InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cursed ❯ Day Two ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two - Day Two

 

He didn't move from that spot all night. He simply stayed there and tried to figure out what he should do next. This was most definitely the worst situation he had ever found himself in. He could not return to his western home, such a course of action would prove fatal. In fact, many of the options he'd rolled around in his mind would prove to end in the same fashion as that was what the creature that had done this to him most likely had planned. If any of his enemies found out of his current condition, they would cut him down without a second thought. There were many that would be more than happy to be rid of the world of the Lord of the Western Lands. He stared over at Tokijin. He was unable to even touch the blade. Even drawing near it would cause harm to the body that he now detestfully called his own.

 

Finally he stood. There was only one thing he could do.

 

Leave the Western Lands for the year, lay low and survive until the creature kept to its end of the bargain and gave his youkai form back to him. Even if it could not even be trusted to keep its word he had no other choice. He was as weak as the humans he had dispatched just the day before and though he hated to admit it, any youkai of any strength, even lower youkai, could easily dispatch him as he was. He had no weapon, no place safe to go and he had absolutely no idea how to live as a human. Already, he was feeling the tell tale signs of hunger, something he shouldn't have experienced for at least another weak were he himself.

 

Humans were pathetic and having the body of one only confirmed that long held belief. He needed to change out of these cloths as well. His attire was too well known and could only get him killed. The only human cloths that he knew he would have access to were the ones of those he had killed the night before. So, feeling the effects of both hunger and exhaustion, he picked himself up and headed back in the direction he had come from the night before, leaving Tokijin just laying as it were. He was thankful at least, that Tensaiga was with his traveling companions. So he headed out as there was nothing more he could do in this place.

 

The return walk seemed to take far longer than he originally expected. Despite his greatly decreased sense of smell, it was the stench that first alerted him that he was close to his goal. As quietly as his human legs would carry him, he peered into the clearing of the previous night's massacre. There were crows and a few other small scavengers taking advantage of the feast he'd provided, nothing that would pose a threat to him so he quietly moved into the clearing and searched over the bodies. The smell was overpowering and at one point, it became so overwhelming that his stomach became rebellious. He threw up bile onto the ground and cursed the strange creature that had done this to him to a life of torment and pain for the thousandth time.

 

It was sick business, sifting through bodies, trying to find something that he could wear. After some time and about thirty bodies, he finally came across enough still intact cloths to fully cover himself. The cloths themselves stunk and not because they had been resting against dead flesh. The men had obviously not found bathing to be a priority in their lives and now he would be forced to where their cloths. He took a sword of barely passable quality from one of them, as he was determined to have some sort of protection even if it were only a human blade. He stole himself back into the forest and to the first stream he could find.

 

Luckily, being turned human had done nothing to his memory. He was still in his ancestral territory and he knew the lay of the land better than anyone. It was unfortunate that he would have to leave it. Once he arrived at the stream, he set to cleaning as much of the stench out of his stolen cloths as possible and then proceeded to bury the fine red and while silks of his birthright. It would be better if no one knew what happened to him. After all, it was not uncommon for him to leave unexpectedly and unannounced. He did this on occasion to test the loyalty of those that served him. They knew exactly how his lands were to be run and should be able to do so even in his absence. It would ensure that when the year's time had passed, his lands would still be his and a war would not have to be started in order to regain them.

 

He shook his head. Never in a million lifetimes would he have thought that this would be the contingency that particular exercise would be used for. After the cloths had dried enough to his liking but without taking up too much time, he redressed and headed south. It would be better to relocate to a warmer region as he would have to spend an entire winter in this fragile body. As he hiked along, he began to formulate exactly how he was going to feed himself for the next year but more importantly and more pressing, how he was going to feed himself within the next day. He knew humans could go for a week or more without food but that they steadily became weaker and weaker as each day without sustenance passed until they could barely stand. He needed food and he needed food that humans could eat and the sooner the better.

 

Sesshoumaru continued on like this for the better part of the day but was no closer to finding a solution to his problem than he had been that morning. Instead, his hunger had only increased and he actually found it to be mildly painful. He was sure that it didn't help that in his youkai form, he had not eaten in several weeks. By the time the sun was setting, he decided to find as sheltered a location as possible. That turned out to be the collapsed side of a hill with an overhang of brambles and vines that would hopefully conceal his location from those that would intend him harm. There he drew his knees up to his chest and succumbed to the exhaustion that rapidly overtook his body.

 

 

Sesshoumaru awoke to the sounds of scuffling outside the screen of his vegetative wall. He remained stock still and drew in a quiet sniff through his nose and was disappointed that he could not identify what it was by smell. The only thing he registered was the faint smell of earth, most likely the one he was sitting in. If he moved out of his hiding place, he wasn't even sure if he would even be able to see the creature. It was near pitch black where he sat and wasn't sure how much better it would be outside of it. And here was where he found his quandary. If he stayed, he may be safely hidden enough to not be detected but if the animal or youkai had any sense of smell and was predatory in the least, then if he stayed, he would be trapped and an easy target.

 

Gripping the hilt of his stolen sword, he quietly stood and attempted to peer out of his chosen sleeping place for the evening. Even to his weak eyes, he saw what was out there and what he saw, he cursed. Could his luck be any worse? There, not ten paces away, was an incredibly large boar youkai. In his youkai form, the beast would have posed no problem. It would have run from him or been easily dispatched if the creature had been particularly stupid and chosen to attack. But now...he wasn't sure. He didn't know what strength he possessed as a human and, if how tired he was after just one day of travel was any indication, it wouldn't be enough. He knew that boar youkai were not fierce predators but one of this size must have developed a penchant for meat in order to grow so large.

 

He remained stock still, hoping that the creature would just slowly move on and not notice the easy prey just behind the bramble. Sesshoumaru watched as the creature slowly rooted up parts of the ground as it slowly plodded along. Its large body heaved with each inhale of his massive lungs and its sharp hooves dug into the ground with each step as the earth was unable to support the weight of the beast without doing so. Its tail lazily whipped back and forth in a seemingly bored fashion. Its massive head, with its slimy nose swung form side to side, sniffing and rooting around. The long tusks that nearly crossed over in front of the beast's nose were a testament to the age of this large youkai. This one would not have attacked him; it was too old and wise to have done that when he had been youkai. But it was also so old because it was clever enough to not miss easy meals when they were presented and that's exactly what it was thinking when it smelled a lone human.

 

Sesshoumaru knew his secret was out when the tail stopped twitching and the great head ceased it roving sweeps of the ground in front of it. So as to not be trapped in the confines of the hollow, he sprang out of his hiding place and not a moment too soon either, the moment he dashed out, that huge head with its threatening curve tusks crashed through the vines. Knowing that he couldn't outrun the beast as he was and gripping the hilt, he dove at the beast plunging the blade as far into its great mass as he possibly could.

 

The mighty boar let out an angry squeal of pain and whipped around, crashing the side of its body against Sesshoumaru's human form. The force of the blow knocked him a ful forty paces away from the now enraged creature. The force of the impact and resulting fall tore the air out of his lungs and left him gasping for breath but he didn't have time to fully recover. No sooner had he stood that he was forced to dive off to the side as the beast rushed him with the full intent of goring this human into the ground. It would take pleasure in it as a vengeance for the still burning in its side that it knew was caused by the tiny mortal.

 

Sesshoumaru scrambled to his feet a second time and took off running into the forest. There was nothing else he could do. He didn't have another weapon and staying was suicidal even though his attempt at running would prove just as useless. He heard and felt the creature crashing through the forest behind him. He tried to dart back and forth through the massive tree trunks but failed to outrun or outsmart his pursuer. A sudden pain ran through his body, the likes of which he'd never before known. It emanated from his leg but he didn't have time to think on it anymore as he was sent crashing off to the side having been thrown there by the swinging head of the boar youkai. Sesshoumaru stood again but quickly found that he could not support his weight on one of his legs and crashed back to the ground. He knew the boar was making a return pass and that would be the end of the great and powerful Lord Sesshoumaru.

 

With renewed determination, he pulled himself up and hobbled as far as he could and was surprised to find himself suddenly at the edge of the forest. Up ahead he saw a rise in the hill. It was a place he knew well enough and he knew that on the other side of that particularly unimpressive incline was a sudden drop off. If he could get there before the beast, perhaps he could survive this after all.

 

He heard the boar once again, and it was approaching fast. As quickly as his injured body could carry him, he threw himself up the hill. He felt the ground shaking with the impact of the beast's weight. He was very nearly there and with the last of his strength, he flung himself onto the crest of the hill. As he'd hoped, the boar was still going at full speed, enraged that a mere human had harmed it. When it saw what was on the other side of the hill, it was too late. It was going over. This wise old youkai was going to die because of some meal had outwitted him. Well, if he was going to die, he was going to take the human with him. In a move that was only meant to pull him down with him, the boar swung its head to the side and tried to sweep the human up with his tusks. He was successful but only partly.

 

Sesshoumaru once again felt pain course through his body and the last thing he knew, he was flying through the air as unconsciousness overtook him.

 

 

angelsfalltearfully - Grad you liked the first chapter. You have the distinction of being my first review I've ever gotten on a first chapter.

Kira Kitsune - But keep her in mind, she doesn't come back to life or anything by she is still important to the storyline in little ways.

Puddle - I've seen a couple of Sess turned human before but I've never seen one finished. Notice that this is my first fic that has the genera of romance and not just angst and hentai, so there is the definite possibility. I am sorry about `Her Choice' but there may be more in the future, so chin up.