InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten ❯ Daughter of Mine ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Sesshomaru or anyone else from the hit anime/manga series “Inuyasha”. Rumiko Takahashi does. I do own all OC's in this story.

 

446 years Before the Search for the Jewel Shards

 

Chapter Nine: Daughter of Mine

 

The horror of that day wouldn't leave my mind. No matter what my father said, I still believed if I had been there I could have saved her. Unable to cope with the feelings of grief and guilt, I froze my heart and nursed an unreasonable hatred. Perhaps it was the only way for me to remain sane, but the cost was incredibly steep. Kaiyoshinju had waited a century for me to come for her and I had grown to hate her for taking me away from the castle that day. Was it really any wonder that our reunion was anything but happy? To this day I remain baffled by why she hadn't killed me then.

-Sesshomaru

 

Soranoko flew high over the trees on her giant feather while scanning the forest below. Irked that her lord had assigned her the task of finding someone she had never met before, the wind sorceress spent more time ranting than looking.

 

In the midst of yet another tirade about the impossibility of her task an oily voice spoke up from behind her. “Do you require assistance?”

 

Soranoko nearly fell off her feather in surprise. Looking toward the source of the voice, she almost tumbled again at the sight of the black and gold feline-like creature sitting behind her. Gold ran along his spine from forehead to the base of the tail and outlined the shoulders and haunches. The split tip of the long tail was also gold. The body was feline but the head reminded the wind sorceress more of a bunny than a cat except bunnies didn't look evil.

 

She stared at him while he licked his paw then rubbed it against his whiskers. He put his paw down and glanced up at her with red laced gold eyes. “Now why the look of horror? I merely asked you if you required assistance,” he said, his tail waved at her and she got the impression he was smiling.

 

Recovering from her shock, she glared at him and said, “I am not willing to part with my soul just to locate one woman, Maou.”

 

Narrowing his eyes, he gazed at her and said in a slightly hurt tone, “As if such petty information will ever be worth a soul.” With a sniff he vanished in a sparkle of purple-blue light.

 

Shuddering, she returned her attention to the trees below and made a mental note to keep her complaints to herself. She had looked down no more than a second when she spotted a woman bathing beneath a small waterfall. The woman appeared no different from many hundreds of human females, but Soranoko sensed a powerful demon aura surrounding her. Deciding it didn't hurt to ask, the wind sorceress descended.

 

The sudden wind brought about by her landing startled a young woman who rushed to throw a kimono over her nude form. Soranoko stared at the snow haired demon while the one in the falls merely glanced her way then continued washing. The young woman, seeing the intruder was female, didn't bother to tie up her lavender kimono. Purple demon stripes graced her cheeks and wrists while a purple, waning crescent moon adorned her forehead. Violet eyes studied the wind sorceress as Soranoko studied her.

 

“What business do you have with me? I have never seen you before,” asked the raven haired woman as she stepped up onto the bank. Soranoko jumped at her voice and turned toward her. She stood there hands on hips and water dripping from her pale naked body. Black hair hung like a cape to her knees and violet eyes bored into the wind sorceress's red ones.

 

It seemed ridiculous to speak formally to someone who insisted on having a conversation while dressed in naught but her skin. The wind sorceress wondered if that was what she was after, a lack of formality. Thinking back on what she had been told about the sea dragon, Soranoko started to believe she'd found her.

 

Sighing, she said, “Lord Kenhoshi sent me to find the sea dragon, Kaiyoshinju. I am strongly suspect that you are she.”

 

There was a moment of silence as the two stared at each other. “Lord Kenhoshi sent you?” She sounded disappointed and Soranoko wondered about it. “Why?” demanded Kaiyoshinju, crossing her arms and disrupting the wind sorceress's thoughts.

 

“He needs you to perform a certain task. A task that is as much an honor as a duty for he only gives it to those he trusts the most,” replied Soranoko.

 

Kaiyoshinju stared at the wind sorceress. She hadn't seen Kenhoshi since he left to deal with the panther demon tribe before that horrible day when the castle was massacred. She felt a wave of sorrow wash over her followed by bitterness. Not toward Kenhoshi but Sesshomaru for not coming after her. She had spent all these years waiting for him to come and now she had to accept he never would.

 

A numbing cold wrapped around her aching heart and spread throughout her body. “Yes, I understand,” she said in a voice devoid of emotion and walked toward her things. “We should not keep Lord Kenhoshi waiting. Come Naomi.”

 

“Yes, Mother,” replied the young woman and reached for her violet obi.

 

Soranoko, disturbed by Kaiyoshinju's sudden change in demeanor, jumped again. `Mother?' she thought in surprise looking at the young woman then glancing back at Kaiyoshinju. `This woman is her daughter? No one mentioned this!' The wind sorceress stared at the Naomi; the woman's uncanny resemblance to Sesshomaru caused Soranoko to raise an eyebrow. `Oh dear,' she thought. `This is going to cause quite a stir at the castle.'

 

*************

 

The courtyard buzzed with conversation as vassals chatted among themselves. Normally, they remained away from the castle since most of them had homes elsewhere, but today they had been gathered due to a demon threat. Something, (it couldn't be anything but a demon), was causing wide spread destruction in the eastern providences, though the lands were not under the Dog General's control, Kenhoshi had decided to deal with the threat sooner rather than later.

 

While most present were warriors and there for the upcoming battle some, like Totosai, lived in the east and had fled in the face of the inexplicable destruction. Kenji looked around as he talked with Yukihana, an albino kitsune. Both veterans of many battles, the two spent as much time taking in all the new faces around them as converse with each other. The wolf demon knew that, like he, many demons had been recruited by the Dog General in the last century, but this was the first time everyone had been called together. Why such recruitment had started up was unknown, but he could clearly see there was a serious lack of dog demons at the castle and guessed something had occurred to significantly reduce their numbers.

 

Xeno was being his usual aloof self as he studied the people around him; the foreign fire demon was not known for his social skills. Totosai sat against the wall, the long pole of his forging hammer resting on his shoulder, as he talked with the flea demon, Myoga; a coward whose only purpose was to gather information. A job he excelled at since that meant he could run whenever danger threatened.

 

The conversation buzz didn't waver when the gates opened for there had been much comings and goings all day. However, when Soranoko entered with two unknown women behind her all the dog demons fell silent causing the rest of the assembly to take notice. The raven haired woman was dressed in blue priestess robes and even held a sacred staff. Her aura, violet eyes and pointed ears signaled, though, that she was a demon. The woman behind her was younger and the only feature she shared with the other was her violet eyes. Long white hair cascaded over her shoulders while her lavender kimono and dark violet obi accented her delicate frame and demon markings.

 

Kenji knew that most of the men were giving her their full attention. The woman in blue noticed this too for she turned toward the crowd and demanded, “And what, pray tell, is so interesting? Do I have a leaf in my hair or blood on the back of my kimono?” All the dog demons found something else to look at. The buzz started back up, though weaker than before. The women continued forward.

 

“Soranoko was sent out to find Kaiyoshinju,” whispered Yukihana into Kenji's ear. “I heard she is one of Lord Kenhoshi's most powerful vassals. Some say she is even stronger than him.”

 

He glanced at the white kitsune and said, “Judging from the way all the dogs reacted she must be, but who is the woman with her? She looks like the Ice Prince.”

 

“I have no idea,” she replied. Yukihana glanced up at the dog demons on the wall. “They seem surprised as well.”

 

Satisfied with their response, Kaiyoshinju resumed walking toward the manor. At the gate a nervous young dog demon shifted from foot to foot. When they stopped in front of him, he said, “I'm sorry, but the lord has ordered that you appear before him alone.” He looked behind her to Naomi then hurriedly reverted his gaze to the dragon hanyou.

 

“Alright,” said Kaiyoshinju and turned to her daughter. “Remain here while I deal with the Lord Kenhoshi.” Naomi nodded her head and turned away. Kaiyoshinju entered and the young man scrambled to catch up. Soranoko watched for a moment then went to join Naomi.

 

Naomi had walked over to Kenji and Yukihana and they stared at each other for a moment. The kitsune looked over her shoulder at Soranoko and said, “So I see you found her despite your beliefs to the contrary.”

 

“I got lucky,” said the wind sorceress. She turned to the young woman and said, “This is Naomi. She is Kaiyoshinju's daughter.”

 

“I have never heard about her,” said Yukihana, eyeing the young woman.

 

“I'm not surprised,” said Naomi in a soft voice. “This is the first time I've been to this castle.”

 

“You weren't born here?” asked Kenji, leaning forward. “You look more like a member of the dog tribe than Kaiyoshinju's daughter.”

 

She nodded and said, “I suspect my father is a member, but I do not know who he is. I think Mother was waiting for him, but he never came.” The three stared at her in surprise then Yukihana changed the subject and they began to talk of other things.

 

***************

 

Kaiyoshinju didn't need a guide. Her nose as well as her memory told her where she needed to go. That didn't stop the guide from running after her and calling, “I need to tell the lord you're coming. He didn't know when you would be arriving.” She ignored him. Desperate to do things properly, the young man raced ahead to warn Kenhoshi of her approach. Despite his best efforts, she still managed to surprise the generals when she barged in on their meeting.

 

“Insolence! Have you no respect for a war counsel?” yelled one of the men. She only recognized a couple, one of them being the father of the despised Noriko, the rest were as new to her as she was to them.

 

“You summoned me, Lord Kenhoshi,” she said, ignoring the death glares the generals threw her.

 

Kenhoshi gave off a long suffering sigh and said, “As forward as always I see. I'm surprised Soranoko was able to find you so quickly.”

 

“I wasn't trying to hide,” she said in an even tone. Kenhoshi's golden eyes met her violet ones and she saw something akin to despair rise from their depths.

 

He stood and said in a low voice, “Kaiyoshinju, there was no guarantee that being there would have changed anything. You served me well in capturing those responsible and saving my son from doing something… regrettable.” The generals all looked down at the floor. The disaster still weighed heavily on their minds. Even the new ones felt that terrible sorrow; though, they had not been part of Kenhoshi's court when it happened.

 

“But I could not save him,” she said.

 

“That is something only he can do,” said Kenhoshi, walking around the generals toward her. “The choices you and one other made in the face of that horror saved lives and I will be forever grateful for that.”

 

“One other?”

 

One of the generals, an older one she knew well, answered for Kenhoshi. “There were survivors and some of them spoke of a demon slayer who let them pass as they were fleeing the castle. They would never have lived if he hadn't let them by.”

 

“He wasn't at the town,” said Kenhoshi. “We never found him and we never will.” Kaiyoshinju nodded but her gaze remained fixed on her lord. Knowing what she was waiting for, he directed her down the hall. What he had to say next was not meant for the ears of anyone but her.

 

“I have something for you. Something very precious that, due to the attack, I feel cannot be left here anymore,” said Kenhoshi when they were alone and reached into his kimono. He pulled out a silver circlet with a thumb-sized sapphire embedded into it. She looked at it uncomprehending. “You are to guard this from all those who would use its power. This is one of five that were gifted to me in my youth and they contain a frightening amount of power. I'm entrusting you with its protection, Kaiyoshinju.”

 

“What is it?” she asked, taking hold of the circlet.

 

“The Jewel of the Sea, it is one of the five Jewels of Life that can cause great miracles or great calamity to befall a land,” he replied. Kaiyoshinju stared in horror at the little gem. “As long as they remain separate the area they influence is greatly reduced as well as what they influence. For example, the Sea Jewel only affects water. As a sea dragon you should be able to hide it in plain sight as well as keep its power under control.”

 

“You honor me, my lord,” she said, deeply humbled by the trust he had in her.

 

**************

 

Kenji, Soranoko, Yukihana and Naomi continue to talk when the wolf demon heard the conversation buzz falter again then die. He looked around, dreading what it was he would see. Sure enough, Sesshomaru walked through the gates; his golden gaze as icy and unreadable as ever. Inwardly groaning, he muttered to the other three, “Look out! The Ice Prince just strolled in.”

 

A mistake. Sesshomaru's range of hearing was unusually wide even for a dog demon. His eyes focused on Kenji and in less than a second he was standing before him. The wolf demon cringed and the courtyard held its breath in fear. Even if Kenji was one of Kenhoshi's most trusted that didn't mean he was safe from Sesshomaru.

 

The dog demon raised his poisonous claws to strike when Naomi shoved him away. Despite her appearance she was very strong and Sesshomaru nearly took an embarrassing fall. Regaining his balance, he glared at the young woman. Soranoko and Kenji tried to pull Naomi away, but Sesshomaru leapt forward and knocked them both back.

 

“Who are you?” he asked in a soft, low tone, staring into her violet eyes. When she remained silent he added, “Answer me and I'll let you live.”

 

Glaring at him in open defiance, she spat at him, “Feh! I'm not afraid of you!” The courtyard gasped and Sesshomaru growled. Then he felt hands grip his armor and hair and slam him against the ground. On instinct, he rolled to the side and narrowly missed having a heel smash into his throat. He rose to his knees and the metal part of the sacred staff struck the side of his head. Stars exploded in his vision. He raised a hand and the hard wood of the staff collided with forearm. Something crunched and Sesshomaru bit back a cry as white-hot pain engulfed his arm. A knee collided with his jaw, throwing him back.

 

He opened his eyes in time to see a livid Kaiyoshinju falling toward him with the butt of the staff leading; it was glowing pink. The staff sank several inches into the ground after sliding past the side of his head, taking skin and hair with it. The purified staff burned and Sesshomaru moved his head away from it, though, that pulled out a few more locks of hair. Kaiyoshinju grabbed his snow-white hair and pushed his head back against the staff. Her knees had his arms trapped as she sat on his torso staring into his golden eyes. His broken arm screamed murder and the side of his head throbbed as the other burned. Gasping and struggling to break free, Sesshomaru could only stare back. It was useless; she had him pinned.

 

Even as her eyes burned with rage and disappointment at what Sesshomaru had become, her lips parted in a sinister smile. “One last kiss, Lover?” she whispered into his ear; her voice dripped malevolence. She raised her face until hers was just an inch above his. “The kiss of death?” she clarified and moved closer until his lips were a breath from hers. Her violet eyes stared into his almost seductively and the first tendrils of fear struggled free of his frozen heart and found their way into his gaze.

 

She saw this and peered deeper into his golden eyes. “You're not completely lost,” she whispered and pulled back while the staff lost its glow, “and I don't want Ginhana to weep from the heavens.” She stood up and stepped away from him. Sesshomaru leapt to his feet his expressionless mask once more in place as he stared at her. He ignored the pain of his wounds though one side bled and the other had a black stripe running just above his ear. His arm hung twisted at his side.

 

“However,” she said and the tip of her staff was suddenly pressed against his throat, “you will remain as nothing to my daughter until you learn to live again.” He didn't move, but his eyes widened a fraction and his gaze shifted to the young woman who calmly stood off to the side. “You're so cold… like ice,” she said as she slid her hand up the staff and moved forward to stare into his eyes once more. “Is this really what you want to be?”

 

She snapped her staff back and strolled toward the gate as if nothing had happened. “Come Naomi,” she called over her shoulder. “My business here has concluded.”

 

Naomi took a few hurried steps then paused as she drew even with Sesshomaru. Father and daughter gazed at each other for a few seconds then Naomi looked away and ran on. Amidst the silence of the stunned courtyard, Sesshomaru stared after the two women well beyond the point when they vanished from sight.

 

********************

 

Chapter Ten: Transformation

 

Severely, possibly fatally, injured, Sagara escapes into the forest. There he find the badly injured Inuyasha and decides to use the boy for his dark potion. The elixir will transform him completely.

 

*********************

 

Bunch of new faces and names. Some familiar others not.

 

Maou: Japanese for “Devil”. He's my wild card character. Just like Kenshin's master was a wild card character so don't expect too much out of him but he will play important parts when the need arises.

Xeno: Made up name.

Kenji: A common enough name in Japan, not sure about the translation, though.

Soranoko: Japanese for “Child of the Sky”.

Yukihana: Japanese for “Snow Flower”.

Naomi: Japanese for “Beautiful”.

 

Kitsune: fox demon

 

We're jumping forward to Inuyasha again. For anyone who is curious about this disturbance I sort of thought about this being the time Sounga is picked up. So the reason for all the fuss in the east is due to Sounga acting up and anyone who has seen movie three will know the end result of Sounga.

 

*Looks around for reviewers*

 

Is my story really that boring? My muse is affected my reviews. If I hear nothing I write nothing.

 

*Conveniently forgets she has other sites this is posted on and thus gets reviews from.*

 

I'm still lost on what to write next for New Dawn.