InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ New Dawn ❯ The Past and Future Collision ( Chapter 12 )

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 Twelve: The Past and Future Collision

Sesshomaru landed on the ground outside the medical transport, a bullet narrowly avoiding tunneling a hole through his forehead. The screams of children surrounded him as did the din of battle, so akin were the sounds to his nightmare that the images began to superimpose. His mind replaced the incomprehensible with visions he understood. He no longer stood in the middle of an underground garage surrounded by transports vehicles; he was in the grassy fields with great boulders strewn about.

Only half aware of reality, he turned toward the sounds of gunfire and focused on the human warriors that attacked from the entrance of a canyon. A female kitsune fired back but she was only one versus many and badly injured. The humans shot into the crowd of children that dashed behind boulders, some falling to never rise again.

Tasukete! Sesshomaru-sama!

‘Rin!’ He looked around but couldn’t find her. Partially relieved, for it meant that she wasn’t among the unmoving children, he turned his attention to the humans causing the destruction and danger. He charged forward, moving so fast he appeared no more than a ghostly blur to all. The humans never knew what hit them. His energy whip sliced through flesh and metal. Poison sprayed from his claws devoured skin and muscles, the humans died slow, agonizing deaths.

Within moments the tunnel was quiet save for the echoes of battles from other areas. Drawn to the sounds of fighting, he quickly left the bewildered, surviving children behind and raced down the tunnel, destroying whatever human foolish enough to impede his progress.

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

The rubble from the missile barrage hid Kira from the attackers and spared her a beheading while she lay unconscious. However, when consciousness returned, she witnessed the decapitation of friends and comrades. Unable to move, she could only continue to watch the gruesome scene and pray that unconsciousness claimed her again.

The sound of panicked soldiers drew her attention to one of the inner tunnels. Men fired back down the tunnel they fled from, but the guns seemed to have no effect on whatever pursued them for several heads flew from necks, blood spraying into the air as bodies toppled to the ground. Kira blinked her eyes clear then gasped when Sesshomaru appeared at the tunnel entrance. Blood oozed from a number of wounds on his naked torso, but they didn’t seem to hinder him. In an instant, he gained on the retreating men and slashed them to pieces. He threw out a hand and others fell away screaming from the green mist shooting from his fingers.

‘So this is what the Lord of the Western Lands of Japan can do,’ she thought in awe, feeling hope return. She sobered when she saw the human general and his men take aim at the battling demon. Determined to stop him, Kira shifted and felt her hand brush against her gun. Ignoring the pain in her chest and the blood trickling out of her mouth every time she exhaled, she drew the weapon and braced her arm on the twisted rubble around her.

The general, focused on Sesshomaru, had his back to her, an easy target. She sighted down the barrel of the semi-automatic and pulled the trigger. The explosion of the gun rang painfully in her ears, but she had the satisfaction of seeing the shocked look on the officers’ faces as they turned to see their leader fall. They glanced back and she fired again; the head of the man on the right exploded. The second officer, weapon drawn, was taking aim at her when she fired a third time. He went down, a fountain of blood gushing from his chest.

A fourth shot reverted her attention to the battle just in time to see Sesshomaru crash into the ground; the sniper accomplishing what machine guns had not. Blood stained the back of the dog demon’s pants on his right thigh. The surviving humans cheered and took aim. Kira raised her gun, but there was no way she could kill them all before the human soldiers rained death down upon the immobilized demon. ‘No! Not like this! Please, not like this!’

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

Asamu and his men entered the evacuation garage, his heart falling at the sight of the tiny bodies. He ran among them looking for his younger sister and was surprise when children appeared from around vehicles, frightened but alive.

He didn’t have time to ponder this small miracle or look for Sasami as Aaron called to him. He turned toward the wolf demon and noticed a medic treating a female kitsune, but what Aaron gestured at was what drew the dog demon’s attention. Human corpses, slashed and partially melted, littered the tunnel entrance.

“How did this happen?” whispered Asamu as he looked at the wolf demon’s stunned expression.

The sounds of gunfire echoed down the tunnel catching his and Aaron’s attention. Turning back to his men, he shouted, “Chris! Get these children out of here; if I don’t come back leave without me.”

“General!” cried the feisty black cat as Asamu ran toward the battle. The young dog general and several others raced down the hall.

‘What the heck is going on? Who was able to overwhelm those soldiers?’ wondered Asamu as he ran. An image of the collapsed dog demon his sister had returned with flashed through his mind. ‘Could it… Could it really have been him?’

They broke into the new garage just as a new sound met their ears, the sound of cheering. Coupled with the sight that met them when they entered the garage, it chilled their blood. The entire area was littered with twisted, smoldering wreckage, decapitated demons and mangled or partly dissolved human corpses. He glanced toward the cheering and saw surviving humans coming out from behind the wrecked combat vehicles. The humans held up their guns and took aim at something out of sight. Asamu didn’t need to be told who they were going to shoot.

Enraged, he shouted, “Slaughter them!” The demons opened fired. The humans looked up, shocked, before they fell to a hail of bullets. Those not taken in the first wave scrambled to seek shelter. Another gunshot echoed from somewhere behind the rubble causing the demons to dive behind destroyed combat vehicles. Looking for the source, they saw a body topple from the rafters, a human body.

‘Sniper!’ he thought in horror and anger as he dashed around the wreckage to get a clearer shot at the surviving humans. He turned the corner and saw a human woman, badly injured, standing at the base entrance. Then he recognized her.

“Kira!” he shouted. She stood in the open, completely exposed, her gun pointed to the ceiling. Blood leaked from the sides of her mouth and oozed from the gashes on her arms and legs. Despite the wounds, she seemed calm and was even smiling. Then several bullets tore through her chest and she toppled backwards, her gun slipping from her now lifeless fingers. “Kira!” he screamed.

At the same time a terrifying howl shook the rafter and the humans cried out in terror. A few more gun shots sounded then silence. No more screams. No more gun shots. No more shouting. The battle was over. The humans were dead.

Asamu slowly crept around the twisted metal. The demon his sister had brought, the one he had wanted to get rid of, stood among the human bodies, shirtless and bleeding from several wounds including one in the back of his right thigh. ‘How can he be standing?’ Asamu wondered.

He turned away looking over the carnage around him. “Aaron,” he whispered and the wolf demon stepped up beside him. “Go back and tell Chris that we can take our time evacuating the base.”

“Yes, General,” Aaron replied in as soft a voice as the young dog demon then ran off to fulfill his orders.

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

Asamu held the lifeless body of his sister in his arms. The battle over, the survivors were now performing the grisly task of clean up. The part of the garage the wreckage had been cleared from was lined with the dead. The human dead were dumped unceremoniously into a pile in one corner while the demon dead were laid out side by side. The young demon general placed Kira next to the other corpses, still dazed by the destruction and its shocking conclusion.

Sasami stood off to the side weeping for her sister and dead friends, her little doggy ears lying limp against her skull. While not everyone was capable of weeping tears all were crying inside. The losses were devastating. More than half of the army had been wiped out along with nearly their entire arsenal; though, the arsenal seemed rather minor by comparison.

‘We can always steal more weapons, we can never replace the lives that were taken,’ thought Asamu, staring at his sister’s pale face. Sesshomaru stood off to side, the only one who didn’t appear affected. Many glared at him then looked away when they remembered he was the reason why the death toll wasn’t higher.

‘I wonder if he is capable of feeling grief anymore. What a thought, I don’t know if I should be envious or pity him now,’ he thought, looking at Sesshomaru for a moment before returning his attention to his dead sister. ‘He seemed to gain his second wind when Kira died and thus was able to slaughter the remaining humans. He must have cared.’ He brushed the brown bangs from her forehead.

“My katana,” said Sesshomaru without warning. Though no one had been speaking, the silence seemed more profound than before as everyone turned to look at him.

“I need my katana,” he said but still no one moved.

“I wonder if he means those swords he had when he first arrived,” whispered Aaron to Asamu.

In the silence even a human would have heard the wolf demon’s comment; it wasn’t surprising when Sesshomaru turned toward him. “Yes, my swords are what I need, particularly Tenseiga.”

Despite the oddness of the request, no one protested. Aaron sighed, got up, and said, “I’ll get them.” He trotted off; within minutes, he returned with the two ancient swords. Sesshomaru walked over to him, bearing only a slight limp, and took the swords from him. He then moved over toward the dead. Laying one down, he drew the other, a pale, elegant blade. As the dog demon raised the sword above the rows of dead, Asamu suddenly became concerned for his intentions, as did everyone else.

“Hey, wait a minute! What are you– ” started the young general. Too late, the sword slashed the area above the dead and a blue light shot out of the blade and engulfed them.

Cries of protest and alarm filled the chamber as demons jumped clear of the light. Then it vanished and all could see the bodies were unharmed. Everyone stared at Sesshomaru, baffled, until the dead began to move. They moaned, sat up and looked around, dazed and confused.

Asamu didn’t know what to think until he saw Kira stirring. ‘Impossible! She was dead! I know she was!’ he thought in horror and awe.

She opened her brown eyes as he knelt next to her. “Hey, Brother, did we get ‘em?” she asked.

“Oh Kira,” he whispered, his eyes filling with tears. Then he embraced her and kissed her cheek.

Sasami ran over, crying, “You’re alive! Sister, you’re alive!”

Across the garage others shared in the joy of this strange miracle, filling the chamber with sounds of laughter. Asamu looked over to Sesshomaru; he was once again detached from the emotional scene. He sat against the wall holding the sword that had brought about this wonder to his chest, the other lay forgotten at his feet, his eyes hidden behind his snowy bangs.

‘Thank you!’ he thought to Sesshomaru and whatever gods that had allowed the demon to find his way here.

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

Sesshomaru was oblivious to the cheering. Once more, he was embraced by the cold waters of the abyss, his brother’s accusing words ringing in his ears.

“Why did you abandon us?”

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

Tasukete: Help!
Katana: Long sword

Okay! Last chapter until at least mid-January! Of course, if I lie you’ll be thrilled. I also realized I passed the first-year anniversary of this story. Jeez, one year already and I’m still in the introductory chapters. *shakes head* I don’t see the pace changing anytime in the future because graduation is coming up then I have to look and participate in internships and graduate school. *sighs* I will attempt to not blow off writing these four weeks since it might be the last free time I have until retirement. *cries* I don’t want to grow up!

I’m actually not sure what to do in the next chapter so it might take longer to update this story than four weeks so suggestions would be nice. NO! I will not bring up the vault until later! That comes after Sesshy has been established in this world not when he is still trying to work things out.

On my bio I have now placed an update section so you can see what writing projects I’m working on. I’ll try to update it at least once a week.

Now for every reviewing reader’s favorite time… the acknowledgements.
*gets starry eyed* You people do like my work! I was getting so worried because I hadn’t gotten reviews in so long! *giggles* Just keep it coming, I love the encouragement.

Lokelani04: Thank you! I’m so glad you stuck with it too. And am especially glad you have come to like it. I hope future chapters don’t disappoint.

animelikemine: Thank you!

Angellips: I didn’t know you always look this one up. *gets starry eyed again* Thank you so much! I’m even happier hearing from you.

D-Chan3: I love reviews like these. I get to know what you are feeling and they may help me direct the plot. In this case it has been 5000 years since Kagome’s time, 5500 years since Sesshomaru was sealed. That means if anyone does show up they have to be revived and by means other than Tenseiga. Not sure about healing the world, though. In mind that would change the last 5000 years of history and create a paradox, something that never occurred in the series. That would also crash the 5000 year-old eco systems. I’m going to try to establish more of the world through Sesshomaru just exploring it while traveling with the demon rebellion so you can see the wonders as well as the nightmares of the new world. There’s an idea for the next chapter! Since the rebellion has to move, we can go see more of how this world works. *wonders off daydreaming about post-apocalypse earth*