InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In the Beginning... ❯ Rage ( Chapter 9 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

~*A/N: Attention minna: Suncoast now has pocky! I was xmas shopping today, and detoured to check out the anime and manga, when I saw box upon box of those yummy little sticks! I was so excited, for a minute I was tempted to jump up and down and scream like a school girl. Then I realized that I'm not some drooling little fangirl, so I just smirked. Enough rambling, another day, another chapter. Enjoy!*~

DISCLAIMER: *shakes head* Nope, not mine.

WARNING: Graphic violence. Readers with weak stomachs should not read.


Chapter 9: Rage

One Year, Two Weeks

The battles with the ningen of the Hosokawa clan have been raging for two weeks now. I have been surprised at their tenacity, and the reinforcements they seem to pull out of nowhere. Everyday we have ended up on top, although the numbers of our survivors have dwindled with each battle. Today it all ended. We are victorious. The filthy murderous ningen are all dead. We left none alive. For some reason, I don't feel joy at this ending. I recall the day's events through a haze of forgetting, and wish to get them down before I forget them all together.

Gendo had allowed me to begin fighting after the first week of battles. He, as well as the others who had observed with us, joined me in fighting. It felt good to sink my teeth into soft human flesh, to hear their futile screams as their vital organs were pierced through. The metallic taste of blood only fueled my hunger. Today, during the battle, I spat the corpse from my mouth, blood mixing with my saliva and dripping from my jaws. I glanced around, looking for a new target. My eyes settled on a small form in a kimono, lying on the ground, covered in blood. The body of a wounded inu youkai lay half-covering her. My eyes shot open. It was Rei. I instantly transformed back, scooping her body up into my arms. I locked eyes with Gendo, who merely nodded and returned to the ningen he was gnawing on.

I leapt high, almost flying back to camp. When I reached it, I summoned the servant nearest me, and she obediently followed to Rei's tent. I layed her down on her bed, and the servant moved to remove her kimono. I sat back on my heels, watching intently as the woman located Rei's wound. It seemed she had been stabbed in the stomach. If not for the slow rise and fall of her chest, one would think her already dead. The servant then caught my eye. She was an elderly inu youkai, and she bustled about cleaning the wound and dressing it. During her ministrations, Rei started to rouse, mumbling incoherently. Once finished, I dismissed the servant. Assured we were alone, I gently touched Rei's shoulder and called out her name.

Her green eyes flashed open, shining warmly, and she smiled at me. I had to restrain myself to keep from yelling when I asked what she had been doing on the battle field. She turned her head away shamefully, telling me that she and a few other servants had gone to pull the wounded. She had been trying to drag a soldier away when a ningen had stabbed her with his sword. She had struggled on for a few steps before collapsing, the weight of the soldier dragging her down. After finishing, she still refused to make eye contact with me. I reached out and turned her cheek, looking deep into her eyes. I asked how she felt. She smiled again, warmth again touching her eyes. She said she felt better now that I was there.

Suddenly, the old youkai servant appeared at the door, clearing her throat. She beckoned me outside. I acquiesced, seeing that, for the moment, Rei appeared to be out of danger. I couldn't have been more wrong. The servant informed me that although Rei had youkai healing powers, that no one could survive with the amount of blood she had lost, not even I. I felt my stomach turn to stone, a cold feeling spreading through my limbs. I felt, quite simply, as I do now - empty. I nodded to the servant, and sent her to fetch Rinsuke.

Upon re-entering the tent, I tried not to show any emotion. The sight of her there, breathing with effort, her face pale, brought an onrush of feeling. Guilt, despair, and anger fought for control. I had not been there to protect her. She was a dear friend, and I would lose her. Those damned ningen had killed her. Anger began to win out, until I heard Rei rasp out, "Sesshomaru-sama."

I ran to her bedside, and kneeled, taking her hand in mine. It was so cold. "So cold," her words echoed my thoughts. "Why is it so cold in here?" I covered her with her discarded kimono, hoping it would return the warmth to her body. My mind nagged at me that her body would never be warm again, that I would never be able to bury myself in that warmth again. The emtiness returned again. I was brought out of my thoughts by Rinsuke's disparaged cry, "Rei-chan!" The child flew from the door, throwing herself onto her injured sister. Rei smiled warmly down at the girl, stroking her hair gently.

"Don't worry, Rinsuke. Rei will be fine. Isn't that right, Sesshomaru-sama?" Rei turned her smiling eyes towards me, pleading with me to confirm her statement. Not just for Rinsuke's sake. I noticed a tinge of desperation tainting those eyes.

"Right."

How could I? How could I have lied to them both? Rei thanked me with her eyes, and Rinsuke turned to throw herself on me, arms locking around my neck. "Arigato, Sesshomaru-sama. Rinsuke could not live without Rei-chan," the young girl sobbed. She was crying. I had never seen her cry before. Not when her mother had died and she had been cast out into the world. Not when she arrived at our door, dirty and disheveled. Not when she was put to work as a servant for the most feared youkai in the land. Not when she was dragged to war to cater to soldiers. Not when she saw the corpses of those same soldiers, or the bloody wounded being dragged into camp. Now, when her sister lay dying, she cried. I had lied to her, told her she would be fine. And she was crying. The guilt weighed even heavier on me.

I unlatched the child's arms from around my neck, and she mumbled out an apology, her cheeks turning red. I watched her, until Rei coughed. It sounded of fluid, and when Rei pulled away the hand she had used to cover her mouth, blood speckled her palm. It would not be long now. Her lips were already fading from rosy pink to purple. Her skin had lost all of it's rosy hue, and her pallor was ghostly. Her eyes looked from her palm to me, and understanding dawned in her eyes. Then I saw the most disturbing thing I have ever seen in her eyes. First, there was the look of fear, and tears pooled in her eyes. Then her eyes darted to Rinsuke, saddened, allowing a tear to burn a silent track down her pale cheek. Finally, she looked to me again, smiling. In her eyes I saw acceptance, and peace. She had accepted her death. She turned to her sister, touching her hand, "Rinsuke, you must be a good girl. Never give Sesshomaru-sama reason to be angry with you. Always follow orders given to you. Do you understand?"

"Hai, Rinsuke understands," the child clumsily nodded, her eyes wide with confusion. Rei was again taken by a fit of coughing, and lay back, her breath shallow and raspy. A trail of blood led from the corner of her mouth. Rinsuke squealed in horror, burying her face into her sister's kimono. It was better she didn't see it.

"Sesshomaru-sama, please take care of Rinsuke," she whispered. Rinsuke had not heard, or if she had, was unconcerned. The child did not move. I nodded, not trusting my voice at the moment. "Domo arigato, Sesshomaru-sama," she again whispered, exhaling a ragged breath. She lay still after that, never again taking another breath.

Her stillness aroused the sobbing child, who stood and stared at me accusingly. "Sesshomaru-sama lied to Rinsuke! He lied to Rei, too! Sesshomaru-sama lied!" she screamed at me. I held out a hand to her, begging her to understand. She turned and fled the tent. I sighed, turning to the body of Rei. Her once vibrant green eyes now stared upward, glazed over with a milky hue. Her wavy auburn hair spread limply around her head. I reached out and closed her eyes for the last time, inhaling her scent so I could remember it always. I touched her stone-cold hand for the last time, then reluctantly stood. I called a servant to handle the body, and headed eastward. I figured that Rinsuke had merely gone to find a place to hide, to sob until she had worked out her grief and anger.

I was needed at the battlefront. How right I was, I didn't know until I arrived. Our forces had been depleted, many fighting with major injuries. I instantly transformed, throwing myself into the fray. I worked out my anger and frustration on the helpless ningen around me. I was startled out of my blood lust by an anguished cry. It was my father's voice. Without thinking, I rushed to his side. He was no longer in his "true" form, and he clutched a bloodied body to him. The scent in the air told me it was my mother. Even with all the blood around, I could still discern hers from all the others. She was not moving, and his eyes confirmed my suspicion that she was dead.

I saw red, my fury consuming me. I gave into the rage, and mercilessly killed any ningen left standing. Before I knew it, all of the Hosokawa clan on the field were dead. Still unsatiated, I found myself heading eastward. Halfway to the Hosokawa camp, I noticed the prescence of Gendo, Abunai, and Kiri beside me. We reached the camp, and slaughtered every last one. My rage was fueled by every body I sunk my teeth into, by the bitter taste of their blood. First, they had taken my friend, and now, my mother. These evil ningen would pay. I slashed with claws, my jaws dripping poisonous saliva. I ripped tents up, exposing injured men laying on cots. I eagerly sunk my teeth into flesh, savoring every scream and cry. When all lay dead, I looked to my comrades. All were covered in blood, the smell of it filled the air. Blood dripped from claws and teeth.

With a nod, we turned and headed back westward. As we crossed over the battle field, we all transformed from our "true" forms. It was a silent march back to camp, and I absently sucked on my claws, still savoring the metallic taste of the ningen blood. When we reached camp, I wanted nothing more than to sit in my tent and drown my sorrows in a warm bottle of sake. That was not to be. I was immediately greeted by a servant, wringing her hands in worry, her eyes darting around anxiously. "Sesshomaru-sama, the girl Rinsuke has gone missing!" I shrugged this off, and told her she was probably off somewhere grieving for her sister. The servant shook her head, and explained, "One of the men, he saw her run eastward, and called out to her. When she didn't stop, he followed her. He lost her trail, and by the time he found it again, he was too late. He found this." She held in her hand a child's kimono, torn. I could smell the stink of ningen on it.

In her other hand was a note. "This brat we take in exchange for all the men we have lost. She may not make up for the soldiers and slaves you slaughtered today, but our master may at least be appeased by this present. She belongs with her own kind, anyways." It was signed with the Hosokawa crest. I crumpled the note in my hand, growling. She had not been at the Hosokawa camp, I was sure of it. The note indicated that it had been written after our attack on the camp, at any rate. I took to the air then, hurrying north to my father's camp.

I found him in his tent, bowed over the form of my mother's body. I kneeled beside him, eyes to the ground. It took him awhile to acknowledge my prescence, and I looked up to meet his eyes. I was shocked by his haggard expression. He suddenly seemed very old and fragile, this "Great Lord of the Westernlands". "She's gone," he mumbled, his expression lost. I touched his shoulder gently, he seemed unaware of my existence, eventhough his eyes locked with mine. He was looking right through me. Aware that he would be of no help for now, I rose and left. At the door, I halted and turned back to say a farewell, but bothered not. His eyes were still locked on the place I had just occupied. No, he didn't even see me there.

Outside, I ran into Gendo, Abunai, and Kiri. They also had come to pay their respects. I showed the note to them. Their response was not inspiring. "After we have returned to the castle, after she has been buried and he has grieved, then pose this question to him. They will not kill her, for she is of their kind. Besides," Kiri smirked at this, sliding her eyes to look at her brother sideways, "we have something Hosokawa will want back."

I cocked my head sideways, a blank look of confusion on my face. I was too tired to hide my feelings, and I have no need with family. Gendo placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, explaining, "Before we slaughtered all of the murderous ningen," he spat when he said the word, "our men took a prisoner. Apparently, she is a neice of Hosokawa, and is skilled with healing herbs. She was brought along to aid the injured." He smiled a conspiratorial smile at me, and I felt the corners of my lips pull up of their own volition. "We have a bargaining chip, my Lord."

My rage has now subsided, and, oddly enough, I feel at peace. I know eventually I will grieve for all I have lost, but for now, I am focused on one thing. Retrieving Rinsuke. What is mine shall be returned to me, at all costs. If I must march an army to Hosokawa's castle, I will. Although, it won't be necessary.

After all, we have an excellent bargaining chip.


~*A/N: *dodges things being thrown at her* Okay, I know you all hate me. But I had to do it! Honto! Don't hate me, onegai? Instead, review and tell me how angry you are! Happy Thanksgiving! Ja ne, minna!*~