InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten ❯ Transformation ( Chapter 10 )

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

 

195 years Before the Search for the Jewel Shards

 

Chapter Ten: Transformation

 

Dazed and confused, I fell into Sagara hands allowing him to gain the means to survive centuries when he would have died of the wounds he suffered in the battle in Kyoto. However, I can never know if remaining with my grandfather would have guaranteed his death. The battle occurred only because Grandfather confronted him after I left. Still, I regret running away.

-Inuyasha

 

Sagara flew through the air for some ways before his injuries forced him to the ground. Landing among the trees, he leaned against one and placed a hand against his wounded side.

 

“That damn bitch,” he muttered between pain-filled gasps. He slid down the trunk, grimacing all the while. “At least I still have this,” he said lifting the small box containing the herbs he had stolen from the storeroom. “With this I still have a chance, but I need one more thing to make this potion work. I need the blood of a demon or it will remain no different from an exquisite tea.” He glanced around and his injury throbbed. Growling, he muttered, “How am I going to find a demon before this wound kills me? Dammit!”

 

Bushes rustled to his left and Sagara fell silent as he glanced over. Inuyasha staggered into the clearing then fell on his face. He was soaked through and covered in mud. Bits of leaves and twigs stuck to him in various places. As the child pushed himself up Sagara could see that Inuyasha eyes were unfocused and clouded. He wasn't aware of his surroundings.

 

`If I were religious, I would be thanking the gods for their well timed gift,' he thought, then an evil smile split his face. `Either I have better luck than I originally thought or some higher being is being extremely malevolent today.' Sagara twitched his fingers and his glaive flew across the small clearing parallel to the ground. When it reached the dazed boy, it spun and the staff struck Inuyasha across the middle then rose.

 

Inuyasha yelped and instinctively grabbed hold of the staff when his feet left the ground. The glaive floated back to Sagara and lowered until Inuyasha's frightened, gold eyes stared straight into Sagara malevolent, dark ones. The boy screamed and fell off the staff then scrambled to get away from his murderous cousin.

 

“Oh no, you don't,” shouted Sagara as he lunged forward and pounced on Inuyasha. The young dog hanyou yelled and struggled to free himself from Sagara's hold. The man chuckled and grinned despite the searing agony in his side. “Where do you think you're going? I have need of you and your demon blood, Cousin. What's left of it, that is,” he added as he looked down where he felt the sluggish movement of Inuyasha's blood pulsing against his hand. “I should bind that up. I don't want you to bleed dry before I'm ready for you.”

 

Inuyasha cried out and tried once more to pull free of Sagara. Sagara just laughed and placed a knee on Inuyasha back to hold him still while he tore the sleeves off his kimono. The young hanyou was soon bandaged, bound and gagged.

 

“Don't worry, it will all be over soon,” said Sagara with a smile. Tears began to form in the boy's eyes as muffled whimpers escaped the gag. With a twitch of his fingers, his glaive went flying again and hacked off tree limbs. A touch of wind power and the branches landed next to Sagara. Arranging them into a pile, he then pulled out some flint and lit them on fire.

 

Sagara glanced over at his cousin. The fire didn't even flicker in response to the boy's feeble attempts to free himself from his bonds. `I thought so. His powers are still new and were exhausted in the outburst earlier. He can't even affect an existing fire right now, never mind starting one himself.' He turned back to the fire and drew a small pot from his kimono. `A good thing I grabbed this when I was throwing knives at Toromaru.' He filled it with the water from his gourd and added the herbs. Then he floated it over the fire. `In one hour I'll have the Potion of Immortality and then nothing will stop me.' He started laughing. Inuyasha stopped struggling with his bounds and trembled in fear as he gazed at his cousin.

 

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

 

`What is this blood in the wind? It smells of a slaughter… a slaughter of humans,' thought Sesshomaru. The fair-haired dog demon turned in the direction of the scent. `No, not humans exactly. Is it the tenko, I smell? Are they beginning to experience another period of instability?' he wondered while staring toward the east.

 

“Feh! Why am I bothered by it? There little uprisings do not concern this Sesshomaru,” he said turning away and began walking. Then he paused and glanced back.

 

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

 

Hitomi stopped walking when she noticed her companion was no longer beside her. “Kakiboufuu, what is it?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder. The old dog hanyou had his nose to the wind.

 

“Blood and a lot of it,” he replied then he turned his green eyes toward the other side of the rain-swollen river.

 

“A slaughter? Where?” asked Hitomi, turning all the way around.

 

“Far up ahead, but I also smell something closer,” he said then leapt across the stream. Hitomi hesitated a moment then shrugged and jumped across as well. As one who controlled water, she had no fear of the river.

 

“Here,” he said pointing to some flattened grass when she landed beside him. Some of the leaf blades were stained red. “It's a hanyou and the prints are small.” He looked upstream and said, “This river flows through the capital and it's clear the child pulled himself out of it.”

 

“Are you thinking that maybe it's Inuyasha?” asked Hitomi.

 

“I don't know, are there any other demon puppies around Kyoto?” Kakiboufuu asked in return.

 

“Let's hurry then,” said Hitomi. Kakiboufuu stood up and the two ran into the forest following the hanyou child's scent.

 

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

 

“It's ready,” said Sagara. He turned toward Inuyasha as he took hold of his glaive. The boy sobbed and screamed when his cousin grabbed his kimono and lifted him into the air. “How about a little heart-blood to give the potion strength, Inuyasha?” asked Sagara with a smirk as he brought the blade up to the child's chest while he moved the boy over the boiling pot.

 

Inuyasha howled through his gag and thrashed in his bonds as the blade came closer. Then the fire exploded upwards engulfing the hanyou and Sagara's hands. With a cry, he dropped both glaive and child as he jumped back. Sagara's concentration broke and the pot fell, dousing the flames. The glaive buried its tip into the ground with the edge up as the potion splashed all over it. Inuyasha's right hand hit the glaive as he came down and sliced it to the wrist bone. Blood streaked the metal and mixed with the rivulets of potion. Inuyasha cried out in agony and pulled his bisected hand from the blade.

 

“You worthless half-breed!” shouted Sagara in fury. One hand holding his wounded side, he grabbed the glaive with the other and pulled it from the ground. “I'll slaughter you!” Inuyasha's eyes widened even as his vision became fuzzy. His right hand felt like it was being burned slowly.

 

Sagara raised the weapon then stopped when he saw a scarlet light hovering around the blade. Staring at it, his calm returning, he thought, `Inuyasha bled all over the blade when he landed on it and the potion soaked it when the pot fell. Could it be…?' Inuyasha scooted away from Sagara with his injured right hand tucked into his kimono front.

 

“Maybe it's not a total loss after all,” whispered Sagara then he licked the blade. He felt the changes begin immediately and dropped the glaive. Inuyasha froze in shock at what he saw. Sagara became surrounded by a scarlet demon aura. The man howled and his back arched. His black hair turned a silver-white and his nails became opaque and long. His eyes turned from black on white to turquoise on red and his fangs grew longer. The wound on his side closed up.

 

The aura drew back into his body and Sagara laughed. `Not truly a potion of immortality, but still I have taken possession of centuries not to mention a demon's regenerative ability,' he thought as he gazed down at his new claws. `So I have no complaints. Now to tie up a few loose ends…' He turned his red and turquoise demon eyes on Inuyasha's frozen form and lunged.

 

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

 

Kakiboufuu and Hitomi were jogging through the trees when they heard a scream. Hitomi gasped as Kakiboufuu said, “It's just up ahead.” The pair sprinted forward and stopped when they broke into a small clearing. An adult hanyou with white hair rose from a crouch and turned toward them.

 

“Hitomi, is that you?” asked the hanyou as his glowing-red eyes met theirs.

 

“That voice… Sagara?” she cried in horror.

 

“Glad to know you aren't stupid, Hitomi,” said Sagara with a chuckle.

 

“Put the boy down and I'll show you mercy,” demanded Kakiboufuu. Hitomi glanced at the old hanyou then back at Sagara and gasped. Sagara's right fist was clenched around Inuyasha's neck. The bedraggled and bloody boy had little energy to fight with and could only gasp while gripping Sagara's fingers with his left hand.

 

“That just means you'll kill me quick instead of slow and I don't plan on dying ever,” said the transformed man. He raised his free hand and a powerful gale slammed into Hitomi and Kakiboufuu throwing them back. “So try and stop me oldster… for the sake of this child!” Sagara threw Inuyasha straight up into the air then slashed with his claws, sending five wind-blades in pursuit.

 

“Inuyasha!” screamed Hitomi. Kakiboufuu moved his hand in a throwing motion and a wheel of fire and wind flew forward to intersect the wind-blades. He growled when he realize it would never reach the blades before they sliced through the helpless child.

 

A streak of light crossed the tops of the trees and engulfed Inuyasha before the wind-blades could strike saving the child. The light landed on the edge of the clearing between the pair and Sagara then faded revealing Sesshomaru. Inuyasha lying limp in his right arm.

 

`Lord Sesshomaru?' wondered Kakiboufuu in surprise. `What is he doing here?'

 

Sesshomaru glanced down at his brother then back at Sagara. “Name yourself,” he demanded. Sagara stared expressionless at the snow-haired demon. His turquoise on red eyes had been replaced by a more normal coloring of gold on white.

 

“Why do I get this feeling you are going to be the bane of my existence, Sesshomaru?” said Sagara in a quiet, even tone. Sesshomaru's cold, expressionless gaze remained fixed on the hanyou.

 

“You think of this Sesshomaru as being nothing more than a mere `bane'?” asked Sesshomaru a touch of anger entering his tone.

 

“Last time I hadn't been planning to kill Inuyasha so I didn't care, but now I'm annoyed,” said Sagara, ignoring Sesshomaru's question. While Sagara's now golden eyes remained focused on Sesshomaru, his mind was focused on his glaive. He had moved the weapon from the clearing and into the trees during all the excitement with Hitomi and Kakiboufuu. Now it hovered mere millimeters above the ground as it moved around the clearing to take Sesshomaru's back.

 

“I despise having any annoyances around. They may be comparable to mosquitoes but even a mosquito can be dangerous if it carries a deadly disease within its mouth,” said Sagara as he sensed his glaive moving into position.

 

Sesshomaru smiled and said, “You would compare this Sesshomaru to a tiny insect. You must desire death a great deal.” The demon lord raised his left hand and the claws glowed yellow as he summoned his energy whip.

 

“Which is why one must squash the mosquitoes before they have a chance to bite,” finished Sagara then smirked. Sesshomaru blinked and his smile faded.

 

“Huh?” said Hitomi then glanced at Sesshomaru and saw something zipping toward the demon's unprotected back. “Behind you!” she yelled. Sesshomaru shifted to the right as the glaive sliced through his hair, cut his armor and nicked the skin beneath.

 

Sagara caught the glaive and sighed heavily. “I forgot about the spotters,” he mumbled. “Such nuisances.”

 

“It doesn't matter,” said Sesshomaru. “Such tactics would never work on this Sesshomaru.”

 

“Think so,” said Sagara and smiled as he rested the staff against his shoulder. “They worked on your late father well enough.” Hitomi and Kakiboufuu both gasped in shock and Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at the hanyou. No one moved.

 

“What are you saying? Didn't Lord Kenhoshi die fighting that wretched fool, Takemaru?” demanded Kakiboufuu.

 

Sagara chuckled and replied, “Yes, he died while fighting that fool. However, I made certain that he would die with this.” He brought the glaive forward with his words. “That's not all. You see, I rattled the demon court so it wasn't safe for Kenhoshi to bring Izayoi to the castle, and then talked Takemaru into attacking the mansion where she resided.”

 

“You… you set him up,” gasped Hitomi.

 

“This Sesshomaru has heard enough,” said the snow-haired demon.

 

“And to think all that careful planning and preparation would have been for naught had a certain someone been a more devoted son,” said Sagara with a grin then laughed.

 

“Silence!” shouted Sesshomaru as he charged forward with his energy whip flying before him. Sagara dodged the whip and spun. His hand slid down the glaive's staff until it reached the lead weight and the blade whirled through the air with deadly speed.

 

“Gotchya!” he said, a wild expression lighting his face. Then a wall of intense fire erupted between the two and Sagara jumped back. Lightning flew through the blaze and the evil hanyou jumped into the trees. “I've seemed to have riled them all up. Three against one is never good odds to fight with; I'll retreat for today,” he said then leapt into the air calling forth his wind powers to hoist him into the sky. As the wind gathered around him, it turned black and took the form of bat wings. `Hmm… Now that's interesting,' he thought as he flew away from the clearing. `It must be Inuyasha's blood that made them visible.'

 

Sesshomaru stared up at the sky where he saw Sagara winging away. He looked back at the other two and said, “Your assistance was unnecessary.”

 

“Would you prefer to end up like your mother with your head flying from shoulders, Lord Sesshomaru?” asked Kakiboufuu darkly. Sesshomaru growled then threw Inuyasha at him before jumping to the tops of the trees. The furry part of his kimono disappeared as great white wings emerged from his back. In the next moment, he was flying through the air in pursuit of Sagara.

 

“Wait, Lord Sesshomaru!” cried Hitomi starting to run after him.

 

“Let him go! We have a greater problem,” shouted Kakiboufuu. Hitomi turned back to the old hanyou with a questioning look in her eyes. He was staring down at the small hanyou in his arms in alarm. The boy's right hand was changing colors and scarlet lines were etching their way up the forearm from the wound in his hand.

 

“Inuyasha is dying!” said Kakiboufuu.

 

***********

 

Chapter Eleven: Thaw

 

The fatally wounded Kenhoshi enters battle in order to protect Izayoi and perishes. Izayoi and baby Inuyasha may die as well when a sudden snow storm appears while she struggles to return home.

 

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

 

Just for you ShortPoet! I managed to slip this one in before I go away on spring break. I may be able to do something while I'm on vacation but as always no promises.

 

The chapter is the last flashback then we're trucking forward forever after that. Some of things mentioned in this chapter will make more sense after the next one.

 

I have an idea for the next chapter of New Dawn now it's a matter of putting “pen to paper” so to speak. I think I'm going to make it somewhat humorous with the development of a side plot that will help develop Sesshomaru and some of the other characters.

 

Midoriko isn't leaving me alone so I started to do some work on it. Man was it tough zeroing in on a possible setting for our awesome and powerful priestess. Sango's description was way to vague as was my reference; though, I learned a few things I hadn't known before. I'm settling on the late sixth century. The court nobles are jockeying for position with the newly arrived Buddhism at the center of the struggle. This also helps to develop a plot for the story by using a little dash of history for the conflict involved.

 

See ya next chapter!