InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Journey of the soul: The panther devas' plot ❯ Family ties ( Chapter 16 )

Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story are the actual work of Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own them in any way.

 

Special acknowledgment: Many thanks to Neko Kiki for correcting this chapter :).

 

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Chapter 15: Family ties

 

The sun was hot and unforgiving that day as the group stood on top of a small hill, seemingly contemplating the scenery. Had any of them been a normal human, they probably would have been panting and sweating profusely, but as it was, every one of them had some degree of youkai ability so the heat just washed over them the way water would over a waxed floor.

 

"So this is it?" questioned Inuyasha warily.

 

"Yes. Beyond here, our territory begins," answered Shunran, her face grave.

 

"How much further until we reach your castle?" asked Kikyo.

 

"I'd say about a week."

 

"A week? That long?" shot back Karura, puzzled.

 

"The main road would take us there in three days flat. However, if we use it, then every panther in the country will know we're coming before we're even halfway there."

 

"So we're taking a small detour then," concluded Karura.

 

"Yes. The main problems here are the winds. They blow from west to east, meaning that they're carrying our scents toward the castle. To avoid being noticed, we're going to need to get either further north or further south. Now the north path will take us through the Swamp of no Return... unless you have a death wish, I strongly advise against going in there."

 

"What's so special about that place?" inquired Inuyasha suspiciously.

 

"It's an enormous swamp that extends for miles in every direction. The plants there emit a special type of toxin that, if breathed in, will make you crazy in minutes. Also, there are extremely powerful beasts in there that will devour whatever they come upon, whether it is youkai or human. This is definitely not a place you want to go to if you value your life."

 

"And what about the southern route?" cut in Kikyo.

 

"For the most part, it's normal hills and plains. However, to bypass my tribe's sentries, we're going to have to cross the Forest of Illusions. Though not as dangerous as the swamp to the north, it's still a place where you can get lost forever if you don't know the way through."

 

"Keh! And I suppose you know the way?" questioned Inuyasha in visible disdain.

 

"It's not so much knowing the way through that's the trick, it's not succumbing to the illusion that's difficult. But I'll tell you more when we get there."

 

"Forest of Illusion, Swamp of no Return... that's quite the territory you have there," commented Karura with a grimace.

 

"Those are merely natural obstacles that keep our enemies at bay. We're actually thankful to have them there," shot back Shunran with a grin.

 

"I'm sure you do," interrupted Kikyo seriously. "So according to you, we stand a better chance if we go south I take it?"

 

"Well, it's still your choice. But between certain death to the north and possible death to the south... I'd take possible death."

 

"It seems like we don't really have much of a choice then. We shall head south... and hope for the best."

 

"A wise decision," answered Shunran with a smirk.

 

"A decision based on information that I cannot be certain is trustworthy. Somehow this does not fit my definition of wise at all," thought the miko, feeling worry twist her stomach in a very unpleasant way.

 

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Dashing through the woods, one lone wild dog ran relentlessly eastward, following what seemed like an invisible trail. Occasionally, he would stop to sniff the air or catch his breath, but otherwise, he'd just keep on running, as if the devil itself was on his trail. For days, he ran and ran, driven by a will that seemed not of his own. Finally, as he reached the top of a small hill, he stopped and yipped.

 

"You cannot go any further?" exclaimed a voice from his back.

 

A few more growling and yipping and the invisible talker spoke up again. "I see, we've reached the border. Well, it can't be helped, I'll find a more conspicuous mode of transportation. Thank for your help."

 

The dog howled softly and slowly walked away, not before a small dot jumped off his back and into the grass. The flea youkai known as Myoga hoisted itself on a nearby rock and scanned his surroundings carefully.

 

"Come now, there has to be something I can use. I can feel Inuyasha-sama's presence permeating this very spot. He cannot be more than a few hours ahead of me."

 

After a few more minutes of fruitless searching, a crow happened to land in a tree not far away. Immediately seeing his chance, the flea hurriedly started bounding toward his new mode of transportation, hoping he would be able to reach it before it decided to fly away. After long minutes of jumping and climbing, he was finally able to jump on his new prey's back.

 

"I need your help!" he immediately said, not wasting any time. "I must reach my master's side immediately. His life depends on it!"

 

The crow cawed in reply and took off. "Eastward, please. He's close by, I just know it! His trail is still fresh."

 

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Walking silently beside Kikyo, Inuyasha couldn't help but scowl. He wasn't sure why, but he felt on edge. His instincts told him that a danger was rapidly approaching, but he couldn't tell exactly what. It had started a few days ago. He had woken up in the middle of the night with an odd sense of foreboding. He had merely brushed it off at the time, but the sensation hadn't gone away. In fact, it had grown steadily worse as time went by.

 

"You look rather tense today," commented the miko, picking up on his mood.

 

"I feel like something's coming... but I don't know what," confessed the hanyou quietly.

 

"Naraku?"

 

"No, it's something else... and it's coming steadily closer."

 

"Maybe we should stop and organize our defenses."

 

"No, it wouldn't do any good."

 

"How do you know?"

 

"I don't know... but that's the feeling I have... the feeling of something ruthless and absolutely unstoppable."

 

Just then, a crow flew overhead and landed in a branch not too far away. No one paid any attention to it as it was not something that could be qualified as "out of the ordinary". Still, moments after it landed, Inuyasha abruptly stiffened and slapped his neck, much to everyone's puzzlement.

 

"What's the matter?" questioned Kikyo.

 

The hanyou didn't answer, he merely looked down at his hand and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Myoga!? What on earth are you doing here?"

 

Following her companion's line of sight, the miko was just in time to see a flea youkai puff out in his palm after having been flattened.

 

"Inuyasha-sama, you must hurry and hide! Your life is in great danger!"

 

"Now there's a peculiar individual. Are your friends all so... out of the ordinary?" questioned Shunran, hardly trying to hide the mocking tone in her voice.

 

When he saw the panther youkai, Myoga's eyes bulged out of their sockets and he let out a strangled scream before vanishing inside his master's sleeve. Sighing in irritation, the hanyou shook his arm until the terrified form of the flea fell down in his outstretched palm once again. This time however, he grabbed him firmly between his claws and brought him to eye-level.

 

"Inuyasha-sama... please let me go! Don't you know who this is? This is Shunran of the panther deva tribe! She's the sworn enemy of your father!"

 

"Eh? For someone so small, he sure seems to know a lot," commented the said panther, amused at Myoga's antiques.

 

When he saw everyone's total lack of reactions at his announcement, the flea stopped his frantic struggling and looked at all the people present in obvious surprise.

 

"What... but... Inuyasha-sama..."

 

"We already know who Shunran is," explained the hanyou impatiently. "Now would you mind explaining what you said earlier?"

 

At the reminder, Myoga abruptly stiffened and started struggling anew. "He's coming, Inuyasha-sama! He already found your father's fake tomb and now he's coming for you! He'll be there any time now! You have to hide!"

 

"What the hell are you babbling about? Who's coming for me... and what's all that shit about a fake tomb!?"

 

"Your brother! He wants your father's fang! He wants the Tessaiga and he's coming to get it! He's almost there! You have to run! You have to hide!"

 

Inuyasha didn't answer the flea's frantic pleas, he merely looked on wide-eyed as he suddenly understood the source of his foreboding. Of course, the moment lasted only a few seconds before he realized everyone was staring at him rather intently.

 

"What?" he snapped angrily.

 

"You actually have a brother?" questioned Kikyo, her tone low and dangerous.

 

"Half-brother... and don't look at me like that! I wasn't about to introduce you to someone who wants to kill me!"

 

"Kill you?" repeated Karura in confusion. "What on earth did you do?"

 

"I didn't do a thing okay!? So stop bugging me!"

 

"Inuyasha, as private as this matter might be to you, maybe it would be better if you explained everything to us,"

 

"Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have time for that!" snapped the hanyou, his hackles rising. "He's here."

 

Indeed, the clouds to the west of them had just turned an eerie shade of black as an extremely powerful youki began permeating the area. Everyone instantly tensed as a shape began to materialize through the clouds, revealing the tall figure of an inu-youkai with long silver hair and cold, piercing amber eyes riding a two-headed dragon. As soon as Shunran saw him, her jaw hit the floor.

 

"You have got to be kidding me! You mean to tell me that he is your brother!?" she exclaimed incredulously.

 

"Half-brother!" corrected Inuyasha, his eyes not leaving the rapidly approaching form of Sesshomaru. "And if you don't believe me, then why don't you go ask him yourself?"

 

Karura and Kikyo both looked at each other in confusion before the miko voiced up the question she knew both of them wanted answering.

 

"Would someone mind explaining what exactly all this fuss is about?"

 

The panther youkai whirled around, her eyes wide with both surprise and disbelief. "You mean you don't know who it is that's approaching us?"

 

"If I knew, I would obviously not be asking now would I?"

 

"For heaven's sake, don't you know anything!? This is none other than Sesshomaru! The great lord of the western lands himself!"

 

Again, Karura and Kikyo looked at each other rather blankly as they processed this new information. However, it wasn't long before the full implication of what they had just heard slammed into them and their mouths opened in complete stupefaction.

 

"Kikyo, correct me if I'm wrong, but... if that's the lord of the western lands that's coming our way... and he's Inuyasha's brother... then wouldn't it mean that..." said Karura, her tone

 

The miko merely nodded, her eyes wide and her mind reeling. "Inuyasha is actually... a prince!" she finished her quiet voice belying the turmoil she felt inside.

 

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Irritated, that was what described Sesshomaru's mood at this particular moment. Not because he was currently trespassing on panther territory, not because of the empty sheath currently hanging from his belt, not because of Jaken's incessant rambling that they were creating a diplomatic incident... but because of the scent that was wafting through the air. It was a scent that was as familiar as it was disgusting: the scent of his half-brother.

 

For long minutes he had been able to pick up on it, and the inevitable question of what Inuyasha could possibly be doing here rang in his mind, breaking his concentration in a most unpleasant way. His annoyance only increased when the shape of his disgusting hanyou of a brother came into view.

 

"Jaken!" he called sharply while bringing his mount to a temporary halt.

 

The toad youkai immediately straightened his posture on the dragon's back. "Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?"

 

"What does the staff say?"

 

Obediently, Jaken took the tool and placed it perfectly vertically beside him. Strangely enough, it did not fall down. Instead, it hovered in midair, turning for a few seconds on itself until finally, it stopped, the man's head facing slightly downward and straight ahead while the woman's head started to laugh hysterically.

 

Following the staff's line of sight, it was all Sesshomaru could do to keep a scowl from invading his features. As fate would have it, his brother happened to be standing exactly where their father's tomb happened to be located. His eyes narrowing in irritation, he urged his mount forward, determined not to let Inuyasha's presence interfere with his project.

 

When he judged he had come close enough, he straightened and jumped down, landing gracefully exactly ten paces away from what he now saw was a group. Dispassionately, he allowed his glance to pass over each of the people present. First a woman wearing a ninja outfit, then another human, a miko this time, and then...

 

"Shunran of the panther deva tribe," he named, one of his eyebrows quirking upward.

 

The said youkai's eyes widened slightly in surprise before they narrowed in anger. While the sentence in itself was relatively harmless, Sesshomaru had addressed her while purposefully ignoring Inuyasha who stood in front, clearly stating his position as alpha male. Doing so was an insult and a blatant lack of respect and the inu-youkai's twitch of the lips told her he knew perfectly well what he had done.

 

"What do you want you bastard!?" cut in the hanyou, his voice sharp and demanding - he too had picked out on the insult.

 

Only then did Sesshomaru deigned to look at his brother in the face and it was merely to glare at him disdainfully. "You ally yourself with humans... and our sworn enemy? You have even less shame than I originally thought."

 

"Who I ally myself with isn't any of your fucking business! Now answer the damn question!"

 

"I am not under any obligation to answer you."

 

"The hell you don't! You're the one who's been running after me remember?"

 

"You think too much of yourself. I have better things to do than chase after a worthless creature like you."

 

The hanyou dug his fingers into his palm in a desperate effort to keep his temper in check. He wasn't one to back out of a fight, especially not one with his brother, but he wasn't stupid. If the two of them fought here, then every youkai within a hundred miles would know about it and that wasn't exactly something they could afford right now. Just as he was about to lose it completely, he was struck with a sudden inspiration.

 

"Fine, have it your way! Maybe you don't owe me an explanation... but you sure as hell owe Shunran-sama one! You are trespassing after all," he said with a feral smirk, making sure to emphasize the honorific title to irritate his brother even more.

 

At the sound of her name, the said panther walked forward and placed herself to Inuyasha's left, exactly one step behind him to indicate his superior rank. She stood tall and proud, her eyes sharp and demanding, a distinct contrast to the usually playful and mischievous girl the group had gotten to know.

 

"Well, Sesshomaru-sama, will you dare deny me an answer?"

 

The inu-youkai glared at his brother with murder in his eyes. He knew for a fact that Inuyasha could not even spell the word `political', let alone figure out what it meant... yet through sheer dumb luck, he had done exactly the right thing. He had handed him to Shunran, the only person present who he could not refuse an answer to. What's more, the idiot was actually concealing his companion's scents within his own like any good alpha male would do to protect his pack from danger... unconsciously! He acted through sheer instinct without even a single conscious thought and he still managed to get the better of him!

 

"I will remember this humiliation, brother!" he fumed internally.

 

"I am in search of my father's tomb," he finally said out loud, though extremely grudgingly.

 

"And what makes you think you'll find it here?" questioned Shunran again.

 

"Jaken!" he called without turning back.

 

The toad youkai, having by now landed with the big two-headed dragon, scurried forward and raised the staff of two heads. As soon as it was perfectly vertical, the man's eyes flashed red once and the object began to slide forward and stopped about a foot in front of Inuyasha. Then, it stopped and both heads started to laugh. At this moment, the hanyou's right eye twitched slightly, but no one noticed.

 

"This staff has the power to find the tomb wherever it is... and as you can see, it has stopped here."

 

"I can see this well, Sesshomaru-sama... however, I'm afraid your tool might be broken for, as you can see, there is absolutely nothing here."

 

As the inu-youkai grounded his teeth in search of an answer, Inuyasha who found the proximity of the staff to be rather unnerving took a step sideway in order to distance himself from it. And that was when something totally unexpected happened. The staff pivoted and mirrored the hanyou's move perfectly.

 

"Visible but invisible. The true protector of the grave cannot be seen."

 

The words that had haunted Sesshomaru's nights for years were now finally starting to make sense. Years of fruitless searching were finally coming to an end... the Tessaiga was at last within his reach.

 

"I see, father. You were indeed clever."

 

"What sort of nonsense are you babbling, you idiot!"

 

"It is actually quite simple. I have just found the entrance to father's tomb," explained the youkai right before he launched himself at his brother and grabbed him by the throat before anyone could so much as react. "It is quite ironic that it has been hidden somewhere inside your own body... and it is also very unfortunate for you that I do not know exactly where it is."

 

Despite his predicament, Inuyasha still managed to growl at his opponent, though due to inu-youkai crushing his windpipe, the produced sound was rather pathetic.

 

"Fuck... you... asshole," he wheezed.

 

Sesshomaru merely smiled in response.

 

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Author's note: Well, the face off between the two brothers has lead to the uncovering of Tessaiga's tomb. Now, what will transpire in the next chapter as they all go to recover the sword?