InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ New Dawn ❯ Escape and Rescue ( Chapter 19 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Sesshomaru or anyone from the hit anime/manga series. Rumiko Takahashi does. I do own all OC's and plot in this story.

 

Chapter 19: Escape and Rescue

 

Sesshomaru's attempts to break free had become a repeating pattern over the days he was trapped in the compartment. He would slam the restrictors, either the ones on his wrist or the ones on his ankles against the wall, get shocked and drilled by them and the constrictor then lay there for several hours waiting for the muscle spasms to cease. Once that occurred he would start all over again. It wasn't getting him anywhere. It took only two hits before the restrictor recognized it was under attack and electrocuted him.

 

The pain all three contraptions caused wasn't anything he couldn't work through but the electricity running through his body shorted out his ability to control it. Unable to do anything but wait for the attack to end, he had plenty of time to just think about the searing agony he was experiencing. During these periods, his damaged mind returned to those agonizing weeks in Augustus's torture chamber, a place he was fast returning to. He actually contemplated tearing his own head off twice before as his thoughts dipped down into darkness. When such ideas entered his head he immediately resumed slamming the restrictors against the wall.

 

He lay still as he stared at his restraints; despite the abuse he had inflicted they showed not the slightest trace of damage. With his blood pooled around him, he began to doubt he would be able to escape at all. The dark crept in as despair took hold.

 

“Is this where it all ends?” he whispered to himself and closed his eyes. They were waiting for him in the dark. The dead Inuyasha, with his equally dead love held within his arms; both staring at him in silent accusation. He was sinking, already far beneath the waves, and he didn't care. He should have remained there. He had fallen so far yet was doomed to fall further, his personal quest unfulfilled.

 

“… you sad excuse for a demon!”

 

The voice belonged to his brother. He remembered when Inuyasha had said those words. It had been the second time he had crossed paths with the hanyou since Inuyasha had been freed from the spell.

 

“… I had thought you might me weaker.”

 

This time it was Toran's voice. The turquoise haired feline appeared next to him along with her two sisters and brother. Then others appeared; Koga, Shippo, Sango, Miroku, Jaken. They all stared at him with accusing gazes.

 

“Coward! And you call yourself a man! I misjudged you.”

 

Kagura; the wind demoness glared in anger at him, holes in her chest where Naraku had stabbed her after returning her heart. She had said those words back when he refused to help her destroy Naraku. Sesshomaru felt a stirring in his heart that he had thought lost months ago. An old fire, believed extinguished, smoldering within the deadfall of his soul.

 

With a growl he opened his eyes and shouted, “Kono Sesshomaru wa yowakunai!” His demon aura poured out of him and he yanked on the restrictors with all his strength. Bolts of electricity coursed through him and his muscles contracted and released in uncontrolled spasms. He screamed but refused to stop, his demon aura controlling his limbs like a puppet. The constrictor burned and bored into his back, the blood pool grew. The metal walls began to dent outward under the pressure of his demon aura. The hovercraft jerked underneath him. With the grating sound of shrieking metal, both restrictors exploded along with the compartment.

 

****

 

Aetna didn't think much of her bounty's banging around inside the compartment. He had been doing so for days and he wasn't the first to make such a ruckus. However, she did wish Augustus had made this a more official bounty. She could have then dropped him off at the first Taibo city, a city under the control of Augustus's family, she came across, but because he had wanted it secret, she had to deliver the demon to his minions within his capital. They were a long ways from there.

 

Her apprehension was proven just when the seatback buckled forward. Edward jerked as his seat was knocked forward as well and the hovercraft dipped in response.

 

“What the fuck?” swore the boy. Aetna didn't have time to respond before the situation became worse.

 

Everything in the vehicle began to short out. Electricity arched across the control panel and Edward let go of the wheel and covered his face. One rear engine exploded into flames and the other threatened to do the same as it whined with strain and smoke trickled out of it. The craft's back end dropped down and its nose rose. Edward grabbed the wheel and twisted it bringing the nose back down before it flipped over. They needed to land, now! The young mechanic struggled to bring the assault vehicle to the ground as the craft bobbed and weaved. Aetna braced herself for the impact. They hit the ground and slid for a few hundred feet before it came to a stop.

 

Edward leaned against the wheel, unconscious. He had hit his head on it when they landed. Aetna turned to look at him then heard shrieking metal within the compartment behind her. There was no time to treat Edward; she had to restrain their prisoner. It was daylight outside but she had to risk exposure. UV wasn't immediately fatal. An escaping prisoner, on the other hand, was. She pulled her stun gun out and opened the sun shield then turned to face the rear compartment. She never had a chance to open it.

 

The hatch erupted; bits of metal shards flew up and out. One piece sliced through her face and destroyed her right eye. She cried out then there was her prisoner with a face to make the devil pause. She raised her gun but a swipe of his claws sent her gun and her right arm flying into the wasteland. She screamed and fell back, collapsing on the ground. Unconsciousness took her within seconds.

 

****

 

Sesshomaru landed on the ground next to the fallen bounty hunter but didn't spare her another look. The restrictors were gone from his wrists and ankles and the constrictor had lost its only source of power. He reached up and tore the neck ring in half then did the same for the waist. The constrictor pulled free of his back with slurp as the drills came out of his flesh. Bits of flesh fell with it leaving thumb-sized holes in his back. Still high on his heightened demon aura, his body healed within seconds. The burns faded to nothing and the holes filled in with pink flesh. Only his bloody and brunt shirt remained scarred in silent testament to his suffering.

 

Sesshomaru glared at the waste. He was days away from Hong Kong. He had an idea of how fast the hovercrafts could fly and he was certain they were actually faster than him even when he was transformed. He stared in the direction the tail of the craft was pointing. He had no idea where he was and the crashed vehicle was his only clue. He only hoped that when it was landing it hadn't reversed directions.

 

Summoning his power, his humanoid form melted and grew large, his face extended outward. He now towered over the downed assault vehicle in his powerful white dog form. He snarled at it then pointed his nose in the direction he believed would take him to Hong Kong and started running. Last time he had been concerned about being found and captured again. This time, drunk off his own power, Sesshomaru didn't care.

 

****

 

Asamu was in the midst of a dilemma. Kira was missing and now Dune had come to tell him Katagai's scouts had been spotted near Hong Kong. Ruined, though, the city may be, it was still impossible to hide an army with its carriers within it completely. If the army didn't leave now they would be inviting disaster not only for themselves but for those who called the place home. The locals could hide themselves from searchers but the city would be destroyed if the army remained.

 

“I hate to say it, but we might have to give them up as lost,” said Kelsey, her eyes sad.

 

Asamu growled and thought, Curse you, Sesshomaru! This is all your fault! If you weren't here this wouldn't be happening. He turned toward the fire cat, his expression cold, and said, “You're right. Let's get the caravan loaded.” He pushed his sister from his mind; he had to do what was best for the rebellion. No one else would be allowed to hold up the army for their personal search, so neither should he.

 

****

 

Katagai pulled down his binoculars when he saw the carriers leaving. He turned to a man that sat on his hover bike next to the immortal lord. Him, and everyone else in the strike force, were covered head to toe in wraps to protect them from the sun. Sun goggles covered the upper half of their faces.

 

“Follow them,” he instructed the rider, “but make sure you aren't noticed. We will follow behind you.” He turned back and spoke into the intercom. “We'll attack when they stop. So prepare yourselves.”

 

Katagai had sent scouts out as a signal to the crime lord that he was waiting. Dune had managed to chase the army out of his territory, allowing Katagai complete freedom in attacking them. Katagai wouldn't have to worry about damaging the crime lord's city. After all, Katagai didn't want to alienate such a business man. He was fond of demons that turned on their own to make a few credits and rewarded them as much as possible. They helped keep the demon race from doing something dangerous like uniting. The rebellion was living proof of how dangerous that was. As long as everyone was in it for themselves the demons would always be trampled underneath the human boot. And as far as Katagai was concerned, that was how it should be.

 

****

 

Sesshomaru arrived in Hong Kong days later. The crashed vehicle had swung around a bit and his direction had been slightly off. Mercifully, he had hit the beach before too long and traveled east along it until the city had appeared. If he had been pointed in any other direction he wasn't sure he would ever have found the city. The desolate wind seemed to be stripped of all scents. He had spotted the ocean by reflected moonlight but, though the wind was coming from the sea, he couldn't smell the salty brine. That was something he had noticed while he was in Hong Kong. Dawn was approaching when he landed within the city.

 

The first thing he noticed was the missing carriers. The army had departed. There was no sign of battle, no scent of gunpowder or new craters, but that didn't reassure him. He was certain Dune would not want the army to be taken down within his city. They not being here most likely meant they had fallen into Dune's trap. Sesshomaru growled. His sniffed the air again. He needed to find Dune; he would pay for his treachery. He also needed to find Kira.

 

The sun broke the horizon and Sesshomaru gave a toothy grin. Everyone will be inside and most likely sleeping now that day has broken. This will make searching for Dune easier. No one will even notice a giant white dog roaming the streets at this hour. Dune struck him as someone who was incredibly arrogant. He was within his city and he had all the right connections. He didn't need to post any guards for who would be so foolish as to challenge him? Sesshomaru began strolling down the street sniffing every building for signs of the crime lord.

 

****

 

Kira was hand-cuffed to the bed again except she was face down this time. She had long since run out of tears to shed, she only felt empty. The bite wound on her shoulder continued to bleed. Every time Dune mounted her he sank his fangs into the same spot, disallowing it to heal. She watched the red stream pulse out of the torn flesh in time with her heartbeat. She longed for the wound to be more severe so that she could bleed to death. No other escape looked feasible to her.

 

Dune reentered the room, even though it was the middle of the day he was still awake. He walked up to the bed and sat down next to her. He reached over and tickled her bare back with his claws, she didn't even shiver. She was beyond caring. She hadn't felt this dead in many years. She had thought once she joined the rebellion she would never again know this feeling of hopelessness. Her brother had never promised this, though. She wondered at her foolish wish. All a human-weak demon was good for was to sell themselves to the higher powers. She was condemned to this hell from the moment she was born. Why shouldn't her brother have used her in this fashion? Everyone else did.

 

BOOM!

 

Kira blinked but didn't move. What was that? Dune didn't seem to notice as he continued caressing her back.

 

BOOM!

 

There it is again. What is it? It didn't sound like an explosion; more like something heavy was landing on the ground.

 

BOOM!

 

Whatever it was, it was getting closer. Didn't Dune notice anything?

 

BOOM!

 

The bed shook this time and Dune finally lifted his head. “What da fuck is that?” he exclaimed. He rose from the bed as she turned her head to follow him. A shadow passed before the window just as Dune opened it.

 

Kira's eyes widened in horror as the red haired dog demon jumped back in surprise. “What da-?” A row of fangs, each the size of their heads, filled the entire view of the window. The lips pulled back even further and then the image dropped until a huge eye, blood red with turquoise iris entered the square. It rotated, pupil narrowing then widening as it focused on Dune. A growl caused the building to shiver then the eye pulled away.

 

BOOM!

 

The whole building shook again. Kira stared at the window as suddenly Dune yelled and leapt clear. A massive paw crashed through the opening, tearing out the wall and splintering the bed. The posts shattered and she was free, though the cuffs remained on her wrists. The paw retracted and she gazed out the giant hole that had been the wall. Her body froze with primal terror. She wanted to move, she wanted to run, she wanted to scream. All she could do was remain where she had fallen and stare out into the afternoon cityscape at the huge white dog.

 

Dune sat up and stared in disbelief at the creature of myths. The white dog barked, the building shook with the resonance of his voice. Voices and screams from other parts of the building echoed around them. The other residents had awakened to a nightmare. The dog came forward; his jaws parted revealing a gaping maul that could easily swallow them whole.

 

Kira finally found her voice and screamed as the huge canine tore the floor out from under them. She only fell a short distance, landing on the nose of the beast. Dune wasn't so lucky. He fell all the way to the ground, but being a demon with a higher number of demon genes he landed as lightly as if he jumped from a short distance.

 

Kira grabbed hold of the short fur as the dog backed away from the building. He then lowered his head until she could safely drop to the ground. She scrambled to get in his shadow, out of the dangerous rays of the sun. She then glanced across the street and saw a doorway there. She sprinted to the opening then turned to regard the scene. Dune was backed up to the wall which might as well been made of hot butter for all its ability to slow the dog's attacks.

 

The walls shred like paper as the great white dog swiped at Dune again. The red dog demon dodged the paw and the debris. The dog demon growled in frustration and raised its head. Then something peculiar happened. It glowed and its form collapsed in on itself. The form shrank until it was in the shape of a man then the glow stopped. Standing in the middle of the street was a perturbed Sesshomaru. Kira and Dune's jaws dropped simultaneously.

 

“How da hell did ya do that?” shouted Dune, recovering some of his bravado now that he wasn't facing down a couple hundred foot tall dog.

 

“If you were a true demon, you'd have that ability as well, but all the demons of this world have human blood coursing through their veins. So naturally it's impossible,” replied Sesshomaru in a condescending tone.

 

Dune growled in rage. Damaging Dune's pride was the worst offense anyone could commit. “I'm a gonna string ya up for da scavengers,” he declared. Sesshomaru smirked, which only made Dune even angrier.

 

The red dog demon charged. Sesshomaru raised his hand. Kira thought she saw his nails glowing, but wasn't sure in the bright daylight. He swung his hand and a yellow whip launched from his hand striking Dune in the chest and driving him back. Dune tumbled and hit the ruined wall. He sat up and stared down at his bleeding chest, dumbfounded. Kira didn't know Dune's story but she was certain that many decades had passed since the crime lord had been poor and weak like all demons. Not since before his rise to power would he have felt the sting of a whip on him. He looked back at Sesshomaru as he rose to his feet.

 

Sesshomaru raised his hand again and spoke one word. “Shi-ne.” Then he was before Dune, the distance between covered within a single blink. Dune didn't even have time to express his shock before his head flew free from his shoulders. Blood sprayed into the air then the body toppled.

 

“Don't speak as if you and I are in the same class,” said Sesshomaru to the body. He took a few steps away from the fallen crime lord then bent down and picked up a bed sheet that had floated down after he had wrecked the room. He turned and walked over to Kira and tossed the sheet at her. “Climb on,” he said.

 

Kira looked at him quizzically for a moment. He simply transformed back into his dog form and lay down. Then his cryptic remark made sense as well as his handing her the bed sheet. He had successfully stifled her argument for traveling during the day. With the bed sheet she could cover herself while she rode his back. She didn't bother to ask where they were going. They had to catch up to the rebellion.

 

I just wish I knew where they were heading. I'm too low in rank to be privy to all the rebellion's hideaways and I haven't been part of it long enough to have traveled to all of them, she thought with trepidation. She wrapped herself in the sheet and climbed onto the top of Sesshomaru's head. The giant white dog then trotted out of Hong Kong. Once clear of the buildings he did something else that wasn't expected, he took flight.

 

Sesshomaru's paws left the ground and they were soaring. Kira gasped in wonder. Then the dog demon stopped and looked around. They weren't that high off the ground yet and she wondered what he was looking for. Then she saw tread marks on the ground further north. Sesshomaru must have seen them too for he moved over to them and landed; bending down, while being mindful of her place, to examine them.

 

“The rebellion doesn't leave tracks. We purposely use hover carriers and arrange our formation to mask them,” she said aloud. Sesshomaru growled then raised his head. He looked east then west. After several minutes he turned west and rose in the air. However, the tread marks remained below them. Kira wondered at his behavior but since she had no idea which way they should be going she kept quiet.

 

She was also very tired. Sesshomaru's run through the air was smooth, despite the great speed they were traveling. She pulled the sheet lower over her head and curled into a comfortable position. She was sound asleep within seconds.

 

****

 

Sesshomaru sensed when Kira fell asleep on his head. He hadn't slept since before he was captured but, unlike the demons of this era, Sesshomaru didn't need to sleep. At least not often. He only indulged in such activities when there wasn't anything to keep his attention and it was always light. Sleep was the most vulnerable time for a demon. Usually resting was all he required. However, he had been going at full power without rest of any kind. He knew he was pushing it, which was why he didn't drag out the fight with Dune. He would have enjoyed making the treacherous demon suffer but with the army already fallen into his trap Sesshomaru had neither the time nor the energy to waste on the petty demon.

 

The treads he was following didn't belong to the rebellion but he was certain they belonged to the army that Dune had sold the rebellion out to. Since he had come from the east he knew the army wasn't that way. He would have noticed a large convoy at the height he was traveling. So the only direction they could be headed was west. He only hoped he was able to catch up before things became tragic.

 

****

 

Kira awoke some time after midnight, the broken moon, on full display tonight, was low in the western sky before them. Sesshomaru had landed and was walking forward. She looked around. The ground was torn open and massive craters littered the area along with twisted hulks that used to be assault crafts and headless bodies of demons. The human bodies had been taken away along with the demon heads. It had been days since the fight, the bodies were rotting.

 

The trail went south as the craters grew further apart. The rebellion had run after being ambushed. They followed the morbid trail for hours. Dawn was breaking when they arrived at the ocean. The trail ended there.

 

“The hover carriers can travel underwater as well as fly across the land. They must have retreated beneath the waves to escape the army,” said Kira. The tread marks belonged to vehicles unsuited for the task of a water pursuit. It was the only way the rebellion could escape annihilation. Sesshomaru growled, put a paw in the water then took it out and backed up a step. He growled again.

 

“Now how are we going to find them?” whispered Kira. The rebellion had survived Dune's betrayal but the trail was now ice cold.

 

****

 

Aetna, stared up at the surgeon's light and blinked wondering where she was. Then she sat up as she remembered all that had happened before she fell unconscious.

 

“Steady, bounty hunter,” said a voice from the shadows.

 

“Who's there?” she called.

 

“You're lucky my men scout wide or we would have missed your wrecked vehicle. I say you must have had a bit of trouble with one of your bounties.”

 

“Where's Edward?” she demanded. The last thing she remembered of her young mechanic was him leaning against the steering wheel unconscious after the crash landing.

 

“I'm afraid the boy was already dead when we arrived. A piece of shrapnel had pierced his skull.”

 

Aetna stared, dumbfounded. Why did I accept such a bounty? My greed must have overcome my judgment! I didn't have enough information on that damned bounty. He's dead because of me. She raised her right hand to her face as grief and bitter regret flooded her then another memory floated to the surface. One that where her right arm was torn from its socket.

 

She pulled the hand back and stared at it. A black glove covered the hand and rose to her elbow where the shirt's sleeve started. She pushed up the sleeve revealing metal and wires. She stared in shock.

 

“You were barely alive yourself, so I took the liberty of arranging your treatment. Since your arm and right eye were lost we outfitted you with cybernetic replacements. It's the very best my people could create, the latest model in fact.”

 

Aetna turned her gaze in the direction of the speaker. Not just anyone could afford to have missing limbs and organs replaced with cybernetic parts, much less the latest design. “Who are you?” she said slowly and with all the force she could muster. The speaker stepped into the light and she gasped.

 

“I hope you don't mind joining my services, Aetna Armstrong,” said Katagai with an oily smile.

 

_________________________________________________________________ _____________

 

Briana_D, this a fast enough update for you?

 

Thank you, Thoughts13!

 

When I refer to Kira being human it is either the character who is looking at her sees her as human because of her appearance or Kira is seeing herself as human-weak. Kira technically is a demon with a few demon traits that appear when riled as well as a long life span. More on that next chapter.

 

Kira looks human and is much weaker than the other demons. This comes from breeding hybrids together. When you cross Xx with Xx you have a 25% chance of getting xx, 25% chance of XX, and 50% of Xx. Of course that is just for one gene. The percentage is much smaller when you are dealing with the full DNA set that all living things possess. Though the possibility is remote there is still a chance of getting a near pure human from a pair of half-breed parents as well as a near pure demon. That's why Asamu and Kira are full-blooded siblings even though they look like they came from opposite sides of the gene pool. Hope I didn't lose you with this explanation.

 

Now I would like to know what “dues ex machina” means. Because I don't know if the story will head that way or not as long as I don't understand the term.

 

I made a reference to Kagura being killed by Naraku. I know in the Inuyasha: Final Act she died after Sesshomaru lost Tokijin, but in the manga she died before. So I decided to have a little “what if” scenario with “what if Tokijin didn't break when he was attacking the infant?” In order words, that is how, in this story at least, Naraku was defeated and why the Shikon jewel still exists. I might make a reference to that in the chapters to come.

 

“Kono Sesshomaru wa yowakunai!” = “This Sesshomaru is not weak!” or “I'm not weak!”

 

“Shi-ne” = Die! (Reason for the hyphen: “Shi-ne” would appear as “Shine”, didn't want there to be any confusion.)

 

The next chapter Kira and Sesshomaru are on their own and Kira has to explain to Sesshomaru how they are going to keep a low profile in Kairon, Katagai's country. She decides to tell him about herself from before she joined the rebellion to help him understand.