InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 13

Pride (In the Name of Love) 13 / ??
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.

Sidestories can be found under my author profile at any of my archive sites.
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// blah // indicates thoughts.

A/N - And so, the plot thickens. Again, thank you to all my lovely reviewers...I'm always so flattered to open my inbox and see these wonderful things said about me. Keep it up, you make this all worth while.
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Sesshoumaru clawed his way out of sleep slowly. He was reluctant to do so, but something was bothering him and he couldn't quite place it. And something else... // Why am I so warm...? Mokomoko-sama does not usually wrap me so tight...// It took him another few moments of confused half-sleep before he recalled that he no longer had his mokomoko. Golden eyes snapped open and he regarded his brother.

Somehow, in the night, Inuyasha had went from his restraining grip behind Sesshoumaru to end up snuggled up against his chest, limbs thrown haphazardly but tightly around his elder sibling's warmth. Sesshoumaru mentally recoiled and hastily - but cautiously, he didn't want to wake him - extricated himself from his too-snuggly brother.

Then he realized what it was that had been bothering him. He smelled the faint scent of blood. His eyes almost immediately caught movement on the other side of the slowly failing campfire.

Sairex cocked his head to one side, a slight smirk on his lips. "Do not vorry, Zezzhoumaru. I am not here to bring you harm."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes in suspicion, casting about and searching for something to use as a weapon. He didn't want to have to resort to waking up his brother to protect him. He hadn't yet admitted to Inuyasha that all of his other youki-based abilities, such as his light whip, weren't working. He couldn't even transform to his true form. He still didn't know why, but suspected he was either too weak or it was an effect of the collar at his throat.
The prospect of being nearly unable to defend himself was a horrific one to Sesshoumaru. Sure, he could still bite, punch, or kick...but with his strength being sorely limited due to his recent traumas, that wouldn't serve him too well against most demons. His deadliest weapon remaining was his bite, and he wasn't sure he had the speed to get close enough to snag a chomp at most opponents, or that it would do sufficient damage.

"I meant it. I'm not here to harm you, I'm h'ere to varn you. I know your brother vas at da pool yesterday, but Zetsukosei can't zense him and I kept him distracted enough dat he didn't zee him either. Zetsukosei can't zense you either, and it frustrates him to no end." The raven looked grimly pleased by this.

"Why?" Sesshoumaru asked, still suspicious.

"Because you and your brother are both zhielded from him. Da only reason he found you in da first place vas dat he vas vatching your castle for a long time. And you royal inu types are fairly...distinctive."

"Why are we shielded? And how?"

"I zhielded you. How? Vith zome zpiritual magic. I'm a...zeer...of zorts. It vasn't hard for me to take vhat I knew of zcrying and zoul-zearching and zimply...mm...blur the edges a bit so you vould remain undetected."

"Why." Sesshoumaru demanded rather than asked. Sairex looked at him with a slight grin.

"I vas an...associate...of your father's. Dere has never been a demon of Inu no Taizho's caliber to valk da vorlds before or zince. You, if you live, vill eventually be that ztrong. Maybe even ztronger. You are very powerful, Zezzhoumaru." Noting the narrowing of golden eyes, Sairex rolled his own. "Zo impatient, though. Dat is not a trait da Inu no Taizho vas afflicted by. You are young yet, ztubborn, used to getting your own vay. Not everyting vill jump to heed your command, Zezzhoumaru. But I vill answer your question.

"A very long time ago, vhen I vas ztill young, I met your father in a political meeting. My parents vere meeting vith his. He and I zpent a lot of time together dat zummer, until I vas forced to come here and lost all contact vith him. Da reason your father got tangled up on Zetsukosei's bad zide had to do vith all dat. However, I learned vhen Zetsukosei discovered you and zhielded you as best I could, as a favor to your father. You vere very young den, younger even dan your human girl-child is now."

"What do you know of Rin?" Sesshoumaru demanded, lips twitching towards an involuntary snarl despite himself. The raven held up his hands placatingly.

"I know vhere zhe is, and I know vhy Zetsukosei cannot find her. Zhe's moved troo time...zhe no longer exists here, but many years in da future. Zhe is zafe, unless he finds out how to move troo time himzelf. I'm not zure the idea has ever occurred to him. But anyvay....your father refused to give up his little pup.

"Zetsukosei vas not very happy about da decision. He vas hopping mad, in fact. He did not have much power in your vorld, however. He zwore his vengeance and left. Vhen he learned of da Inu no Taizho's death...and dat he'd had a zecond zon, he began looking into your vorld again. I zhielded your brother den as a precaution. ""So the fact that I am here at all is ultimately your fault."Sairex blinked and then winced. "If you really care to boil tings down dat far, I zuppose you could blame me, yes. I do not regret my meeting vith your father, even if it did anger da damn dragon. But I do not believe you zeriously blame me for dis."

Sesshoumaru shook his head slightly. The raven had not done anything to intentionally cause all of this.

"HEY! You're alright!"

Both Sairex and Sesshoumaru jumped - apparently Inuyasha was awake. The hanyou leapt over to inspect the raven. "Eh, you seem to be in one piece."

Sairex nodded. "Yes. I vas just...talking vith your brother."

"Good. So, short of ripping all those damn boulders out of that pool, how are we going to get back home?"

Sairex paused, brooding. "Kaaa...dere are very few portals betveen vorlds, Inuyazha. I could help you more directly, but if I do, I may bring pain to your monk friend."

"Eh? Miroku? How?"

Sairex paused and fidgeted. "Vhen I told you I had no use for your beads, it vas not true. I truly intended to do vith dem as I zaid, and I did... I really didn't need dem, however. I have my own power."

"So how does that make you have to hurt Miroku to get us home?"
"Vell, da chances are good your monk friend is zearching for you, concerned for you. And he can locate you. Da vay his magic vorks is different from Zetsukosei's. You're not hidden from him.""Knowing Miroku, I'm sure he IS looking for us."

"Vell...I could look for him in return...and I could fight him. If I vas able to defeat him in a battle of vills, I could den open a portal from your zide. Portals cannot be opened from this zide. The door only zvings one vay, zo to zpeak."

"And this would hurt Miroku?"

"Vell, I vouldn't try to hurt him. But he'd not know I vas just trying to help you and he vould fight me. He might hurt himself in the process."

Inuyasha paused, chewing on his lip. "Hurt him bad? Or would it be minor?""I vould endeavor to make it as peaceful as possible. He may zuffer zevere headache or nauzea...unless he's very, very ztrong. Den it could be vorse."

"And if you thought it would be too bad, you could stop, right?""Yes, of course."

"Is there any other way for us to get back home? Are there any other portals at all nearby?"Sairex paused, giving it serious thought. "The closest I know is zeveral months journey to da north, in da mountains. And dat's taking into account dat I fly vith demon zpeed and no land-based obstacles."

Inuyasha sighed heavily. He hated knowing he would be hurting one of his friends, but the alternative was worse. He didn't like the sickly, vacant look that had settled into his brother's eyes again. "Alright, try it. But be careful. If you hurt my friend very much, you won't have to worry about Tsetsukosei catching you again. You savvy?"Sairex gave Inuyasha a half-grin. "Yes, I...zavvy."

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

Miroku frowned. It was so hard to keep track of Inuyasha's life force. // At least its still there, though.. // He sighed and shifted slightly, his meditation starting to fall apart. Probing for his friend was a lot more exhausting than he had ever thought it would be.

Suddenly, Miroku felt a presence. Intrigued, he turned his minds eye towards it...and let out a startled gasp as it flew straight for him. He could feel it sinking into his mind.

With all the force he could muster, the monk tried to force the intruder out. He leapt to his feet with a shout, clutching at his skull. He was relieved when he felt the pressure lessen, the intruder forced back some.

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

Sairex grit his teeth - the monk was stronger than he had anticipated. If he had not cared whether or not he damaged him, this would be far easier. The monk was strong-willed but vastly untrained. He didn't even realize his own potential, didn't realize the spiritual energy he had at his beck and call should he train to utilize it. // Such a waste. If these two inu do manage to kill Tsetsukosei...and they'll have to if they ever want to be free of his revenge...I will ask to serve them. And perhaps I shall even train this monk. So much potential, I've rarely seen it's like...I'm so sorry, monk, but damn it, you HAVE to let me in..! //

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

Miroku fell to his knees, panting harshly. He desperately whispered prayers and blessings, anything to try to stop this horrible possession. It HURT and he had to admit it, he was terrified. He'd had demons attempt to possess him before, but it had never been like this. He could feel an intense spiritual power in this demon...power, he knew, that dwarfed his own. // So why doesn't it just force its way in? Surely it could...couldn't it? //

Miroku really didn't know. He just knew that he had to fight. He gathered what he could of his failing energy and pushed it at the intruder, lashing out violently and with the full force of his desperation..

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

A thin cry of anguish tore itself free of the raven youkai, and it took everything he had not to lash back at Miroku, not to deflect that terrible lash of energy hurled at his spirit.

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru leapt up in concern, but Sairex had fallen deeper into concentration despite the blood that was starting to trickle slowly from his pointed ears.

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

Suddenly, the fight was over. Miroku had given everything he had in a last-ditch effort to throw his attacker out. He had thought for a moment he had succeeded, and a warm rush of relief and triumph started to flood through him. It abruptly ceased when his attacker lunged back up and simply dove forward with unstoppable force, bowling poor Miroku over mentally.

His gasp of horror faded as his consciousness was herded into a corner of his mind. His body started moving of its own accord. Miroku panicked and mentally beat at the walls of his prison, blinking when he heard himself speak - although he had picked up the STRANGEST accent. "Do not vorry zo much, little monk. I am zorry I had to do dis, but your friends need to come home. I vill give you back to yourzelf zoon."

Miroku stopped hurling himself at his mental cage, instead watching curiously as his body performed a few intricate rituals, murmuring and chanting softly. The air before him shimmered and slowly bent inward, parting. It revealed a dark forest scene.

Miroku was astonished to see Inuyasha come bounding through the portal a moment later. A quiet, subdued looking Sesshoumaru followed him, head bowed. // What the hell is he wearing? It looks like a harem outfit... //

Inuyasha looked at Miroku cautiously. "Miroku? Or is that you, bird?""It is Zairex, but your monk is zafe." As he spoke, he reached through his portal and fished around until he found what he was searching for, wincing. "I'll feel dat in a minute..." He held out his hand, revealing three of his long flight-feathers. "Dese vill let you find me...or call me to you vhen you are in da Black Circle. I'll know vhere you are and be able to help. One for each of you inu, one for your monk friend. It vill help him bond vith me easily next time I have to zend you home, zo he doesn't tink he's being attacked. Again, I'm zorry for that, monk."

"Thanks, Sairex. You're okay, I guess."

The raven-in-monk form grinned, and then Miroku's face went blank as the portal shut. His body stumbled forward and Inuyasha caught him. He blinked several times, rapidly.

"Miroku?" Inuyasha asked, helping his friend stand. He blinked when he as abruptly but briefly hugged.

"Dear Buddha, I was worried. You were gone for a lot longer than I expected. I'd feared the worst. And I'm so glad to see you back in one piece, Lord Ses....Lord Sesshoumaru?"Sesshoumaru was nowhere to be seen.