InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Moonlight through the Broken Ice ❯ Nightmarish Memories ( Chapter 12 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I never own them…how sad and bitter truth can be…(sigh)

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A confused look passes through his face as he sensed Sai's aura within the garden. He opened the shoji door at the other side of Kagome's chamber that leads to the Sakura garden and walks out. He found what he was looking for at the base of the tree. He turns around with narrowed eyes, at the little miko who has an ashamed blush and an impish grin on her face.

“Miko, explain!”

Kagome fumbles at the hem of the sleeves of her kimono as she stood beside the taiyoukai, staring down at the sprawled form of a very red-faced and unconscious Sai.

Kagome's face becomes a perfect replica of a ripe tomato as she grins. “Information Overload with Hormone Induced Brain Short Circuits?”

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CHAPTER 12

NIGHTMARISH MEMORIES

The moon was at its fullest, its light casting an ethereal glow on his naked body. He had been restless ever since he saw that particular memory through the miko's mind. How it had happened he couldn't tell. But he guessed that the voice that had seemed so familiar to him might have something to do with it.

Seeing it happen again had left another void within him that memory was something he had hoped to forget for his entire life. But it would never be, it haunted him every time the need to sleep over took his exhausted body. He knew that this night wouldn't be any different from any other night. He would face the memory again and watch it as it occurred in his dreams… his nightmare. He gave into the darkness as he closed his eyes to catch even just a little of his weekly needed rest.

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As he stood there in the blinding light, his surroundings morphed into the dark forest of Ryuukotsusei's lair in the Northern lands. There was blood all around, trees were destroyed, and not a single boulder remained intact. Bodies of armored youkai were strewn everywhere, the only thing that remained were the scattered body parts. Not one of the warriors had remained standing after they were attacked by Ryuukotsusei.

He moved towards the figure in front of Ryuukotsusei and found himself to be nothing more than an apparition. As his hand passed through when he tried to touch the image of the lovely demoness, who held her son in a protective embrace as she took a deadly blow from the massive youkai. She was beautiful, not even her badly battered body could hide that fact. There was a single crimson stripe on her cheekbones that was the mark of her bloodline, and the crescent moon that signified her status was still visible on her bleeding forehead, though slightly covered by her flowing white hair matted with her own blood and grime from the battle. She looked at her pup, eyes full of pain, anguish, fear and love for her son. She caressed her seven year old pup's silvery white hair with her bloodied hands then wiped away the tears that continued to flow from his golden eyes.

He too was bruised and bleeding from different wounds covering his body, but at that moment he just didn't care. What mattered to him was the demoness that continued fighting for him, just so he could live. He knew she wouldn't last much longer as he felt her life force getting weaker as her aura wavered. He trembled at the thought and held tighter onto her.

It was his fault; because of his childish foolishness he would lose his mother. He knew he should've listened to her when she told him never to wander alone in the dark forest. It was beyond their territory and was the lair of Ryuukotsusei; a very powerful youkai, an illicit son of the reigning lord of the north. Even his father had forbidden him to enter the forest. So he obeyed…but only for a few sun rises, until his curiosity had gotten the better of him.

He had secretly summoned his crimson miasma. One of the few tricks he had learned when he was five, a feat that earned him a proud look from both his parents. He had soared towards the North where the dark forest was located. He had never intended to stay there for long; he just wanted to see the youkai named Ryuukotsusei. The idea of Ryuukotsusei being powerful enough to make his father, the great taiyoukai of the West angry at him, his own son and heir, when he innocently asked him if he could explore the Northern lands, the dark forest covering the high mountain top specifically.

But he had come at the worst time, for Ryuukotsusei was out hunting for food, and Sesshomaru would be very satisfying for him for though he's small, his powerful blood would make up for it. Even though Sesshomaru was of royal lineage it would mean nothing to Ryuukotsusei, for he was still an intruder.

Back in the western shiro, a small unit of soldiers headed by a newly appointed general. Was sent out as soon as they knew Sesshomaru was missing, they would be the search party for the young lord. His father had gone to the South to establish an alliance with the lords of the other lands. So his mother had joined the search party instead, against her loyal servants and most trusted advisors pleading that it wouldn't be safe for her. After their vain attempt of searching the entire western lands, the Lady of the West suggested that they should dare to search the Northern land's border particularly the dark forest, where her maternal instincts were edging her to go at once.

They arrived there just in time to save him. Young Sesshomaru was already injured and fighting desperately to escape his death. Ryuukotsusei was just behind him as he struck the ground near young Sesshomaru, sending him towards the edge of a cliff. Sesshomaru waited for the impact of the ground but it never came, instead he felt the warm arms encircling him and taking him to safety.

He looked up to see who it was that came to his rescue and to his surprise and relief, he found his mother. He stared back at Ryuukotsusei and saw a few of their warriors fighting and being decimated by the huge youkai.

The futile counter attack continued until only the general and a few of his warriors were left to protect them. If they had an inkling of what they were going to face, they would have prepared a more experienced unit. They pleaded for their Lady and the young lord to escape and leave Ryuukotsusei to them, but before they could do so Ryuukotsusei destroyed the remaining warriors. Now only he and his mother were left, defenseless against the raging youkai.

His mother grabbed him just in time to avoid Ryuukotsusei's attack. She was exhausted and nearing her limit, but she kept on. She must, at least so she could give her child a fighting chance to escape.

Young Sesshomaru, had been left bruised, wounded, and bloodied from all the running, leaping, and dodging, and was just as tired as his mother. He knew she wanted him to escape but he could not accept the idea of leaving his mother behind.

“Maru-chan…” she managed to say before she coughed up some blood. “Please do not cry. Be strong… you must run toward the Western lands…save yourself.”

“No, hahaue…I won't leave you.” He replied with his childish voice, frightened at his mother's condition. As they dodged yet another attack, they managed to avoid it but the impact had sent a mass of boulders straight in their direction.

His mother though exhausted managed to shield him with her body at the very last moment, taking the full brunt of the blow. They were thrown towards a rock wall, their bodies hitting it with enough force to shatter some parts of the huge rock. Sesshomaru heard something crack from within his mother's body and saw more blood spew from her mouth.

He felt his young body shake with fear, not because of Ryuukotsusei. But from the truth that would soon come because even for a great youkai like his mother, internal bleeding due to severely damaged organs and a large number of broken bones could be fatal, especially with someone who had exhausted herself to the limit.

Young Sesshomaru crawled towards his mother's sprawled body. His small hands gently brushed away the silky white strands that covered her face. He tried to stop the tears leaking from his eyes, but he couldn't. His mother looked so pale as he gently caressed her face with his cold, shivering tiny hand. Then his heart seemed to jump when she opened her eyes. Those yellowish-golden orbs that he loved looking at as long as he could remember seemed to lose their brilliance, the same as the snowy white hair now tainted with blood.

He could smell it coming; among all the scents that come rushing in to him in waves only one makes him shiver… the scent of death was now clinging around his mother. He's losing her.

“M-Maru-chan…” her voice was so weak he could barely hear her.

“F-Forgive me, hahaue…I'm just a burden to you… I'm making you weak…” He cried as his young body rocked from all the anguish he was feeling.

“No Maru-chan…d-don't say that…remember that…h-having someone to protect makes you stronger… that's why I am stronger now than I could ever be…it's…because I want to protect you…” she coughed, blood splattered her hands and her wounds opened anew.

“Hahaue…be strong. Chichiue will come… I know he will come to save us… he will.” Sesshomaru pleaded while his eyes blurred from all his tears, holding her hand on his bruised cheek.

“No Maru-chan, you're the one who should be strong…b-be strong…to save yourself…and stronger to protect those you love…be brave little one…I'm proud of you…my son, you will be…the greatest lord of our land…and…excel…even beyond what…your chichiue has done…I-I know…you will make us proud…” she coughed up some more blood, and drew a forced breath as she smiled at the still crying pup. “I-I am…proud of you…my beloved son…Sesshou-“ then her eyes grew wide as she pulled Sesshomaru closer to her limp body and created a barrier around them less than a second before another attack from Ryuukotsusei hit them.

The powerful blast of energy lingered outside her barrier, pressing in, trying to break through the shield. The Lady of the West could feel her barrier wavering around them; she knew it wouldn't last long with the amount of pressure that the attack was putting on it. There was only one way she could think of to save her pup, and so she sent a last summon to her mate through their connection with their mating mark. She would ensure that someone would come to save her son. Then with the last ounce of her life energy, she pushed young Sesshomaru out of the range of the ryuu-youkai's attack, and managed to erect another barrier around him, covering his body protectively before he hit the ground.

Young Sesshomaru saw how his mother's barrier trembled before it suddenly burst out in a powerful wave, sending the lingering energy orb attack back to the ryuu-youkai causing the huge youkai to tumble backwards. It was the first time that Sesshomaru had seen that happen and it gave him a spark of hope, but it was quenched just as soon as it appeared, when he saw his mother close her eyes as she drew her last breath. And as her heart beat its last, the most heart wrenching howl erupted from the little pup a few meters from her that was heard miles away by the approaching Inutaishou, Lord Touga…the great taiyoukai howled its own anguish, fear and anger in return as he flew in the sky with a speed he knew he never had before.

Lord Touga came just in the nick of time. Barely taking a moment to spare a look at the carnage around him, he flew straight to Ryuukotsusei. The dragon youkai was about to land a deadly blow to the bloody pup in his true form, snarling with his furs standing on end and positioned protectively beside his mother's body.

It was too much of a sight to see as Lord Touga's blood boiled to the breaking point and his eyes turned red with uncontrollable rage. The dragon youkai never had the chance to fight back as blow by blow; the inutaiyoukai's attacks came. But the dragon youkai proved to be a great fighter and a very sneaky one. When he realized that none of his attacks would touch the raging inutaiyoukai, he attacked its only weakness.

Ryuukotsusei threw a powerful blast of energy towards the inuyoukai's pup. Lord Touga knew the pup wouldn't survive that level of energy, so he did what he could do with such little time left to save him. He used his own body as a shield for his pup and his mate.

Ryuukotsusei's evil laugh was the only sound that young Sesshomaru could hear as he watched wide-eyed as his great father crumpled to the ground. He was shocked, he couldn't move, he couldn't speak, he just continued to stand there like a statue while he unconsciously transformed back into his humanoid form. `It's all my fault…I've become my parent's weakness…' was the only thought echoing in his mind.

The Inutaishou saw the look on his son's face and the sprawled body of his mate. His rage started anew at his opponent's underhanded way of fighting. He couldn't let this continue, when Ryuukotsusei moved to attack, he poured all the energy that he could summon and blasted the dragon youkai straight into the rocky side of the cliff and with great speed, he dashed towards his opponent. He growled ferociously before he dug his fangs and claws in the youkai's body.

It was gradually petrified as it stood there on the side of the cliff. The great Inutaishou moved away from the petrified youkai. He wanted to leave behind one of his claws to serve as a seal but the spell, energy, and time it required to use was something he didn't have the luxury of at the moment, and so he moved towards his family. They were his priority. He had no time to grieve over his beloved mate as he carried her limp body and his son who remained motionless, staring, but unseeing , still in shock and took them to the safety of the western lands…back to their shiro…that was doomed to be in a state of grief and anguish for a long time to come.

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Sesshomaru sat up with a gasp and struggled for breath, panting hard while he controlled his raging youkai, as it flared in reaction to his distress. His heart pounded in his ears like a drum, beating furiously against his ribcage as he tried to calm down.

The taiyoukai's nightmare, though he knew each and every detail of it, his reaction still remained the same… no matter how he anticipated the pain… he still couldn't stop it from breaking him once more…bit by bit.

The pain of loneliness.

The shame of his foolishness.

The guilt of his own weakness.

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Kagome lay in her futon, tears flowing silently from her blue-gray eyes.

`He's having nightmares again…' She knew what the taiyoukai saw in his nightmares, she had seen it too, once, when he forged a link, though unknowingly, between them. It was during that time when he tried to penetrate her mind while she was inside her sanctuary. She felt it all, his pain, anguish, his helplessness, his fear, his guilt and anger. Somehow, after seeing those memories of his youth, she understood a part of the stoic taiyoukai.

Enough to feel sympathy for him.

`No wonder you are who you are now…' She cried a bit more for the taiyoukai's pain as she heard a muffled pained growl from the chamber next to hers.

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Outside their sleeping chambers, enclosed within the inner dwelling, the giant sakura tree was glowing faintly, seemingly as disturbed as the taiyoukai who was haunted by his nightmarish memories…

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MS: (sniff sniff) Thanks for beta-ing for me CASEDEPUTY AND FANTASY DREAMER. This is way better. (sniff sniff * blow nose*)

Sesshou: woman that is not my mother. This Sesshomaru will not allow anyone to see me in that state.

MS: Yeah, well, this is MY story and I do what I want. If I say your hahaue should be very motherly like that, then she is… (sniff sniff)

Sesshou: and stop with the crying, wench. You irritate this one's sense of smell.

MS: Oh Phew! You just miss her and this chapter or more like the memory itself was inspired by that look of yours in the ending of the anime. You know the one where you gazed at the petrified Ryuukotsusei in the cliff and the wind was blowing around you, you touch your mokomoko to prevent its fur from touching your face. That look started this… Read and Review Minnasan! Ja Ne!