InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Displacement ❯ "What Else Can I Do?" ( Chapter 14 )

 

Displacement

 

Forgive the late update. My computer went kaput. Dead, broken, crashed and burned up in its own ashes. So I'm working off my parent's PC- thankfully once my PC started freezing prior to the big kabunka, I backed all my files upon a USB.

 

Chapter 14

 

“What Else Can I Do?”

 

“He got what he needs for the Tenseiga. I guess now we can get Kagome and go home,” Inuyasha thought silently, looking up. The hanyou was out on the roof of the Song Shan shrine while his father and Yuka slept inside. Inuyasha lowered his eyes and picked up the sheathed Tetsusaiga around his waist, drawing the fang. His reflection glinted dully on the sword's rusted and battered blade.

 

“The Tenseiga that he brought back had the same aura as Sesshomaru's, so I guess it has its healing powers now. But the way he looked at me…what else did the priestess tell him that made him look at me like that?” Inuyasha's brow furrowed. The priestess professed the power to see through time. Did she know who he was? Well that was a given, she had said she'd looked into Toga's future, Inuyasha's identity would have been made known to her if she had. Could she had told Toga about him? He sheathed the sword and closed his eyes. That was not an appealing throught.

 

He had no desire in messing up time. He and Kagome both had no business being back this far as he was concerned, almost two thousand years before they even met and well over that time before she was even born. He had no idea what changing history this far back could do. In the sengoku jidai things were different, he belonged there, but here he was as out of place as Kagome was.

 

“She's the one who has to worry about changing time, not me,” he realized. “Does she ever think about stuff like that? She did mention something about that Hobo loser being back here or something. What does that mean?” There was a small sound, and Inuyasha's ear twitched as he lowered his head. He was silent as he watched Toga step out of the shrine and approach the far balcony of the wooden terrace, looking out over the rest of the mountain.

 

“Tenseiga's dark power has been suppressed, but a new power has replaced the meidou,” Toga said to himself, drawing the newly enchanted sword. The Tenseiga glowed a different hue of blue in the moonlight than before. Toga turned the blade in his hand, looking over the swirls of energy, now multi-hued blue in dozens of shades of blue. A small image appeared in the sword between bands of power, and Toga turned his eyes.

 

“You need not hide from me, Inuyasha,” he called, lowering the Tenseiga and placing it on the wooden railing before him. Inuyasha stood up and leapt down from the roof, padding on the platform slightly.

 

“I just figured you wanted to be alone,” Inuyasha explained, folding his arms into the sleeves of his haori.

 

“I do, but I would not be entirely adverse to some company,” Toga replied. The two were silent for a moment as Toga looked down at the Tenseiga.

 

“Lady Song told me the fate of my Tenseiga,” he said after a moment. Inuyasha gasped slightly.

 

“Yeah?” he asked carefully. So had she told him what he was after all?

 

“She claims a youkai named Sesshomaru will complete my meidou many centuries in the future. She tells me this Sesshomaru shall be my son,” Toga continued. “I shall leave the Tenseiga to my son. Do you comprehend what that means, Inuyasha?” Inuyasha didn't respond. Toga didn't need him too. Inuyasha knew his father's fate and the events with Takemaru of Setsuna and his mother that would lead to his downfall after the battle with Ryukotsusei. But if Lady Song, a priestess a lot wiser than him, hadn't told Toga, what right did he have to?

 

“It means I shall not live to see the Tenseiga reach its full power,” Toga finished, looking down at the sword. He reached down to his hip and drew the Tetsusaiga, laying it down beside its brother. The two swords gently pulsed in recognition of their twin, and Toga lay a hand over the blades and breathed deeply, molten eyes drifting shut. Inuyasha let his mouth open slightly. So, that had been the terrible secret Lady Song had shared with him.

 

“So what do you intend to do?” Inuyasha asked. Toga let out his breath and raised his head.

 

“I shall live my life as best as I am able, do what I can and must, and when the time comes I shall face my destiny with honor and dignity,” he said after a moment.

 

“That's it?” Inuyasha protested. His outburst caused the taiyoukai to open his eyes and turn to face him. “You just got told you're going to die and you're just going to go on with your life as if it doesn't matter?”

 

“What else can I do?” Toga demanded angrily. He calmed himself and sighed. “You are young and naïve, Inuyasha. You still have much to learn. Idealism is a wonderful trait to have, but at the end of the day it is just that - an idea. Death comes for us all, youkai, hanyou and human alike. It comes swifter or slower for some, but in time it comes all the same. It is the way of all things for them, in time, to pass. It is a sad truth, but one that will not be denied. When you have held the power of hell in your hand and felt its dark maw clamoring for you, perhaps then you will understand.”

 

“You've accepted this…” Inuyasha whispered, slowly shaking his head.

 

“I accept that even if Lady Song had not told me, I would still die. And even if I were to survive the death preordained for me, then what? I shall merely die at a later date,” Toga said. “Do not misunderstand me, Inuyasha. I do not speak with bitterness in my heart. I will surely still survive for many centuries yet. Lady Song said it was to my son the Tenseiga would go, and I am not even mated yet. My time, though apparently shorter than I had expected, is still long. It is not the time we spend in this world that matters, it is how we spend it. And if anything this revelation had renewed me to build my kingdom faster and stronger, to see its glory fulfilled earlier so that I may enjoy it all the more while I am able.”

 

“But you'll still die,” Inuyasha protested. It was one thing to know his father would die, that was history, future history, but to hear him talk about the subject so nonchalantly…

 

“So? As I said, death comes for us all. The only real truth regarding mortality, Inuyasha, is not to hide from death or wish for its delay. To truly live is not to fear death, but revere life. Life is far too short to waste on fear and hatred and conquest when there are greater, better things to pursue.” Toga smiled slightly, and gave a low chuckle. “In that vein, I have made a decision here tonight. Hatsutenka shall be pleased upon my return.”

 

Inuyasha was silent at his father's words. He not only seemed to not care about the news of his death, but he almost…relished it.

 

“You've been thinking about this huh?” he asked.

 

“Yes,” Toga nodded. “Lady Song's words have caught me off guard, but they shall not deter me.” Inuyasha nodded back at his father.

 

“Is that all she told you?” he asked cautiously. Toga lifted his head, thoughts of his distant but still impending doom flittering away.

 

“Perhaps you should answer that question yourself, Inuyasha,” he said, turning around to lock molten eyes with the hanyou. Inuyasha was slightly surprised by Toga's response, and he let it show. “Tell me, my mysterious hanyou companion…is there anything else Lady Song could have told me?”

 

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Inuyasha defended, not taking his father's bait. Toga smirked and turned back, sheathing the Tenseiga.

 

“I do not know why you feel the need to keep your secrets from me, Inuyasha,” he said, picking up the Tetsusaiga. He scrutinized the fang for a moment, and then sheathed it too. “But, know what whatever secrets you have, they are yours to keep or to share, on your will.” Toga turned and marched back into the shrine without casting the hanyou a glance. He stopped at the doorway to the shrine.

 

“Tomorrow morning we shall begin our journey back to the camp, and upon our return you shall retrieve your companion. I shall then begin researching a way to return you to your era.”

 

Toga entered the shrine, and Inuyasha lowered his head and turned back to where he had stood a moment ago. The long-healed wounds from his father's death began to reopen themselves, and he willed them away again.

 

“What's wrong?” Inuyasha turned as Yuka stepped out from the doorway of the shrine. “You smell of sadness. Why?” she asked softly.

 

“It's not your business,” Inuyasha scowled, looking away.

 

“You're right, it's not,” Yuka agreed. “But I do believe you and I once spoke the same words in reverse.” Inuyasha grunted, not willing to give the neko the satisfaction of being correct.

 

“It's not like I could tell you even if I wanted to,” Inuyasha said.

 

“The only secrets we truly keep are the ones we want kept,” Yuka recited. Inuyasha turned to look at her. “Ryo used to say that,” she explained.

 

“Your brother?” Inuyasha confirmed. Yuka nodded. “He sounds like an idiot,” the hanyou snapped.

 

“He was,” Yuka smiled. “That's how he got killed protecting his pup.”

 

“He had a pup?” Inuyasha asked. Yuka nodded and walked past the hanyou, leaning forward on the balcony.

 

“By a human mother,” she whispered softly. Inuyasha's face fell slightly. That, he hadn't expected. “She named him Yukio after me, before she died. Ryo was busy cleaning him with the midwife, he wasn't even there to hold her hand when she went. That task was mine,” Yuka continued.

 

“I didn't know…” Inuyasha mumbled. “When I asked the other day…sorry.”

 

“Thank you, but it is alright. Sakura and I were sister, pack sisters that ran deeper than any blood bond. When she died, Ryo fell apart. He barely hunted or ate and when summoned by the inu no taisho he was always late. I ended up going on his behalf most of the time, when I wasn't taking care of Yukio. He wasn't my pup, he was Ryo's, but his true mother was dead and Ryo could barely stand to be near it. He hated himself for neglecting his own pup, but he couldn't help it. He said Yukio's scent was too much like hers.”

 

“So if Ryo died, what happened to Yukio?” Inuyasha asked, leaning back on the balcony beside her. Yuka sucked in a breath.

 

“Sakura came from a human village to the south. When Ryo took her as a mate, the villagers exiled her. I was away on a summon from Toga. Somehow they must have heard about Sakura's death. I don't know the whole reason why they came. But they attacked the cave where Ryo and I stayed. Ryo knew the villagers, he saw them as pack even if they hated him. He refused to strike them down, and they killed him. Yukio…” Yuka closed her eyes. “I never found him again. There wasn't a body when I returned, but you know humans, they're more like animals than we are. When I went to the village, their priest turned me away and erected a barrier. I caught a trace of Yukio's scent there, but I couldn't investigate. When I came back the next day, the barrier was still up. By the time it was down, weeks had passed and then there wasn't any whiff of his scent.”

 

“Do you think they spared him?” Inuyasha asked. Yuka snorted and opened her eyes.

 

“Do you?” she muttered. Inuyasha blinked. He knew that not all humans were wicked and ignorant, but the majority of them…he had about as many illusions about them as Yuka did. Factor in that Yukio was a hanyou pup…

 

“Alright, your turn,” the neko said suddenly. Inuyasha frowned and struggled to find a way to explain it without jeopardizing time.

 

“I told you my father was an inu,” he said slowly. Yuka nodded. “It's just…he died, and I'm long over it, but now I've been traveling around with Toga for the last few days, and I'm going home soon…it's like…”

 

“You're losing him again,” Yuka finished. Inuyasha smirked wryly.

 

“Yeah, I guess,” he admitted, looking up at the night sky. Yuka turned her back to the wood balcony and crossed her arms as she shared his view.

 

For a brief moment, inu and neko put aside their differences, united in their sorrow for the past and the opportunities it had robbed them of.

 

 

- - - - - - - - -

 

“Upon our arrival, tell the camp to pack right away,” Toga instructed the hanyou and neko following him. The trio was taking a brisk but more leisurely pace than the night before, and with the rush of the night's revelations past Inuyasha was grateful fro that. Suddenly, Toga stopped and sniffed the air. His lips curled up in a snarl.

 

“What is it my lord?” Yuka asked.

 

“Blood,” Toga hissed, leaping forward. The taiyoukai took off into a youki-spurred dash across the Chinese landscape, and Inuyasha and Yuka broke into a run to be left behind. A few minutes later, the trio halted in front of what was left of Toga's companions. Inuyasha lifted the sleeve of his haori, and Yuka turned away. Toga surveyed the scene with a quiet fury.

 

It was obvious a battle had taken place, the many bodies of varying armor and weapon designs told the tale of a Chinese attack. As Toga walked among the corpses, a more sinister story unfolded. Tents and tarps and cooking fires lay smoldering, and more than a few of the corpses had been burned. Toga knelt by the charred ruins of a tent covering and picked up an arrow, it's head wrapped in dried grass and soaked in tree sap. The smell of fire even now blanketed the area.

 

“My lord!” Toga turned as one of the corpses littering the ground climbed to its feet. Inuyasha and Yuka beat the taiyoukai there as the mortally wounded Chinese soldier vanished in a puff of smoke, revealing a battered and bloody Oinari.

 

“Oinari,” Toga commanded, kneeling in front of the kitsune. “What has happened here?”

 

“We were attacked in the night…” Oinari coughed. “A Chinese army, they had archers. The tents were aflame and by the time the ones that could escape did, they were shot down. We brought down a few of them, but the arrows and bolts were a storm, and there were horseback warrior…” he turned and spit a clot of sticky red blood onto the dirt, and Inuyasha watched in disgust as the kitsune licked his red lips. “I…I hid…forgive me…”

 

“Forgive the survivor of a massacre?” Toga growled. “For what?” He stood and looked over the battlefield. “What else can you tell me of the army?”

 

“They were led by a mighty warrior, a bandit with a speed and strength unlike his age. I overhead them speaking when the battle ended…they called him Liu Bang…” Oinari wheezed. “They moved on, to the south several hours before sunrise…they said they were to rendezvous with a Qin army.” Toga's eyes narrowed.

 

“They attacked our army and are meeting with the Qin,” Yuka breathed.

 

“They know we are here,” Toga finished, stepping out into the battlefield. Inuyasha knelt and draped Oinari's arm over his shoulder, helping him up.

 

“You gonna live?” he asked.

 

“I think so,” Oinari replied. “How's my tail?” Inuyasha looked over his shoulder.

 

“Bloody, matted and missing a few clumps of hair,” he said dryly.

 

“I'll be fine then,” Oinari grinned crookedly. Yuka turned from the two to face Toga as he looked over the horizon.

 

“My lord, if the army of this Liu Bang was on horseback as Oinari said, we could never reach the camp fast enough with their lead,” she said. “What are we to do?”

 

“Get on,” Toga growled. Inuyasha and Oinari stepped up beside Yuka.

 

“Wha?” Inuyasha asked.

 

“Get…on…” Toga growled, falling forward onto his hands. The trio stepped back as swirls of yellow youki flashed red. Toga's eyes glowed crimson, and his head ripped back in a feral howl as tufts of white fur exploded out of the holes and gaps in his armor and clothing. His face elongated, gleaming white fangs sliding over his lip. The clothing and armor vanished into the sea of long, white fur. Long strands of hair coiled out of the taiyoukai's backside, curling around each other and forming a thick tail. Fingers and hands and toes and feet shifted, bones melded and split, forming an identical set of four paws.

 

And all the while, he grew.

 

Inuyasha watched, his mouth hanging open in awe as his father rose to blot out the sun above, a gigantic canine at least as twice as big as he could remember Sesshomaru being, probably larger than that. A deep, angry growl reverberated through the air, and Oinari gulped.

 

“I-I think he said get on,” he reminded shakily. Inuyasha nodded and grabbed the kitsune's legs, leaping up onto his father's back. Yuka landed behind, and three each grabbed tufts of hair.

 

With another snarl of rage, the transformed inu-youkai coiled its haunches and fired like the fastest bullet over the Chinese countryside.