InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ New Dawn ❯ Recruitment Troubles ( Chapter 8 )

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 Eight: Recruitment Troubles

“Hey, Kira!” someone shouted from the rear of the vehicle.

‘Oh great…’ she thought, recognizing Chris. The cat demon had a healthy dose of feline superiority. He always believed himself right, mighty, and everything else cats seemed to think they were. Everything she considered to be “extremely obnoxious” and “irritating”.

“We were about to have a memorial for you, you were so late. The job not as easy as you thought it would be?” sneered the black cat. He just loved finding faults in anyone that wasn’t a cat.

“I got delayed,” she replied, trying to wave off the over critical feline. She saw Sesshomaru leap out of the car, landing behind Chris without a sound or stirring any dust. ‘Color me impressed,’ she thought, awed.

“‘I can get in and out, no prob,’ you said. ‘I can handle this on my own,’ you said. ‘They’ll never know what hit them,’ you said,” Chris mimicked, amber eyes glittering with malicious glee. “Now you come back late and say, ‘I got delayed’? I just have to wonder if you even got the job done or not.” He shook his head like she was a disappointment.

Kira narrowed her dark eyes and opened her mouth to retaliate when Aaron walked up and asked, “Who’s the new recruit?”

“What recruit? We weren’t expecting anyone,” demanded the feline. Aaron, a wolf demon, simply spun the loud-mouth cat around. Sesshomaru, arms crossed, was leaning against the parked hover craft, looking bored.

“So, who is he?” asked Aaron over his shoulder.

“You can’t just bring someone new to this place without the rest of us approving first much less not knowing about it!” Chris shouted, whirling around to face her. “Stupid dog! Wait, that’s not right, you’re not even a half dog, you’re a stinking, mislabeled human!”

Kira growled, her demon power rising, her eyes changed to red with turquoise irises. Her nails extended into claws and her fangs became longer. Aaron jumped between the two calling for calm when a hand gripped Chris’ shirt and he was suddenly face to face with Sesshomaru.

“I wouldn’t talk if I were you,” the dog demon whispered, but in the sudden silence it carried throughout the underground garage. “You are not exactly pure yourself.”

Kira gritted her teeth and waited, hoping that, for once, Chris would do the smart thing and keep his mouth shut. She heard the cat take a deep sniff and saw his ears twitch in puzzlement. She knew what he smelled, or didn’t smell, as the case was. When she had met Sesshomaru she had noted the absence of a scent, but hadn’t figured out what was until after she had visited the shrine.

Sesshomaru was an ancient demon; unlike all the other demons in the world today, he had no human in him. What she had missed and what Chris was missing was the scent of human blood within him.

Chris, though, wasn’t likely to figure that out since that was impossible. Kira wasn’t sure if she should tell the others about Sesshomaru’s origins. She knew it would look bad for him and she didn’t want everyone ostracizing him because he was, by this world’s terms, a freak.

The feline looked like he was about to say something when Sesshomaru cut him off, “I don’t like cat demons, they’re too full of themselves.”

“Yeah, well I guess we’re even then, cuz I don’t like you either,” snarled Chris. Kira wanted very badly to slap a muzzle on the feline before he talked himself into an early grave.

“We’re hardly even, neko,” said Sesshomaru as he leaned forward, tightening his grip on the feline’s shirt. Chris blinked along with everyone else, including Kira, in confusion at the last word.

‘Neko?’ she wondered. ‘Is that a word from his native language? Oh damn! If that is going to occur off and on, I don’t know how I’ll keep his origins a secret.’

Fortunately, everyone was distracted from the foreign word when a stern “Stand down!” rang throughout the chamber. Sesshomaru straightened up and looked toward the source of the command, but didn’t release his hold on Chris. His eyes were clouded with confusion.

Before she could step in, Asamu marched around the car with two of his officers trailing behind. The difference between her and him was the same as night and day.

He resembled a full demon just as she resembled a full human. His close cropped hair was a pale silver. Blue demon stripes lined his eyebrows and the backs of his hands. His eyes were a supernatural color of green and his ears were pointed, albeit longer than Sesshomaru’s and they had the tendency to twitch every now again. Fine hairs decorated the backs of them; the only sign that he had human in his ancestry.

‘It’s hard to believe we’re full-blooded siblings,’ she thought. ‘I certainly got the short end of the stick here. Couldn’t he have shared the love?’

She saw Sesshomaru raise an eyebrow as he approached. Asamu stopped short seeing the dog demon was still holding onto Chris. “Release him!” he barked.

Sesshomaru stared at him and didn’t move. Kira gritted her teeth and thought frantically, ‘You promised to try! You promised to try, remember!’ Finally, after what felt like hours, Sesshomaru shoved Chris away from him. Kira let out the breath she had been holding.

“Kira!”

‘Oh, Hell!’

“Who is this and why did you feel it was okay to bring him here without first consulting me or my officers?” demanded Asamu.

‘He’s such a hard-ass, but I guess that’s what makes him such a great general,’ she thought.

She sighed and said, “Can I speak with you in private, General?”

“You can’t explain yourself here?” he asked, crossing his arms.

‘Wonder what put him in such a bad mood,’ she thought and skipped over to him. Swinging an arm around his neck, she pulled him down until her mouth was next to his ear and hissed through her teeth, “It’s sensitive information, Brother.”

“Fine, we’ll discuss this in private,” he relented. He looked back at Sesshomaru and said, “Though, find someone to supervise your new friend, I don’t want anymore mischief.”

She looked over her shoulder at the wolf demon and called, “Aaron, be a dear, and keep all the friendlies away. I don’t want any accidents occurring while I’m gone. And don’t get offended if he doesn’t say anything, he’s sort of antisocial.”

“Got it,” replied the wolf, giving a mock salute. He walked over and hopped on top of the car next to the dog demon. Sesshomaru eyes were once again clouded, having, despite the chip, not understood a word she had just said.

She paused before following Asamu. Wondering if she should run over and give the dog demon a reassuring kiss, she recalled Rin, and dismissed the idea. She turned and jogged to catch up with her retreating brother.

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

Sesshomaru leaned back against the car prepared to wait like that until she returned. He hadn’t realized how much he had come to depend on Kira in their brief time together until she walked away. At her disappearance, the full impact of his new reality struck him.

The world shrank around him and a sense of claustrophobia invaded his usually calm mind. The voices around him echoed, grew louder and became distorted. He was scarcely aware of his hands rising to cover his ears. He broke out in a sweat, panic seizing him.

He felt a hand grip his shoulder, he jerked around. Koga had a startled expression on his face and recoiled slightly. “Are you alright?” he asked, honest concern showing on his face.

‘No, that’s not right,’ Sesshomaru thought, panting. ‘Koga was killed five thousand years ago.’ He recoiled and stepped away from the car.

He stood in a grassy field. He could see Mt Fuji in the distance. The sun overhead was bright and cheery, clouds lazily wondered across the blue sky.

“This can’t be,” he whispered.

“Lord Sesshomaru!” someone called.

He turned and saw a young human woman running towards him, a huge smile on her face. He turned toward her. “Rin!” he said and smiled then his golden eyes widened in fear.

Black clouds surged through the sky behind her and he saw him rise up behind his beloved. Sesshomaru sprang forward and tried to cry a warning, but his voice caught in his throat. The demon slashed downward striking her, Rin gasped and fell forward.

“Lord Sesshomaru,” she whispered, her blood turning the grass crimson.

“Rin!” he screamed. The demon vanished, laughing. Sesshomaru ran to Rin then skidded to a halt in horror. The evil clouds covered the sky now, but there was no lack of light. They were being lit from beneath by the glow of countless fires. The field bled; it oozed out of the ground around him, climbed up stems and dripped off blade tips. Screams and explosions rang through the air; growing louder by the second as the wave of battle moved closer. He could smell death on the wind, it was suffocating. The scent of demons and humans intermingled nearly choking him.

“Where is the battle? Where are they fighting?” he gasped. He looked, he listened, he sniffed but it came from no single direction. It was as if he stood in the middle of the battle already yet nothing but bloody fields surrounded him.

Laughter broke out behind him, louder than the din of the dying. The dog demon whirled. The silence was like a physical blow, winding him in its sudden fall. So were the countless bodies that now occupied the field. Humans and demons lay tangled together so tightly there was no place to step around them. Crimson pools gathered in the recesses and bloody streams wove there way over and between the dead.

He heard the laughter again and slowly looked behind him. The demon, Rin’s murderer, stood among the bodies. He smiled, his eyes glittering with dark rapture.

“Katagai!” roared Sesshomaru, charging with wild abandon, his claws aiming for the man’s vulnerable head. “This time, you won’t escape, Devil!”

His claws sliced through empty air where Katagai’s head had been a moment before. He whirled around, nothing. Only the field of dead and the glowing sky remained. A bit of green and white caught his eye and he turned. His features twisted with horror. Before him, where Katagai had been standing, were Inuyasha and Kagome.

Both dead.

Inuyasha’s arms were wrapped around the girl as if he had been trying to protect her when they died. Their faces showed no signs of peace, only fear and pain.

“No!”

The ground rumbled beneath him and he caught the scent of brine. The silky roar of water grew louder and he turned in the direction of the sound and scent. A wall of water towered above him. He turned to flee, but his feet tangled and he fell. He looked back and saw Inuyasha gripping his ankle with one hand as the other clutched the lifeless Kagome to him.

“Why did you abandon us?” the hanyou whispered, his eyes filled with hate and despair.

“No, I didn’t…” He choked on the words, unfamiliar feelings of guilt threatening to drown him before the wave did. “I didn’t…” Sesshomaru had no idea what Inuyasha could have been thinking when he saw Katagai wielding Tokijin. Was this really what he felt at the end?

“Not this, please not this…” he gasped then screamed and raised his arms as the water came smashing down on top of him.

“Why did you abandon us?” The current carried him away from the dead and their accusations, but he couldn’t escape the betrayed look in Inuyasha’s eyes.

“I didn’t…” Blackness invaded his mind and soul as he was dragged into the depths.

**********

“You want me to take on such a loose cannon as this Sesshomaru?” asked Asamu, incredulous.

“What do you want me to do? He has been in this world not even a month! How the hell is he supposed to exist?” demanded Kira, slamming her fists against the table.

“I have to agree with Kira, Asamu. If we turn him away, we have as good as killed him,” said Kelsey. She was a cross between cat and fire, an exciting combination; she was also one of the oldest members of the army. Her opinion held more weight than others. Kira was glad she had Kelsey on her side.

“We haaavvve to think of the rebellion and itsss memberssss firsssst,” stated Michael, a snake demon.

“We are talking about a disciplined fighter whose only faults are that he is used to fighting alone and being in charge. We can work with that,” responded Kelsey.

“I’m worried about hissss vendetta,” said the snake. Unlike his kind’s reputation, he wasn’t sinister or sneaky; his worries were valid, concerns genuine.

“Can’t we give him a chance? He promised he would try to be a good team member,” pleaded Kira.

Kelsey turned to Asamu and said, “That’s really all we can ask of him.” Kira didn’t hear her brother’s reply as her gaze was drawn to a figure standing behind him and the officers.

The woman from the secret rest stop was there. She hugged herself and stared through the wall with a worried, almost frightened, expression on her face. Her dark eyes flickered to Kira’s then she returned her attention to whatever lay beyond the wall.

Kira needed no further prompting. She flew out the door ignoring the shouts from her brother and sped to the main garage. She paused at the entrance and saw a crowd gathered around something. Seeing no one at her car, she ran to the crowd.

“Let me through!” she shouted while she elbowed and shoved her way through the mass. She broke into the center and stopped.

Three medics were working with professional calm over the prone form of Sesshomaru. No one was hurt, she didn’t smell any blood. Aaron stood off to one side looking unhappy. She approached him so as not to disturb the medics.

“What happened?” she asked him.

He shrugged and replied, “Some sort of anxiety attack. He just freaked out all of a sudden.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his head and looked at Sesshomaru again. “What did Katagai do to him? I mean we all hate Katagai but this… The hate was personal.”

‘Sesshomaru,’ she thought as she turned back to the unconscious man. She walked forward and knelt beside him. She barely noticed the crowd parting for her brother, Kelsey, and Michael.

“Was he attacking anyone?” Asamu asked. Kira could have killed him right then.

“Nothing but his nightmares,” replied Medic Anya without emotion. “He suffered sort of mental breakdown.”

“I can’t have someone like this in my army, Kira,” her brother stated. “He must leave.” The young woman bit her lip and tried to suppress the tears that threatened to spill.

“With all do respect, General. This man is now our patient and you will not be doing anything with him ‘til I say otherwise,” said Anya, glaring at Asamu.

Kira saw her brother start to argue when Michael put his hand on Asamu’s arm and said, “Sssshe is right, the medical persssonnel’sss ordersss ssssuperssssede a military commander’ssss. The man ssstaysss, for now.”

It was a victory, but a very small one that hardly meant anything. If Sesshomaru couldn’t prove himself he would have to leave and how could he do that if he wasn’t mentally stable?

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Wee! Okay, now I’m in trouble. I have no idea what to do for Chapter Nine. I know how I want to snap Sesshomaru out of his withdrawal and prove to the team he can work with them. The trouble is there is going to be a certain amount of time between that event and this one. Now I could cheat and simply jump forward to that event, which I can do, but I feel like I should have one middle chapter to move the spot light around and expand the world a bit more. Maybe go over and say “howdy do” to old Katagai and see whether or not Sesshomaru’s theory really is true. We can jump over and see if we can’t find more characters that are among the cities. Maybe we can flash back into Kira’s past. What do you think should come next?

Please note that I retain the final decision on what the next chapter will be. I may or may not use your suggestions, but wouldn’t it be nice if you could help the brainstorm process just a bit. Even if I don’t take your ideas you will have helped me write this chapter and possibly the next few!

I am not going to be here or able to write over Labor Day weekend. I am going to a memorial service for my Grandfather, who died August 22, 2005 and I may not feel like writing for awhile afterwards. Or I may write a lot like last week as I try to distract myself from the loss.