InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ New Dawn ❯ A New Recruit ( Chapter 7 )

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

Chapter Seven: A New Recruit

‘Asamu is never going to believe this,’ Kira thought flatly. The hover car flew once again across the deserted landscape. Next to her Sesshomaru slid his fingers along the rusted blade of one of the swords Priestess Higurashi had given him.

Her mind still whirled with everything she had discovered. ‘Katagai is really a fifty-five hundred year-old demon who basically sold out his own kind for reasons unknown. Maybe it was power; with all the other demons being ground into the dirt he would be the uncontested top dog in the world.’ Something told her that wasn’t the answer.

She rubbed her temples and sighed. ‘I have a demon that was sealed away fifty-five hundred years ago and who is going mad from culture shock.’ Her face twisted in disgust. ‘Not that I blame him, I would probably go crazy too if I had to spend a few weeks in Lord Augustus’ “care”. Somehow, I have to explain all this to my brother. And what exactly can we do with this information anyway?’

She thought back to when Sesshomaru had revealed Katagai’s true identity. His reaction had been startling, the surge of demonic power, the frightening transformation of his face. Priestess Higurashi was the only one who hadn’t retreated from the horrifying visage. Instead, she approached him and dared to touch his arm.

“That is all well and fine, Lord Sesshomaru, however, you cannot kill Katagai if you don’t first survive,” she said, her expression calm. She turned from him when he glanced at her and walked away. “I need to attend the graves then I will give you what you came for.” The two dog demons, Sesshomaru, having reclaimed his calm, if withdrawn, demeanor, and Kira, who was still wondering what she had gotten herself into and not entirely sure if she disliked it, followed after.

The graveyard was large, echoing the thousands of years that had past since its founding. Kira glanced at the names and dates carved into the stones as Priestess Higurashi and two others went to each grave. One cleaned the tombstone of dirt and moss. The priestess removed the old dried out flowers from the bamboo vases and replaced them with fresh flowers. The last person lit a stick of incense and stuck it into the ground between the vases.

It was like a journey back in time, each grave seemed to whisper of the lives laid to rest within them. Then they came across a number of graves that weren’t written in common. The symbols were incomprehensible to Kira but they had a profound affect on Sesshomaru. He stepped past the priestesses and knelt amongst them. Kira moved forward and bent over as he reached out a hand to touch on of the stones.

“Someone you know?” she asked.

“My brother,” he replied without turning away.

“Oh.” Embarrassed, she looked away and thought, ‘Five thousand years ago that war gobbled up everything he ever knew. He really is alone. There’s nothing this world can offer that’s familiar, save this shrine… and his father’s swords.’ She glanced back at him. ‘Is that why he wants them?’ She stared at the strange writing for another few seconds.

“Can you really read that?” she asked. She knew it was rude, she knew the world once had several forms of writing. Still, she just couldn’t see how anyone could understand such complicated symbols. Each stone held a different suite of symbols with little in common with the others.

“Can’t you? We’re speaking the same tongue,” he responded, flickering a glance her way.

“No, she can’t. You are speaking the same language, yes, but it is not your native tongue,” Priestess Higurashi answered. She stopped to set flowers and pray over another grave near them before continuing. “Augustus was furious to discover there was a language barrier. He ordered his surgeons to implant a device into your brain that would instantly translate all verbal speech into the common tongue. The reason why you haven’t noticed it is because it affects your thoughts. You are thinking in common instead of Japanese.”

Kira stared at her in horror. “But Augustus’ surgeons are heavy handed when it comes to demons or prisoners, and a demon prisoner is twice damned!”

Priestess Higurashi moved to the next grave and there breaking off the conversation for a moment. Then she said, “That is why I’m worried.”

“Are you suggesting something?” Sesshomaru asked quietly, his eyes cold as he stared at the two. His tone implied they had better not be.

“Lord Sesshomaru, put your pride on hold and think for a minute,” Priestess Higurashi stated. Sesshomaru blinked, not understanding the idiom. “Augustus had his surgeons cut into your head, into your brain! They were probably only as careful as it was necessary to keep you alive. There may have been some damage done; just what, I have no idea. I’m not a doctor.”

The implications were startling. Kira returned to the present, there wasn’t much reason too; she had put the car on autopilot so she could think. She would only be needed if they came under attack or were arriving at their destination. The car’s computer would warn her in both cases.

She glanced back at her new companion. ‘He could suffer a massive brain hemorrhage at any time, a stroke, or even collapse into seizures. After all this time, all the other post-operative problems can be ruled out simply because they would have happened sooner rather than later. The smallest and least noticeable consequence would be memory loss.’

Her gaze traveled to his swords lying in his lap. Priestess Higurashi had led them into the temple after she had finished with the graves. The first thing her disciples had done was offer Sesshomaru a change of clothes. The dog demon had looked at the clothes then arched an eyebrow at the priestess.

“I figured you’d want to remove clothing that reeked of your captivity,” she replied to his unspoken question. Without a word, he snatched up the clothes and allowed them to guide him to a side room. The priestess had read him well.

“How did you find him?” she asked, startling Kira.

“Excuse me?”

“How did you come across Lord Sesshomaru?”

Kira kicked the floor, wondering how she was supposed to explain the strange woman. Finally, she decided to simply tell the truth. “I had no intention of stopping on my journey, at least not there.” She omitted where it was she had not wanted to stop. After all, it was one of the rebellion’s secret rest areas. That was not information to be handed out to just anyone, even if she was proving to be a friend. “I then saw a woman in strange clothes standing there, a human woman. Wondering what she was doing way out there and how she got there, I stopped. She disappeared so I began to look for her and that’s when I found him.”

The priestess looked thoughtful, but did not indicate she thought Kira mad. “I wonder who that was,” she whispered.

“I don’t know. She didn’t even leave a scent or tracks; it was like she didn’t exist.”

“Maybe she didn’t, at least, not physically. A phantom, perhaps?” wondered the priestess.

A chill ran over the hanyou, but before she could say anything else Sesshomaru emerged from the room. Kira’s jaw dropped in awe. The clothing he had been given was stylish and looked great on him. A form fitting white shirt peeked out of a brown bike jacket that had off-white fleece lining. Someone had added spikes to the shoulders. Blue denim pants held up by a thick brown belt completed the outfit. The pant legs went past his ankles and dragged on the floor around his socks. A pair of army boots were held over his shoulder. She wondered why he hadn’t put them on yet.

“I’m glad to see that everything fit,” said Priestess Higurashi, her voice and expression smug.

While Kira couldn’t have said that he had been lacking in pride and confidence when she met him, he did seem to have more of a presence around him now. She snapped her mouth shut when she realized she was starting to drool. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice.

The priestess waved two of her people forward; each was carrying something. She reached over and picked up one of the objects and said, “I give you back Tenseiga.” Sesshomaru took the sword and rubbed his thumb along the sheath. He then tucked it into his belt.

When she reached for the other Sesshomaru asked, “Has the spell on Tetsusaiga been removed?” Kira looked at him, confused.

The priestess hesitated and then admitted, “I have no idea. We’ll just have to trust Tetsusaiga to be more agreeable this time around.” She took hold of the sword and presented it to him. He put the boots down and held out his hand. He gripped the hilt and pulled the legendary blade, sheath and all, toward him. He held it with reverence then his expression saddened.

“For so many years I have longed to hold this sword, to be its true master, and now that I possess it, I wish I didn’t,” he whispered.

Kira’s attention snapped back to reality when the car beeped for her attention. She could see her destination ahead. A city that had been destroyed and abandoned during the war and thus didn’t possess even the remains of a dome. The perfect place for the rebellion to be based, nobody knew it even existed.

“Well, we’ve arrived,” she said, not knowing how to break through Sesshomaru’s wall of silence.

“You live here?” he asked and she saw him staring past the screen toward the ruined skyscrapers.

“Well, living in luxury is not an option when you’re trying to stay hidden,” she stated, then cursed herself when she realized she had yet to tell him of the rebellion she was part of.

“Yes?” Sesshomaru gazed at her with a raised eyebrow, no doubt wondering what had brought about her sudden burst of vulgar language.

“I forgot to tell you, I’m part of what is widely known as the ‘Demon Rebel Army’. We fight people like Augustus, Katagai, and their ilk in attempt to bring demons up to equal status so we won’t have to live in constant fear all the time,” she said, then looked over at him.

“Is there a problem?”

“Well I know you have a personal vendetta against Augustus and Katagai, and that you were a lord, are a lord. That can equal to unreliability and the army can’t have that.”

“Unreliability?”

She realized then he might take that as an insult to his fighting ability and courage. She hurried to explain. “I’m not saying anything about your battle prowess! I’m talking about your teamwork abilities. We can’t have any ‘lone rangers’; you have to be able to work with others as a team.” Once again, she saw his golden eyes cloud in confusion at her choice of words. A translation chip can only do so much.

She sighed and tried again. “You can’t fight every battle as if you are the only one there. In this place, people will be relying on you. Every decision you make can have a positive or negative effect on those you are fighting with and you have to keep that in mind. Now, as a lord I’m sure you aren’t going to be thrilled with the idea of taking orders from others and, since you are brand new to this world, you can’t be in charge so will be taking orders. I believe the thought of being someone’s underling would be galling for you.”

She glanced over and saw that she had his complete attention. The city loomed before them.

“Finally, that vendetta of yours, if you allow vengeance to fuel your actions you will be placing others in danger. Basically, you’re a risk and a liability. I don’t know if those at the base will want to take you on.”

“So where would I go if I were to leave right now?” he asked, his voice quiet. She had no idea what he could be thinking. “You said it yourself; I have no understanding of this world. Where could I go?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered, hating herself. All she could do was tell him that he didn’t fit in and there was no hope for him.

“My pride was what killed Rin,” he said unexpectedly. She started and the car jerked. He didn’t notice and continued. “If I had fled when I realized I couldn’t defeat him, Rin would not have died that night and I might have been able to defeat later and spare this world its suffering.”

“You don’t know that.”

“No, I don’t,” he agreed. “I do know that Priestess Higurashi told me I had to first survive before I can get my revenge. If this is the only way…”

“You’ll try to be a reliable member of the army? You’ll try to take orders without complaint and think of others before yourself?” she asked glancing at him again. Life had fled his features. She began to get an inkling of what would have to happen for this to succeed, and she wished there could be another way.

‘Why do I feel like he’s going to have to go through a rebirth before he can become what we deem as “reliable”?’

She pulled the car into an opening in the side of the buildings and drove down into the base. Once she was in shadow, work lights filled the corridor around her and demons appeared, going about their various tasks. Pulling into a space clear of the exit corridors, she landed the vehicle and shut it down.

One last depressing thought filled her mind, ‘And everyone knows rebirth only occurs after death.’

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

Yes people, it’s here! After many long weeks I have finally written the next chapter! You will also be happy to know that Chapter Eight: Recruitment Troubles will soon follow.

To those who are awaiting the next installment of “Forgotten” I am halfway done with Chapter One, but I cannot make any guarantees at this time when that will be up. I do have school, you know.