InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten ❯ Thaw ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter Eleven: Thaw

 

200 years Before the Search for the Jewel Shards

 

I truly wanted to kill them both. The woman who dared to replace my mother and the disgraceful hanyou she bore. How ironic that an icy storm would be the catalyst for melting my heart. It wasn't until that moment that I accepted that my hatred of humans was not only because they killed my mother, but also because they denied me my role as big brother. Another point of amusement was that I had desired a little brother and Izayoi had been the one to grant me my long forgotten request. Not that I will ever have the chance to tell Inuyasha that now.

-Sesshomaru

 

`It's over,' thought Sesshomaru as he stared at the burning mansion. The scent of his father's burning flesh assaulted his nostrils with the smell of slain humans. With detached interest, the dog demon blinked golden eyes at the flames that had become his father's funeral pyre. He felt nothing for the loss except disgust. His father had died for a human woman and her half-breed child. Sesshomaru couldn't understand why his proud, powerful father had chosen a mere human for his second wife.

 

Turning to leave, he caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. A woman with a red kimono draped over her head and shoulders stood in the middle of a snow covered path watching the fire as he had. Despite the darkness, he easily discerned the long black hair that hung below her knees and the snow-white face that framed her dark eyes. His nose detected the scent of birth cloaking the woman and the tiny bundle she held to her chest. His sensitive ears picked up the sound of baby cries. His father may have died a miserable death but he had succeeded in rescuing this woman and child from Takemaru.

 

Sesshomaru turned toward the helpless pair, disgusted by their presence and the death they had caused by existing. The idea of a having a hanyou sibling sickened him and he moved to remove the mark of shame from his family before more demons learned of his father's weakness; before they could brand him as the same!

 

`Father was already mortally wounded by Ryukostusei. Let the others think that was why he died, not because of some human woman and a hanyou baby,' the dog demon thought as he strode closer to the unsuspecting pair.

 

Sesshomaru stalked ever closer when a shadow from the woods caught his attention. He glanced toward it and noticed it stalking the woman too. Growling, the dog demon turned and jogged after the shadow. This was a family matter to be dealt with by family members only. Sesshomaru would not allow anyone, human or demon, to kill the woman and child before he did.

 

The shadow was small and dressed in dark colors. With the moon eclipsed and the fires dying, the person was hard to see. Oddly enough, the shadow was hard to smell, as well. The figure stopped and crouched down, the woman and baby only yards in front of the two. Sesshomaru stepped behind the small creature, claws ready to slice through its back when his light-footedness failed; his boot sank ankle-deep with a wet crunch.

 

The shadow jerked around in surprise and Sesshomaru froze. It was a human boy! The child recovered faster than the dog demon, a whirlwind swirling around him, throwing snow, twigs and pebbles at the demon. Sesshomaru lifted his arms to shield his face from the barrage. When he looked up the boy was gone and the woman was now running.

 

Sesshomaru snarled in frustration and bewilderment. While the lack of scent now made sense, children of any species had little to no scent to protect them from predators, the wind power indicated the boy was a tenko. `What is a tenko child doing on the edge of his people's territory, at night, in winter and alone?' wondered the dog demon. He didn't like it. The child had been suspiciously close to where his father met his end and had been stalking the woman. Every part of his skin crawled as he stared at the part of the earth the whirlwind had exposed. He recalled something his father had told him about tenko.

 

“Every generation or so the tenko give birth to a devil, one who is born evil and wishes to turn the clan down the path of darkness. This causes a civil war to erupt among them as those seduced by power fight against those who hold to the thoughts and beliefs of their ancestor, Shugotenshi. The wars, though, have never involved anyone outside the clan. So don't get alarmed if you see fighting deep inside tenko territory, just stay out of their way.”

 

`Was that boy the devil and if so is that woman really a tenko?' thought Sesshomaru, staring at the path the woman had disappeared down. `The devil doesn't concern me, but why didn't father say she was a tenko if she is one?'

 

The wind sharpened, blasting him with icy air as it changed direction. Sesshomaru smelled the approach of a blizzard and turned to head back to his father's castle. Even the mightiest demons had to bow before the raw power of nature. He paused, glancing in the direction of the vanished woman and child.

 

`She's half-a-day from any temple or village and the storm is less than an hour away. She can't avoid being caught out in the open unless she stumbles across some cave or abandoned building,' he thought then shook his head and turned away. `What does it matter to me if the storm claims her and the child? It will certainly solve my problem.'

 

“Is nothing sacred to these fiends?”

 

Sesshomaru stopped as the long ago words echoed up from deep within his frozen heart. Kaiyoshinju was kneeling, her back to him, then she turned toward him with dead eyes, a tiny bloody infant in her hands, a waning crescent on its forehead. She vanished and his mother stood before him with the biggest smile he had ever seen.

 

“How do you feel about becoming a big brother, Sesshomaru?”

 

Sesshomaru heard himself answering as he had that long ago day. “I would like nothing more, Mother, than a younger brother to kick around.” His mother laughed into her wrist then she took his hand and placed it against her still flat stomach.

 

“Ah! But what if the child I'm carrying is a girl? Will you be disappointed?”

 

Surprised, Sesshomaru drew back as his mother's meaning sank in. He smiled and replied, “I'll just have to be more careful with her. After all, I wouldn't want her to turn out like Kaiyoshinju, but I still prefer a younger brother.” His mother laughed again then vanished.

 

As the wind picked up in ferocity and speed, Sesshomaru stared at the hand his mother had pressed against her womb centuries ago. His stomach clenched as long buried feelings bubbled to the surface. Closing his fist, he spun around and raced up the path after the woman.

 

Blinded by snow, he struggled to keep from plowing into trees in the white out. Finally hearing the baby's cries, he slowed to a walk. He looked around to no avail, there was too little light for even his eyes to use for sight and the icy wind had killed his sense of smell. The howling wind threatened to steal his sense of hearing, destroying his only means of finding the two.

 

His foot tangled in something and only his extraordinary reflexes as a demon spared him the embarrassment of falling face first into the snow. Recovering, he reached into the drift to see what he tripped on and felt a knee. Reaching another hand he felt along her curled form until he found her torso then pulled. Her head flew up, smacking his chin hard enough to bring stars flashing before his eyes. Free from the suffocating snow, the infant continued to wail as Sesshomaru adjusted his hold on its mother.

 

Instinctively knowing the worst of the storm had yet to strike, he ran forward and leapt up when he heard the groan of branches in the wind. Stepping onto a limb he launched himself into the air. The fur part of his kimono vanished as wings sprouted from his back. Catching the wind, he rose swiftly into the blackened sky. Powerful wing-beats pushed him through the clouds and into the clear sky above. The eclipse had passed and the full moon was once again shining in the night sky.

 

He glanced down at the woman and saw, while she had enough will to snuggle against his chest and the baby, she was unconscious, her pale skin turning blue. If he wanted the mother and child to live he had to find her a warm, safe place soon.

 

He left the storm clouds behind; the snowy countryside sprawled out below him. Gazing down, he saw many villages but felt he couldn't entrust the woman with those people. Out on the edge of tenko territory not everyone would be accepting of a mother and her half-breed child. Then something else came into view.

 

The huge, beautiful city of Kyoto, the capital of Japan and home of the Emperor, lay before him. It was also the home of the lord of the tenko clan. Long ago the Emperor had ordered the Kanzaki family to reside in Kyoto even though it was, at the time, well beyond their eastern borders. The territories had since expanded putting the imperial capital on the outer edge of the clan's holdings.

 

Sesshomaru decided the Kanzaki family was the best people for the woman and baby. The tenko didn't mind hanyou, they had a subpopulation within the clan, mostly dog hanyou, so even if she was not a tenko she would be well cared for. He dropped down, flying low enough to startle a pair of bored guards. As they raced around the corner after him, he laid the woman on the engawa then quickly retreated to the roof. The guards appeared a second later and saw the woman.

 

“Who's this?” asked one of the men as he walked up to her. The baby, who had fallen silent during the flight, causing Sesshomaru to worry, chose then to start crying again.

 

“A baby?” the other gasped and lifted the red kimono. He jumped back and shouted to his companion, “Get Lord Jounochi! It's Princess Izayoi!”

 

Sesshomaru watched the courtyard fill with vassals and maids awakened by the shout. Some hurried to get warm blankets and hot water while others rushed up to the woman. Then an elderly man appeared and walked across the yard. Dressed in find blue robes and a bronze circlet on his head, Sesshomaru recognized him as the tenko lord.

 

Jounochi walked up to his daughter, now wrapped in several blanket, the baby she had been holding in the arms of one of the maids. “How is she?” he asked, gazing at her.

 

A wood tenko turned to him and replied, “Very cold and her bare feet are frostbitten. It will take us awhile to safely warm her up, but we can heal the frostbite with ease.”

 

He nodded and asked, “What about this infant?”

 

“Very very new, he's still birth wet and the cord is continuing to ooze blood. I'm surprised he hasn't frozen yet,” said the wood tenko, gesturing to the babe.

 

Sesshomaru blinked in surprise. `Him? A boy? A little brother?'

 

“He's a hanyou?” said Jounochi in startlement, staring at the white hair and little ears. He glanced at his unconscious daughter then returned his gaze to the maids. “Clean him up and make sure he's warm and secure. I'll leave Izayoi's care to you, Aiko.”

 

“As my lord wills,” said the wood tenko with a bow and the vassals helped to carry the princess into a room while the baby was taken away. Jounochi started back toward his room then paused and looked up when he felt eyes on him. For a moment, he saw Sesshomaru standing on the roof then the demon quickly slipped from sight. The tenko lord felt a chill crawl up his spine when recognized the dog general's son.

 

`Why is he here? Did he bring her back? Why? Why did she need to return and why in such poor condition?' he thought as he continued to gaze into the night sky.

 

88888888888888888888

 

Engawa: open corridor, veranda, porch

Hanyou: Half-demon

 

The lack of attention is the reason why there was such a long wait for the update. Give me some feedback if you want anymore chapters. One person I all I need.