InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 4

Pride (In the Name of Love) 4 / ??
Written by Jezz-Ra
Warnings - Not all warnings apply to all chapters. Yaoi, Het, Rape, Lemon, Violence, Language, Torture, Angst, Incest, Dark (at times). It's a massive story, folks, it's got a little bit of everything.
Disclaimer - I don't own Inuyasha, don't make money off it. Wish I did.

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// blah // indicates thoughts.

A/N - Nothing much to report.
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Over the past couple weeks, things had gone surprisingly well for Inuyasha. He had made a bold, challenging speech to the assembled youkai dignitaries, and luckily for him it had been accepted. Even though he was hanyou and backed by a human monk, most of them had enough fear and respect for the Inu no Taisho and Sesshoumaru after him that the did not dare risk a fight.

So the meeting came and went. Several lesser demons pledged their fealty. Some of the more powerful lords took careful note of Inuyasha - there would be several challenges to his position in the future. However, things had gone better than they dared to hope.

After Inuyasha was unquestioningly established as the new Lord of the West, Miroku took on the job of advertising their need for servants and palace guard. This had been an issue that had bothered them both - they had assumed Sesshoumaru kept his staff by fear or force. However, while going through the very well organized and surprisingly detailed paperwork, they had found the payroll. Apparently, working in the Western Castle was not only a good-paying job but a prestigious one as well.

Miroku took over the paperwork almost entirely, since Inuyasha had no real education to speak of and wasn't even literate. Inuyasha was quite happy to do patrols and preside over necessary functions. The two of them were kept very busy, and both of them privately wondered how Sesshoumaru had run everything so efficiently and flawlessly by himself, let alone had time to do anything else.

Shippo was ecstatic about castle life. Inuyasha had slyly informed him he would need a competent personal guard, and the little kitsune had took to his training with a will, throwing himself into his education and getting private lessons from some of the castle's kitsune guards.

Everyone had renewed purpose and vigor in their life. Running the castle, protecting the lands, serving the people in this new way - it was everything they could have asked for. Everyone was happy.

Everyone but Rin.

Hardly anyone had seen the girl since they had come back to the castle. She had retreated to her room and stayed there, only coming out to eat or participate in her schooling. Sometimes, late at night, Inuyasha found her sitting outside the door to Sesshoumaru's room. She never opened the door and never went inside - she merely stayed and stared, hugging mokomoko tightly. Seeing the girl who he had always known to be personified sunshine and joy looking so haunted and depressed all the time tugged at the hanyou's heart. Eventually, he had to approach her.

"Rin?" Inuyasha asked softly, walking up next to her. The girl nodded slightly but didn't bother to look at him or move. Inuyasha sighed and crouched next to her. "I know you miss him. I don't know what all he was to ya, I've seen that scar on your neck. Hell...he spent as long as I can remember tryin' to kill me, and -""Lord Sesshoumaru never wanted to kill you or he could have. He went to see you lots of times that you never knew."
Inuyasha blinked. There had been several times he had thought he had caught the faintest trace of his brother's dry, spicy-sweet scent on an errant breeze, but he had often written it off as his imagination. But now, he suddenly wasn't so sure. And he knew Rin was right - much as he wanted to believe his brother was a wicked, cold-hearted bastard...evidence was flowing in that it simply was not the case. Sesshoumaru was faster, stronger, and stealthier. He'd had ample opportunity to kill him, but despite the injuries he'd received at his brother's hand, Inuyasha had never been fatally wounded.

And then there was the eye-opener of running the Western Castle. Sesshoumaru was generous in rewarding loyalty and fierce in protecting those that fell under his flag. Everyone said he was a hard ruler, but no one said he was unfair. He may have been cold and distant, but his people wanted for nothing.

"Look, Rin..." Inuyasha sighed heavily. "No matter if he was a bastard or if he wasn't, the fact of the matter is he's gone. He knew he was going to die and so he made sure you had his...his furry thing...and that I'd find you. And he left the swords too. I don't know what happened to him, but he's gone. Staring at his door and cryin' about it won't bring him back."

Rin's expression was fierce as she turned to Inuyasha. "Lord Sesshoumaru is alive.""Kid, I know you want to believe that but it's impossible. Come on, this isn't healthy.""It isn't impossible. He had to go away, but he'll come back."

Inuyasha was getting frustrated - he wasn't any good at this. "Rin, look, I'm sorry, but dead is dead! You don't just come back from that without help and there's no way he could use Tenseiga on himself."

"Lord Sesshoumaru is alive."

"Prove it," Inuyasha growled, giving up.

"Prove he's not," Rin countered. "Did you find a body? His blood? Anything?"Inuyasha frowned uneasily. It was true, they'd found no physical evidence of his death. Sure, there was the swords and the whole thing with Rin, but...Sesshoumaru was normally a cautious individual. Leaving behind his most precious possessions just in case the worst happened or so they couldn't be used against him did sound very much like something the taiyoukai would do. But if that were the case...why hadn't he come back yet?

"Alright, look. I really don't know what I'm going to find or if I'll find anything at all. But if it'll make you feel better, I'll conduct an investigation."Rin's eyes lit up and she beamed eagerly at Inuyasha. "Really?! Oh, thank you, Inuyasha-sama!"

Inuyasha let out a little 'oof' as the girl hurled herself at him, giving him a tight hug. "Hey, I'm not finished. Like I said, I'll do this investigation, and I'll let you know what I find, good or bad. But there's one condition.""What is that?""That whatever I do find, you accept it. If it keeps looking like he's dead, you don't spend the rest of your days staring at his door in denial. I don't want you getting your hopes up, kid. Chances are we won't find anything good. It's been a while and he would have come back if he were able."

"Thank you, Lord Inuyasha. I agree. I'll help any way I can."Inuyasha smiled and ruffled her hair. "Good. I'll see if I can find anyone that knows how to do this sort of thing..."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sesshoumaru had lost all conception of time. The room he was in was always dark. There were no windows in his cell or anywhere nearby. All of eternity could have passed him by and he would be none the wiser - in fact, it felt like it had.

He guessed only a couple weeks had passed. In that time Tsetsukosei had fed him only twice. He had lost more weight than he should have. He had always been slender and graceful, but now he could easily count his ribs. He was almost entirely drained of energy - his body was starting to eat itself in an effort to have enough power to fuel his costly regenerative abilities. Things were slowly failing. Healing was taking longer and longer, and some of the deepest wounds were no longer closing up completely. Several would probably scar.

And to make matters even worse, in the department of scars...Tsetsukosei had closed that terrible maw around his throat and bit him deeply, marking him as his mate...marking him as claimed. Sesshoumaru knew that he'd live in shame of that mark for the rest of his days if he ever did escape. Him, an alpha, marked as someone's little bitch. Oh, there were some that would find that delightfully hilarious.

Tsetsukosei didn't bother to bring him water either, although this was less of a problem than food. The stone chamber he was in was very damp, and brackish water pooled in one low spot in the corner. If he stretched enough, he found he could reach the foul-tasting stuff. He forced himself to drink it on occasion, more to alleviate the pain in his raw throat than to quench his thirst.

His captor had simply gotten more brutal as time passed. He had taken to mounting Sesshoumaru frequently. The taiyoukai had fervently prayed each time that the pain would be less, somehow, or that he would grow more accustomed to it. But every time, his accursed body would have healed enough to provide fresh flesh and nerve endings to violate. The pain was always, always distinct and incomparable.

Sesshoumaru found himself cringing at the mere thought of the beast taking him again. Indeed, his mind had begun to betray him. He knew if he didn't fight it so much that things would be easier on him. If he submitted, everything would hurt less. There had been more than one occasion where the fiend had simply demanded a show of submission. Sesshoumaru had stalwartly refused, and had begun to wonder if his pride was really worth the price.

The truth was that he had begun to despair. No matter what he did, he was simply outclassed in every way. Perhaps he was more intelligent than the youkai, but every physical advantage was his captor's. Sesshoumaru was forced to admit he could not force his way out and was never given anything even remotely resembling an opening to trick his way out.

And if he could not escape on his own power...he would not be escaping at all. The only one in all the world that cared for him was Rin, and what could she do? He may have had the respect of many, but the love of none. No one, not even his brother, would ever wish to save him if he were in trouble. In fact, they'd be glad for it.

Even if he was wrong about no one caring enough to save him, he knew they all assumed he was dead regardless. No one would even think to make the attempt. Why would it ever cross their minds to rescue one whom they thought had died?

Sesshoumaru had to fight the very strong urge to cower, mentally slapping himself, when Tsetsukosei appeared. The beast never seemed to use the door, even though there was one. He would simply phase in and out like some sort of damned ghost.

Something was different this morning - the draconic, too-toothy mouth was leering in a different fashion than usual. Sesshoumaru was immediately on his guard, although he didn't bother wasting the energy to tense. He had already learned that both fight and flight was a wasted effort.

"Good morning, puppy. I am feeling generous this morning, and have decided to allow you more freedom. After all, I prefer you to be clean and pretty...which is not something you've been able to accomplish here. And if you prove you can earn it, I'll allow you regular food and water."

Sesshoumaru was nervous, uncertain. There was some trick, some catch here...he was sure of it. This beast had NO heart and did NOTHING out of generosity. The taiyoukai was pleased that he - more or less - was still able to keep his expression impassive despite it all. He still revealed nothing. // Of course, that's probably why he feels the need to keep increasing my tortures...to make sure he's getting through to me. // "..."

Tsetsukosei sighed. "So ungrateful. Not even a word of thanks. Ah, well. You will learn. Your training is early on and you are young yet. The only rule to your travels is that you are not allowed to leave the palace grounds. Do I make myself clear?"Sesshoumaru scowled inwardly. // What manner of trick is this? The fool could not POSSIBLY be releasing me and assuming a simple threat would keep me on the premises... // Instead, he gave Tsetsukosei a wary nod. The beast reached over to the wall and gripped the thick chain that attached to Sesshoumaru's collar. The links melted into nothingness in his grasp. Holding it like a leash, he yanked Sesshoumaru to his feet and headed for the door. The taiyoukai struggled to make his body keep pace, the effort of moving so much and so suddenly being more than his battered body wanted to cope with.

He soon managed to recover, although the effort of holding his head up and keeping pace with the beast was immense. His face abruptly flamed as he realized the dark halls of this massive stone fortress were filled with demons. Shame and humiliation at being drug naked, dirty and mostly starved on a leash filled the taiyoukai, and it was all he could do to control the tremor that wanted to possess him.

A wave of cool air hit him abruptly as Tsetsukosei pushed open a massive door. He was led into a courtyard. The sky was gray and dim, but even that light after being in such darkness so long hurt Sesshoumaru's sensitive eyes. Dark, twisted plants grew in parodies of exquisite gardens. The tall fortress walls were manned, but the front gate was open. // I am outside... // Sesshoumaru thought wildly, his tongue flicking out to wet his lips even as an excited little thrill shot down his spine. Something akin to hope sparked in his mind.

Tsetsukosei reached up and detached the chain from his collar in much the same way he had taken it from the wall. "As I said. You are free to go where you wish on the grounds, though you will come to me whenever I please. You are not yet allowed to utilize the kitchens, but I will allow a bath. If you are well behaved, I will allow you food when you wish it."Sesshoumaru twitched despite himself before looking at the hated fiend. "This Sesshoumaru can...move freely," he clarified warily.

"Yes, yes...move, caper, cavort, run, skip, hop, jump, walk, saunter, sashay...whatever mode of movement you prefer. You have been told your boundaries."

Sesshoumaru nodded once...and then broke into a dead run for the door. Tsetsukosei made no move to chase him. He knew there had to be a trick...there had to be a catch...but he couldn't bring himself to care. The prospect of freedom, so tantalizingly close, simply overwhelmed him. Surely the beast couldn't think Sesshoumaru feared him enough to stay his prisoner just on a threat...!

The moment he crossed the threshold, Sesshoumaru had his answer. A tremendous electric shock coursed through him from the collar around his neck, dropping him to the ground. His teeth clacked shut, severing the tip of his tongue. Blood filled his mouth. His eyes rolled back into his head and his body spasmed violently. His hair - not the long strands on the top of his head but all the rest on his body - stood straight up. He twitched and jerked helplessly, blood trickling from his nose and ears.

To the taiyoukai, somehow this broken illusion of freedom being right in front of him and yet unattainable was infinitely more painful than the dark cell had been.

The current ceased to flow into his body when Tsetsukosei walked over and casually grabbed him by the ankle, dragging him across the gravelly soil for a few feet and dumping him back on the paved path. He sounded amused. "I did tell you the boundaries, puppy. Know that this shock effect can be activated by me at any time I choose, should you choose to disobey me. You WILL come when I call." The beast's voice dropped into a low growl. "But you have misbehaved. Perhaps a new lesson tomorrow will see if I allow you access to the kitchens or not."

With that, the youkai turned and strode off, leaving Sesshoumaru to twitch and jerk on the cold stone path.