanted him to go to the West. Eventually, he forgot about it and gave into to the life that Susamajii wanted for him. It was the life of a hunter…an assassin…a killer…a murderer.

 

`I owe him my life. If he hadn't found me…'

 

Leaping from the branch to the ground without disturbing a single twig beneath his feet, Reinto walked towards the edge of forest that bordered the now sleeping village.

 

`I've killed for him. I've spent my whole life taking lives for him, in order to pay him back for saving mine. How many more lives will I have to take, before my debt is repaid? How many more people will be robbed of their lives because he saved mine?'

 

Staring at the village for a moment, he sighed heavily…regrettably.

 

He had a job to do, and he would do it, no matter how heavily it would weigh on his heart and mind.

 

`Maybe after this travesty, my reincarnation will be pond scum,' he thought as he ran swiftly towards the village, and the hut that housed the two-tailed cat.

 

Until Next Time…(Your .02 cents are greatly appreciated.)