InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 90

Pride (In the Name of Love) 90 / ??
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.
Archived at - inu.adultfanfiction.net, fanfiction.net, and mediaminer.org ::: Anywhere else, ask!
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// blah // indicates thoughts.

A/N - I'm so touched by your reviews, guys, seriously. It's so nice to come off a long night of work and find all these nice comments in my email box...it puts a big stupid grin on my face and makes me all "Squee!"

And I'm freakin' stoked, I finally got someone mebbe drawin' a Sairex for the Jess. =D (Thank you for your connections, Liera!!!) Hope everything works out alright on that front... Jess is still shocked that people like Sairex so much. I know I personally am not usually a fan of OC's and was hesitant to keep him in...but...*grins* Y'all seem to like him so I've kept him.

I shall be probably starting the editing process soon, so if any of my posting sites start saying "ZOMG UPDATEUPDATEUPDATE....er...beyond the once daily....then I apologize, its just edits. Mostly for spelling / grammar. I plan no major content changes. Love y'all!
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Miroku felt something was not quite right and blearily opened one eye. He squinted at the empty spot next to him in bed, then glanced over towards the desk. Sairex was very, very cautiously attempting to engrave a pendant of some sort without actually touching it. It was a rather interesting sight, although Miroku wasn't entirely sure why his lover was up before the sun working on it. "Sairex?"

Sairex jumped in surprise and let out a sharp hiss as his fingers got too close to the pendant, which flared with a bright purple light. Sairex stuck his now burnt finger in his mouth and rolled his eyes over to look at Miroku. "Mmph."

Miroku frowned as he sat up. "I'm sorry! Are y ou alright?"Sairex glanced at his finger and smiled ruefully. "Kaa...I be fine."

"What is it, exactly, that you're trying to do? Why aren't you sleeping? You shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard."

"You zure ask a lot of questions for just vaking up. I'm trying to inscribe dis pendant vith appropriate runes. I can't touch it because...vell. It's quite holy and blessed. And I'm not zleeping because dis is more important."

"A holy pendant? Why didn't you just ask me to engrave it for you?"

"Vell...because...you zee...ah...kaa! I'm used to vorking on dis zort of ting alone. I didn't tink about it."

Miroku chuckled. "Alright, what is the purpose of inscribing this pendant?"

"I'm attempting to break da timeztream. It has to be properly inscribed as part of da zpell."

"So...you really know how to mess with time and such?"

Sairex snorted. "No. But zome tings transcend time...and I intend to find a vay. I figure if I modify vhat I know of how time vorks and other tings, I zhould eventually be able to figure zometing out."

"I see. And your attempts to render me immortal couldn't have waited for a good night's sleep?"

"I am veighing my options. I could zleep another few hours and znuggle you den, or make you ztop aging zo I alvays have you around and znuggle you forever."

Miroku couldn't help but grin. "I see."

Sairex paused and then set down his equipment, turning to look more fully at Miroku. "I... am in need of your assistance."

The monk arched an eyebrow. "Anything you want. Just...come back over here and lay down. You're exhausted, I can tell."

Sairex huffed at his bangs but finally relented, slipping back under the sheets.

"Now..." Miroku murmured, hooking his arms around the raven's slender frame. "What can I help you with?"

"Vell...I...for all da tings I do know, I don't tink I know da first ting about raising a child. How I vas raised...probably vasn't vhat vould be considered normal. Normal enough for my people, but..."

Miroku got a sinking feeling in his gut as his mind wandered. "How....were you raised?"

Sairex shrugged slightly. "I vas given to my nursemaid and zhe fed me until I could feed myzelf, made zure I found my way to my lessons, and made zure I obeyed da rules."

"Rules?"

"I could not be late, could not make a mess, and must never miss my lessons, no matter vhat zhape I vas in."

"What shape....did your parents abuse you?"Sairex snorted. "I barely ever zaw dem until I vas old enough to learn from dem. My mother had a heavy hand and liked to claw. I zuffered a good deal before I ztarted doing extra ztudies on my own. My father..." Sairex closed his eyes. "...he nearly killed me more times dan I can count. Da males in my family vere varriors, and he refused to allow me to be anyting but. Unfortunately for us both, I took after my mother's zide."

Miroku gave Sairex a squeeze. "I'm sorry...""For vhat? It vas not your doing. My parents vere actually directly involved in my life, vhich vas zometing most of my clan could not claim. I got zpecial treatment because I vas to be chief and zhaman. However, it does not zit vell vith me to tink of zimply ignoring my daughter until zhe is old enough to teach. I just...don't know vhat to do. I have no idea how to care for a child."

"Well, no worries. I'll be more than happy to teach you what I know in such regards. I'm no expert myself, having never raised one...but how hard can it be?" Miroku smiled.

"Dose are vords dat zhould never be uttered, love...you just doomed us both."

"Oh, I'm sure it won't be that bad. And if we have any trouble, all we have to do is ask someone that's done it. I'm sure there are tons of people around here. I mean, we even could ask Toga. He raised Sesshoumaru." Miroku paused, and shared a long moment of silence with Sairex as both of them thought about how Sesshoumaru had turned out. "Of course, I'm sure there are lots of other options too..."

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

A general cry of alarm and surprise went up as the sun came up and the guards finally noticed the black-clad figure laying in the road. It was not so much the sight of a downed body - bandits were fairly common, even this close to the Southern Palace.

However, the Bandit King himself, Lord Shimaku, was not usually the one face down in the dirt.

It did not take long for the healers and Shimaku's attendants to make their way out to him. They carefully lifted him and hurried him to the healer's quarters. His wounds were grievous, his belly clawed to ribbons and his skin horribly pale from blood loss.

The South was rife with bandits and mercenaries. Life was dangerous...and Shimaku had been the most dangerous amongst them. He had clawed his way to the top of the continual struggle...lied, cheated, stolen, assassinated, tricked...in the end, none were left that dared oppose him.

Once Shimaku was lord, he began to change things. He loosely united the rogues and thieves, mercenaries and assassins that populated the South. He cunningly legalized several crimes within his borders. To the casual observer, this seemed a horrific act...but once the acts were legal, Shimaku received tons of revenue from bands of rogues purchasing licenses and registering officially as criminals...and likewise tons of revenue from people willing to pay protection taxes. Life became far less dangerous and achieved a strangely peaceful balance. Illegal criminals were dealt with harshly, and legal criminals were under Shimaku's control.

While power struggles were an everyday occurrence in the South, no one dared challenge Shimaku for his position. The serpent was as fearsome a fighter as he was silver-tongued and cunning. Besides, no one else really wanted the tremendous task of overseeing the countless bands of cutthroats.

When word had reached the south that the three cardinal lords of the North, South, and East had been slain, and the only one to walk away, bloody sword in hand, was Toga of the West...talk had flown about wildly. Several wanted to charge the West in the name of revenge - but more likely with dreams of plunder.

Things had remained at an uneasy sort of standstill, no one sure who would take Lord Shimaku's place, and no one willing to volunteer. Finding the serpent-lord again was already bringing a sigh of relief to the lips of many.

If he survived his terrible wounds, that was.

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

Tsetsukosei wanted to laugh. It had been so easy. Not a single one of the bustling healers, attendants, or guards had even thought twice about taking him into the palace and working on tending his 'wounds'. It would take patience, of course...he had to be cautious. If his cover was blown too early, things would be infinitely more bothersome.

He waited the better part of the day before allowing his serpentine eyes to flutter open. He heard a collective gasp as the healer and Shimaku's chief advisor hurried over. He recognized the advisor right off - before he had embarked on his journey to this castle, he had pulled as much information from Shimaku's head as he could manage. It was a shame, really, that so much time had passed since he had elected to go this route - the longer one was dead, the more their memories decayed. However...he had gotten enough.

"Lord Shimaku! You are awake!"

"Yes...." He tried to sit up and fell back with a wheezing groan.

"My Lord, please, your wounds...! Do not try to get up."

"We must...have a war council immediately. There is no time for me to lay here. Summon my generals at once."

Micah, Shimaku's advisor, nodded once although he was not so sure his lord should be awake. However, Shimaku had always been level-headed and knew his limits...so...

It didn't take Micah long to get all the necessary parties together and order them into the healer's room. After a general display of gratitude that Shimaku seemed as if he were recovering, Tsetsukosei began to speak.

"I was at the Council of Lords...and learned that Lord Toga of the West had made enemies with some beings from another plane. They demanded he hand over his son Sesshoumaru to them in payment for several atrocities committed against them by Sesshoumaru himself. Lord Toga refused them, even knowing that it would mean war for the west and then the rest of us.

"We held council to try to convince him that one life was not worth more than the thousands that will die should war come to these lands. He became enraged and attacked Lord Kanjiro. I tried to pull him off of Lord Kanjiro, but the battle was chaotic. I fear the wounds I suffered were accidentally inflicted on me by my friend of the East. Lord Toga killed both Lady Shirizu and Lord Kanjiro, and left me for dead."

The generals murmured angrily to each other. Tsetsukosei let them talk for a while before smoothly interjecting.

"We can not stand for this. I contacted the beings whom were declaring war on Lord Toga, and they have agreed to ally with us. With their strength backing us, we can take the West...and all its wealth in spoils."

A hearty cheer went up amidst the easily-swayed minds of the gold-hungry bandit warlords that served as Shimaku's generals.

"Design me a battle plan. I will detail what sort of support we can expect. We march as soon as I am well."