InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reflected Past ❯ The Sword's Intentions and the Jewel's Guardian ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter Thirteen - The Sword's Intentions and the Jewel's Guardian


The seething conglomeration of youkai began to pull apart and separate into smaller groups, some singly, some in pairs, all of whom were clearly intent on reaching the same target, all bringing with them the easily-recognizeable scent of Naraku.

Inuyasha walked away from Miroku and Sango’s house, watching the youkai with great interest as they shot down toward the tiny village. Around him, the humans were catching on to what was about to happen and were reacting by fleeing, cowering within their homes, or attempting to arm themselves in some manner. Inuyasha understood their confusion. By his estimation, that horde looked as though it contained at least a thousand separate demons.

They can’t coalesce into one being, he thought, smiling grimly. Their host is gone. Onigumo, the human man that had held the being known as Naraku together, no longer existed. Even so, Naraku’s youkai clearly maintained his desire for revenge and Inuyasha wasn’t particularly opposed to the idea. With the exuberance of a demon that had been denied a battle for far too long, he drew Tessaiga, the fanged sword immediately coming to life amidst a swirl of energy and rippling fur.

“Shippou,” Miroku called from behind Inuyasha, shoving Kenji into the fox youkai’s arms. “Take Kenji to Kaede’s hut and wait there.”

“I can fight …,” Shippou immediately began to balk, adjusting the weight of the small boy that was now clinging fiercely to his neck.

“I know you can,” Miroku nodded reassuringly, not willing to argue with him at such a moment. “That’s why I am trusting you with my son. Please protect him and Kaede. We can take care of this.” He glanced over at Kagome, who was standing beside a battle-tensed Sango. “Kagome-sama, it’s been a while. I think you should go with him.”

“Heh! Why don’t you all go cower in the old lady’s hut? I’m getting some exercise,” Inuyasha snidely informed them, sounding almost gleeful as the others watched him charge off to meet the oncoming youkai. Within moments, a cry of “Kaze no Kizu!” could be heard over the raucous din and they looked on as a rather significant portion of the enemy was vaporized by the hanyou’s attack.

“He’s been cooped up too long,” Sango sighed of Inuyasha with an indulgent shake of her head, shouldering Hiraikotsu. “Shippou … please,” she said simply to the younger boy, and this time he did as he was asked, turning to rush off to Kaede’s hut with Kenji, Kagome sprinting after him.

Despite the quick, methodical blows he was dealing them, Inuyasha soon found himself surrounded by a swirling tornado of cawing, screeching youkai. The combined noise of flapping, snapping fangs, and claws was nearly deafening, enough so that the vibrations could be felt in his teeth. Though some of the demons had wisely backed away once they had witnessed the destruction that had been brought on by the first Kaze no Kizu, many others had been riled to even more aggression. Several of the braver demons swooped in to claw at him, bite him, or exhale poison in his face. Soon he was swinging almost blindly, trying to blink away the fumes that were burning his eyes.

The sounds of Hiraikotsu beating down on the wall of youkai behind him were what announced Miroku and Sango’s arrival into the fray. The two burst through the hole provided by the enormous boomerang, racing in to stand back-to-back with Inuyasha, ensuring by doing so that the demons would now only have one front on which to attack him.

“What the hell kind of demon attack is this?” Inuyasha yelled over the noise, his silver hair blowing wildly as the wind around them was stirred up by the circling creatures. It was like a scene out of hell, vision filled with murderous beings of all size and type, a vicious, conscious storm.

“They’ve stalled here to kill us. They haven’t even approached the village,” Miroku called back, bringing up his staff to ward off two swooping crows and then quickly taking them down with a few well-aimed sutras.

Sango, mask firmly in place to void the effects of any poisonous fumes, swatted down several of the demons with a cat-like grace. Behind her, she could sense that Inuyasha had stepped away and had that feeling verified a moment later by another exclamation of “Kazo no Kizu!" The attack caused the ground underneath their feet to shake violently as the blast effectively cremated a hundred of the creatures. A half second later, their attention was caught when a smaller flash of fiery light decimated several of the youkai by an assault that had clearly come from the outside.

“Damn her! She’d better not try to use that jewel!” Inuyasha growled, recognizing the purifying energy that now hovered in the air.

On the other side of the mass of attacking youkai, Kagome was standing on a small ledge, newly armed with a bow supplied by Kaede. She sent off arrow after arrow into the crowd, doing so with relative impunity as the youkai seemed more interested in battling the people within than with paying her any attention. It took them a while to collectively realize that a threat was now presenting itself on the outside, but suddenly, almost as though having made a joint decision, the wall of demons broke apart and turned toward her. She half-lowered her bow, momentarily considering her options as hundreds of demons came tearing toward her. Without the slightest provocation on her part and almost as though in response to the oncoming assault, the jewel around her neck gave a sudden, violent pulse. Distracted, Kagome looked down and saw that, again, the Shikon no Tama was darkening to a depthless black.

Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango looked up at the sudden exposure of daylight as the cloud of youkai lifted from around them. The hanyou seized on the opportunity and shot toward Kagome, but as he did so, he sensed something very wrong … a buildup of energy that was highly reminiscent of the barrier that had been around Mount Hakurei all those years earlier. Fortunately for him, Miroku recognized what was coming toward them an instant sooner and quickly tackled Inuyasha to the ground. Seconds later a jolting wave of energy shot outward, annihilating Naraku’s youkai in one sweeping, brilliant burst.

The attack that had incinerated their enemies passed harmlessly over the human Miroku who covered Inuyasha’s body in an attempt to prevent the hanyou from meeting the same fate. When it was over, the few youkai who remained in existence scattered quickly, soaring off in the direction from which they had come.

“Inuyashaaaaaa!” Kagome called frantically, running toward them as Miroku picked himself up off of the flattened half-demon. Sango knelt next to them, Hiraikotsu dropping to the earth beside her as she paused to catch her breath.

Pulling himself up from the forced sprawl, Inuyasha growled a less-than-grateful comment to Miroku as Kagome fell to her knees on the grass in front of him, breathing heavily. The Shikon no Tama was off of her neck and clutched in one shaking hand, and he eyed it with cold accusation, as though it was something alive and plotting its own agenda.

“What the hell did you do?” Inuyasha barked at her, feeling his moment of terror slowly dissipate. It had not been caused by fear of the attack, but by the sickening worry that the flash of light would fade for him to discover that she was gone, snatched away as she had been before. But Kagome’s pale, frightened face was very real as she opened her hand and looked down at the jewel that lay innocently in her palm. It was glittering a benevolent purple-pink once more, the darkness having vanished again at her touch.

“I didn’t do it. It attacked on its own,” she explained, looking from face to face. All three looked as though they had been beset by wild animals, their visible skin marred with bites and scratches inflicted by the vengeful horde.

“Give it to me,” Inuyasha ordered instantly, holding his clawed hand out expectantly.

“Absolutely not!” Kagome argued, tightening her grip on the glowing ball and pulling her arm back. “Do you think I’m going to let you handle something that could have just killed you? You’re out of your mind!”

“Baka! You can’t control that thing!”

“I’m the one that stopped the attack! Obviously I can!”

Inuyasha made a derisive sound, folding his arms defiantly over his chest. “All those years of school and you still don’t have the ability to form an intelligent thought! Hand it over, Kagome,” he insisted, reaching out to pull it from her grasp.

Miroku and Sango, knowing what was coming, were quick to move away. As predicted, Kagome hissed an “Osuwari!” command and Inuyasha was firmly planted face-first into the dirt, squawking his surprise. With a rigid set to her normally soft features, Kagome placed the Shikon no Tama around her neck again.

“The Shikon no Tama stays with me, Inuyasha,” she said in a no-nonsense tone, and no one else dared to argue.

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Sunlight was dappling its way through the overhanging leafcover, warm and shadowy at once, distracting Rin with contentment, a moment that was interrupted when, without explanation, Sesshoumaru halted their small group near the bank of a swiftly-moving river. Withdrawing Midoriko’s sword from amongst his own weapons, he shoved the blade into the soft ground until it was held steadily upright by the sandy weight of the shore. He then took a step back, and Rin's gaze fixated on him instead of the natural surroundings.

He had been especially quiet that morning and Rin wondered if he was second-guessing his intention to destroy the sword. Even now he looked to be embroiled in some sort of internal debate, his eyes locked thoughtfully on the weapon. But, as if coming to a settled decision, he finally moved, backing away from it to draw Toukijin.

“Cross the bridge,” he ordered, and before Rin could open her mouth to say anything, Jaken’s smooth, cold hand was clasping her fingers and hauling her away with all due speed. Rin looked over her shoulder as they scampered across the bridge to the other side of the roaring river, feeling a knot form in her stomach as she turned to look back at him.

Sesshoumaru waited while they crossed to the other side, wondering at the wisdom of having allowed them to come along at all. In the back of his mind, he remembered the last few times he had seen Midoriko’s sword in action, one of those having effectively leveled part of his house, the other having annihilated everything with a demonic aura in the vicinity of her village. Even me, he admitted to himself, watching as sunlight glared off of the shiny metal. The only reason he had not become a part of that frozen menagerie of youkai was because of Tenseiga’s response. Now, as he was preparing to destroy this weapon that he still so fervently believed should never have existed, he wondered what he could expect from it…

These concerns were not enough to keep him from the attempt, however, and so, with a heavy swing, he brought Toukijin crashing down on the sword. For a moment, the thought that that might have been a catastrophic idea crossed his mind as, instantaneously, the sword pulsed and expelled a hard blast of purifying energy …. one that, to his surprise, never reached him. A hazy purple barrier swirled up in front of him, repelling the energy with a violent crack, like the sound of a whip. As soon as the attack died, the barrier disappeared.

Across the river, Rin watched in horror as the sword struck back, snaking outward to snap at him, but she was relieved to see it roll harmlessly away from him, like a spent wave. The barrier that had protected her the night Kameko’s village had been attacked seemed to be doing the same for Sesshoumaru. Unlike her, however, the demon lord did not appear to be particularly grateful. He took a step back and swung again, this time with much more force and, immediately, was rewarded with an even larger blast that was, as before, repelled by the shield that rose to encapsulate him. Rin watched as he lowered Toukijin in utter consternation, glaring at the offensive sword that was still sedately lodged in the sandy shore despite his efforts.

“She’s protecting him,” Rin murmured the thought aloud, not realizing she had done so until she saw Sesshoumaru’s head come up sharply to stare at her across the water.

“’She’ who?” Jaken sneered in response to Rin’s comment.

“Midoriko,” Rin replied quietly, wondering if even a whisper would carry across to Sesshoumaru’s keen hearing.

“Sesshoumaru-sama doesn’t need protection from anybody, baka, least of all a dead human girl. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jaken scoffed at the idea.

Listening to the conversation between the two across the river, Sesshoumaru regarded the sword once more. Where had Rin come up with such an idea? There were rumors that Midoriko’s spirit had never been fully at rest, instead perpetually lingering inside of her cave. Perhaps there had been some truth to that; maybe she was somehow clinging to her sword. Was the weapon still somehow hers? It would explain why he had just been shielded from what would have been a painful experience.

He looked over at the girl who was standing on the opposite shore, watching him intently. How had Rin recognized that barrier for what it was? She had no way of knowing that that had been one of Midoriko’s abilities, although she had been correct in assuming that she had benefited from it the night the boar had attacked her village. Sesshoumaru was getting the feeling that there was something circling inside Rin’s mind that he would be interested to hear.

He sheathed Toukijin, the metal ringing as it slid into place, and leapt easily across the frothing waters that separated him from his companions, landing directly in front of Rin, who took a startled step backward.

“What do you know about this?” he demanded instantly.

“Nothing, really,” she replied quickly with a slight shake of the head, though her expression was far less convincing than her words.

“I heard what you said to Jaken,” he prompted.

Rin exhaled a sigh, looking away from him for a moment as she carefully chose her words. “I had a dream the other night … about Midoriko. In it she mentioned that she had tried to protect me the night the village was attacked, hoping to keep me from using her sword. Watching you try to destroy it reminded me of that. That’s all. It was just a dream. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

He watched her wordlessly for a moment, then said in a tone that brooked no argument, “We will return to the house. And I intend to hear about this dream.”

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Seated in a high-backed chair inside his room, Rin watched as the normally stoic demon dropped Midoriko’s sword back into its slot on the wall and then paced toward her, seeming more than a little perturbed. She was grateful that he had thought to order Jaken off on an errand, since having two intense gazes set on her would only have made her nervous, not to mention the fact that Jaken's absence meant she could avoid his cat-calling during the explanation.

“You were correct in assuming that shielding was an ability that Midoriko possessed. I think it highly unlikely that your mind would randomly put such facts together without additional information; information that would have had to come from me and did not.”

Rin listened to his tone as he spoke, suddenly wondering if she had made a terrible decision by not following her initial instinct and revealing her dream sooner. It had seemed so real at the time, but wakefulness had chased it back into fantasy, a mere expression of her mind’s confusion and worry. “Then you think she was actually speaking to me?” Rin asked uncertainly, still not entirely prepared to believe it herself. “Why?”

Looking as though he was seeing something beyond her, Sesshoumaru finally voiced his opinion. “When Midoriko created the Shikon no Tama, she sealed herself inside, along with the demons she was fighting … and another. This other individual was a human man named Ashrem; an individual possessing of megalomaniacal delusions in which he envisioned the end of youkai rule in the west. Like Midoriko, he held strange, unexplained powers, though his were of the ability to manipulate the mind and actions of another. Once he was linked to someone, he could effectively force them to do as he wished, he could hear their thoughts, feel their emotions, and…invade their dreams,” Sesshoumaru paused, his expression darkening more with every sentence. “He was linked to Midoriko at the time of her death. That leaves me to wonder who precisely was speaking to you. Just because it looked like Midoriko does not mean that it was.”

He walked a few steps closer to Rin, whose mind was whirling with this new information. She could feel the tension coming off of him almost like a physical thing. “I want you to repeat what you were told,” he requested.

As he waited for Rin to gather her memories of the dream, Sesshoumaru found himself developing a strange desire to pace the room. Was it really Midoriko? he wondered silently. His suspicion and prior experiences with her led him to believe that it very well might not have been. If Midoriko had somehow absorbed Ashrem’s power to enter an unconscious mind, then he was certain she would have come to speak to him. Going through Rin would have been entirely characteristic of Ashrem, though he could not discern a reason why. Rin had no abnormal abilities; she would be of little use to him.

“She seemed worried about the Shikon no Tama, about Naraku, about you,” she said pointedly, looking up at where he hovered over her. “She wanted me to tell you to be careful because she was forced to release Naraku’s demons. She was concerned that they would want revenge.”

“She released them?” he repeated forcefully.

“Yes."

“What else?”

“She told me that she accidentally created the Shikon no Tama because of weakness, that you were correct in telling her that she had no business fighting that day,” Rin said, watching him to see if any of this chimed with his own reality. “Does this sound familiar?” she asked quietly.

“Yes,” he answered, eyes lowering to absently study the floor, his own voice almost as subdued as her own. It seemed it had been Midoriko after all. But why had she not come to him with these warnings? Why instead to Rin, a girl she did not even know?

“Was there anything else?” he questioned.

Perusing the vague memories and words of the dream, Rin found that very little else was coming back to her, though she was certain that there had been something else of importance … what? And then those distant, echoing words came back to her, belonging to a girl who had shared so intimate a space, yet was still a complete stranger. “She wanted me to apologize to you,” Rin murmured as her mind struggled to reassemble more of what it had heard and seen.

“Apologize?” he repeated lowly, frown deepening with obvious confusion. “Why?”

“I don’t remember,” Rin admitted quietly.

Sesshoumaru took a step back from her, suddenly aware of his hovering, thoughts processing all of this new information. So it seemed Midoriko had expelled the dark influence of Naraku. Had it been the horde’s destruction that had caused the explosion at her cave? Perhaps that was why the sword had reacted so violently at Rin’s slight provocation. Or were they still in existence and lurking about, waiting for an opportunity to wreak more havoc? Somehow he did not doubt that he would discover that answer soon.

Ashrem…it had been decades since he had last given more than a passing thought to that wretched creature. Were he and Midoriko fighting for dominance over the jewel? If so, he hoped that Inuyasha’s miko was up to the task of keeping the balance of power shifted firmly toward the former exterminator. The Shikon no Tama, to his dismay, fell securely into her realm of influence. It was for Kagome to fight where matters of spiritual powers were concerned, not for him. He would have to settle for a physically present opponent and it appeared that Naraku’s remnants might present him with just that.

“If it happens again, I want to know,” he said simply to Rin, effectively ending the conversation.


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Rin did not have to wait long to verify that, indeed, her dream conversation with Midoriko had been more than something created by her mind. Her eyes opened against their own will, burning from sleepiness, her heart pounding for a reason she could not identify. Starlight poured in from her window, casting a soft yellow-white glow across her blanket, but its peacefulness was disrupted by a distant sound. What …? her sleep-addled brain questioned.

She had only a few seconds to ponder this before her door suddenly swung open with a telling creak of hinges, admitting a swiftly-moving Sesshoumaru. He was only half-dressed, something that told the disoriented Rin that he had been caught by surprise, and there was something about his quick movements that was less than comforting as they spoke of a threat that she could not sense.

“Jaken!” he bellowed over his shoulder, calling for his servant even as he attached Toukijin at his side and strode quickly toward her. Rin sat up in bed, but before she could voice an inquiry as to what was happening, his fingers were locked firmly around her wrist.

“Get out of bed,” he ordered tersely, pulling her up even as he said it. She found herself being dragged out of the room, Jaken ambling down the hallway toward them, looking slightly bleary-eyed as his flat feet slapped loudly against the wood floors.

“Stay away from the outside walls,” Sesshoumaru ordered her without further explanation as he released his hold on her arm and started to walk away.

“Sesshoumaru-sa---“ she began, but he cut her off, turning to face her, eyes flashing with a wicked gleam, and she sensed some sort of grim anticipation coming from him.

“Find an interior room...and stay there. Come, Jaken,” Rin stared as he morphed into a blur and shot toward the back of the house, Jaken scrambling after him with his staff.

For a moment she stood perfectly still, internally debating whether or not to heed his command. Part of her rebelled against it, silently fuming over his apparent belief that she was still to be ordered about like some vassal. The reasonable half of her brain recognized that he always had a purpose behind what he asked of her and she could guess that this was likely no different.

Still, her disobedient side won the argument and she found herself rushing to the back of the house, looking outside into the purple-black sky to see something even darker and more foreboding descending toward them at a speed that astonished her. This cloud of … something … was accompanied by shrill shrieking cries, deafening in volume, making Rin wonder if they had come straight out of hell. Within a few moments, she recognized what they were: demons of all sizes and types, hundreds upon hundreds of them.

Squinting against the darkness, Rin found that she could make out a distant white figure, a glint of silver in the moonlight revealing that he was clutching Toukijin and waiting for his opponents to approach.

He’s going to fight them. There’s no way …

She looked fearfully up at the sky again, the collective screeching sound from the horde piercing painfully at her eardrums. Who could defeat that? she wondered frantically. As strong as he was, there was only so much Sesshoumaru could do on his own against that many enemies. And as loyal as Jaken was, all he would likely be able to add to the conflict was his own death.

Stepping outside, Rin’s fingernails dug into the railing as she watched, feeling completely useless as the seething mass of youkai rained down on them. Sesshoumaru remained motionless until the first wave of demons came within range of Toukijin and then swung, a blinding flash of yellow-white light sending into oblivion the ones who had been unfortunate enough to reach him first. Near him, an almost constant stream of fire signaled where Jaken was trying to be of use, but just as Rin had feared, the two were quickly engulfed in a swarm of wings, claws, and teeth.

Remembrance of her dream discussion with Midoriko came to mind then and she recalled that the girl had warned her that Naraku’s horde was free once more and feeling bloodthirsty toward those that had destroyed him. That is what this is, Rin thought frantically. Naraku’s demons have come to kill him ... And for the first time in her life, Rin watched a battle she was not at all certain Sesshoumaru could win.

It was perhaps her anxiety over having lost sight of them in the swarming cloud that prompted her to defy him further and break her promise, but she could not ignore what had occurred earlier that day at the river bank. If Rin could not help him directly, she knew that there was someone who would. Decision made, she sprinted back into the house, hurtling into his bedroom, her gaze immediately locking onto what she had come for. Midoriko’s sword gleamed back at her as she reached up to pull it down from the wall...


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Swing … turn … swing.

The number of youkai seemed endless, but Sesshoumaru continued to hack away at them, perfectly aware of exactly what they were and why they had come. The scent of Naraku was all around him, permeating the air like a poison. He had also been quick to note that Naraku’s horde had retained much of their host’s knowledge. Sesshoumaru had picked up on a particular interest on their part to try and seize Tenseiga from where it lay at his side. He was quicker than they were, however, so all they were managing to do was scratch and claw ceaselessly at him in a vain attempt to wrest it from his body. Obviously they were here to try to take his life, but Sesshoumaru was not terribly surprised. He had never credited Naraku with an exceptional amount of intelligence in the first place, even when the hanyou had been a fully functioning independent being.

He was increasingly aware of the youkai blood surging through his veins, bringing with it an ever-intensifying desire to mangle and destroy these creatures that were so arrogantly attacking him. It was a natural instinct he had learned to repress ever since the loss of his arm. The transformation into his true form would be mostly pointless with one of his forelegs missing. Still, it was times like this when he intensely regretted the outcome of that battle with Inuyasha; it would have been so much more convenient, and satisfying, to simply shred this horde to pieces.

Behind him, he could hear that Jaken was having a far worse time with this battle than he was. As annoying as the toad was, Sesshoumaru had to grudgingly admit that he was loyal, despite his tendency toward cowardice. Jaken took his service to his master very seriously, which was why Sesshoumaru went to the trouble of turning around to dismember the two vulture youkai that were attempting to separate Jaken from the Staff of Heads and pull him away.

Sesshoumaru whirled to resume destroying the youkai that were attacking him from the front, but his battle-heightened senses were quick to pick up on the presence of the sword’s energy, that accursed biting feeling that emanated from it. It was nearby, which meant she was nearby with it; the sword he had explicitly told her not to touch.

The demons around him were obviously perturbed by its presence, for they suddenly pulled back, making it seem as though a heavy curtain had been lifted. As he had suspected, Sesshoumaru turned to watch as Rin bolted toward him across the field, Midoriko’s sword clutched in one hand. It was impossible to avoid seeing the resemblance between this battle and Midoriko’s last …. again there was a massive horde of bloodthirsty youkai, again he was there attempting to kill them, and, most disturbing of all, again there was a human girl who refused to listen to him.

The attacking demons seemed confused, at a loss as to which target should bear the brunt of their attacks. Sesshoumaru vacated his position and ran toward her, Jaken having enough sense of self-preservation to latch onto his master’s furry pelt as he hurtled past him. The sudden movement on the part of their target spurred the demon horde to action again and it gathered as a whole group once more, their roiling, twisting motion almost tornadic as they chased their quarry.

Rin pulled up short as Sesshoumaru materialized from a blur to a solidly physical form directly in front of her, looking like the devil. Her brain numbly made this comparison as she looked up to find that his eyes were a frightening crimson instead of the usual deep gold. The markings on the sides of his face were darkened from magenta to black, his muscles tensed for a fight. His exposed upper body was covered in angry welts and bleeding scratches and his face was contorted into a searing rage that was terrifying to look at.

“What the hell did I tell you about this sw---?“ he roared harshly at her over the noise as the demons sped toward them, but he was cut short by a detonating discharge of energy that knocked them both off their feet, sending them sprawling to the ground. Sesshoumaru pulled himself up, watching through a familiar, swirling purple haze as the youkai horde was utterly demolished right before his eyes, the din of their collective death painful to hear as they were extinguished, leaving behind a deceptively peaceful night sky and an instantaneous, all-encompassing silence.

Rin sat up then as well, looking around in awestruck silence as her ears adjusted to the sudden quiet. Save for the obviously disrupted landscape and the injuries on the horde’s intended victims, it was difficult to believe that a battle had just taken place. She glanced at Sesshoumaru who was still seated on the ground, his gaze locked on her with an expression that was more like him and less like a wild animal, but one that made her only a little less uncomfortable. She looked quickly away from him, instead focusing on poor Jaken who looked like had had been set upon by an angry, stick-wielding mob.

“Jaken-sama, you look terrible,” she said consolingly, noticing how completely disconcerted he seemed by the lingering effects of the sword’s attack. She rose to her feet. “Come back to the house and I’ll take care of those scratches for you, all right?” Then, feeling braver, she turned to Sesshoumaru, hoping the change of subject would stave off the fight she knew was building. “You, too, Sesshoumaru-sama.”

“Why did you defy me?” his voice came out cool and smooth, but hinted at his anger.

“Because it did what I knew it would do … I knew she would save you,” Rin replied confidently, daring him to dispute what she had just claimed. She had expected him to react this way. He was excessively proud and she knew that he would be displeased by her actions.

“Save me?” he repeated acidly. “It is astounding the way the mind of a human woman works. I have lived nearly four centuries by seeing to my own safety. A pack of pathetic youkai are not going to be sufficient to end my life. You, however, are a different matter.” He rose instantly from the ground to tower over her, all grace and dignity. “Perhaps I have not frightened you enough,” he said darkly, taking a step toward her. “Would you prefer the gory details of what that sword can do? Then let me tell you about the girl it belonged to … she was very much like you: reckless, overconfident, distracted by the deaths of those around her and, because of that, far too concerned about everyone else’s well-being instead of her own. She didn’t expect to die that day, but she was stupid enough to think that her sword was her key to safety. She was wrong. It ripped the heart out of her body to be displayed as a piece of jewelry around the neck of a foreign miko,” he spat the last few words out, sounding faintly bitter.

“She won’t let that happen to me,” Rin said firmly. “She’s been trying to defend---“

“She could not defend herself,” Sesshoumaru shot back. “Do not trust her to be your savior … or mine. Not even Tenseiga can repair what that sword did to her. I intend to ensure that the result of this sword’s reappearance does not mirror what occurred three hundred years ago.”

Rin exhaled a sigh at that and softened her voice. “I am sorry for what happened to her, Sesshoumaru-sama. Her death clearly bothers you---“

“That is not the point,” he replied vehemently. “That is far in the past. My intention now is to see to it that you do not meet a similar fate. I will, however, need some assistance from you.”

Rin shook her dark head, unapologetically defiant. “I would do it again.” This impudent declaration seemed to appall Jaken who looked quickly at his master and judged that the wisest course of action would be to back away, something he was quick to act on.

“You are rebellious,” Sesshoumaru accused Rin, clearly frustrated by her refusal to assent to his wishes. He had often found that youkai women were difficult to deal with, but it seemed that the human species had their own problems in that regard.

“I would agree to that statement if I was still a child,” she said, putting careful emphasis on the word. “Tonight I made a decision and acted on it. It was in direct contradiction to your wishes, but it was still mine to make.” She frowned at him, bothered by this attempt to cling to their old roles. “It is not your responsibility to see to my safety; that part of our relationship was dissolved long ago when you sent me to live with Kameko. Now my life is mine to do with as I wish.” She smiled in slight amusement then, shaking her head at their argument. “You have not been charged with the duty of ensuring that I reach an old age, Sesshoumaru-sama. I do not particularly fear my death, but the thought of yours or Kameko’s or Jaken’s or Kisho’s terrifies me. You, especially, are my very dear friend. I could not stand idly by and watch what happened tonight.”

“Then next time I will be forced to subdue you,” he replied threateningly, not at all pacified by her words.

She took him aback by laughing off his warning. “Or you could take the kinder route and teach me not to be so useless.”

“Teach you? To fight?” he asked, sounding absolutely astonished at the idea.

“Yes. I’m not sure how good I’ll be at it, but I’d feel better knowing that I can at least defend myself.” She reached out and grabbed onto his arm, pulling him toward the house with her. “I think it might make you feel more at ease, too. You can’t be my guardian forever, Sesshoumaru-sama.”

He blinked at her, eerily reminded that almost those exact same words had been uttered to him by Midoriko over three centuries earlier. How had he managed to form two such similar relationships with these two separate human women? He allowed her to pull him along with her, but decided to end the argument on his terms. “You will live to be a very old woman, Rin … a very old, stubborn, ornery woman.”

She grinned at his pronouncement, but her smile faded as she glanced beside her and studied the deep welts and scratches that covered him. They had already stopped bleeding and were beginning to seal themselves up with new skin even as she watched. Still, they concerned her; not for their severity, but because they symbolized the fact that there had been something out there actively plotting his destruction. She knew that Naraku had been made up of a union between thousands of demons, and was sure that the ones that had arrived tonight had not accounted for all of them.

“Those were Naraku’s demons,” she finally said as they drew closer to the house’s steps.

“Yes.”

“He … he cannot return to the form he used before ….,” she said worriedly, the statement coming out as uncertain even to her own ears.

“No, his human body is deceased. We saw to that in our last battle with him, though there is no shortage of power-starved, intelligence-deprived individuals who would be more than willing to forge a deal similar to Onigumo’s. It is just a matter of finding someone suitable.”

Rin nodded, quietly considering his words as they entered the house, Jaken trailing after them. Another concern presented itself to her then, as she recalled that Sesshoumaru had not been alone when Naraku’s death had taken place. “If they came for revenge, do you think they’ll do the same against Inuyasha?”

“Likely,” he replied. “Naraku hated him with a vengeance.”

“Will they be all right, do you think?” Rin asked. She was aware that Sesshoumaru’s interest in Inuyasha and his human friends was almost non-existent, but Rin had found them to be good people and was concerned that they might encounter a similar battle. A warning would be appreciated, certainly....

“That is my brother’s concern,” he replied predictably. “Though, if any of his humans manage to get themselves killed, we will hear about it quickly. He’ll turn up on my doorstep to demand Tenseiga.”

“Will you help him if he asks?” she questioned curiously.

He took a long moment to answer before saying simply, “I will make that decision when it is necessary.”


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Apparently no such catastrophe struck Inuyasha and his group, though there were reports that the village they resided in had been attacked. Rin had listened with interest when Sesshoumaru was informed that the demons that had gone to kill Inuyasha and his friends had met an end very much like the ones that had attacked Sesshoumaru. In that instance, however, it had been the actions of the Shikon no Tama, not the sword, that had secured their destruction.

It unnerved Sesshoumaru to think that Midoriko’s spirit was somehow clinging to her sword, that she and Rin were apparently sharing some strange sort of bond that enabled Midoriko to communicate with her. It frustrated him to no end that Rin’s recollection of her dream had been vague, but she had at least remembered enough to let him know that Midoriko was very worried. Had it only been because of Naraku’s demons? To him, that seemed barely of sufficient worth to devote a thought, but, he remembered, Midoriko had always been rather paranoid about his welfare.

For three centuries she’s lingered, he thought one evening as he pulled an old bow out of a trunk in a dusty, long-unused spare room. This revelation bothered him greatly, but there was little to be done about it. It appeared, as his father had once said, that the jewel could not be destroyed. Was there a way to help her? He did not know, but was certain he would if he could discover a means to do so. It would have been more helpful if she had spoken to him, instead of Rin. Whether she hadn’t because she could not or because she refused to, he did not know.

He still believed he had made the best decision available to him by leaving the Shikon no Tama with Kagome. It sounded as though she had mastered the jewel enough to use it to destroy her enemies, although he did dislike the idea of allowing a human to run amuck with such a dangerous artifact. Wasn’t that what Inutaisho had done with Midoriko? It was disconcerting how the past seemed so intent on repeating itself, colliding with the here and now. Unlike Midoriko, however, Kagome was a true miko, one who possessed deep spiritual powers. Hopefully whatever training she had had would be sufficient to keep her out of trouble. It was not that he particularly cared one way or another what happened to her; he simply did not want to have to deal with the messy conflict that would arise if the Shikon no Tama were to fall once more into sinister hands. This time he would not allow it.

Even though much of Naraku’s horde had been completely annihilated by the combined efforts of the Shikon no Tama and the sword in their separate battles, remnants of the hanyou bastard still existed to terrorize the region. Sesshoumaru heard almost daily reports of the destruction that was being wrought against the poorly-defended human villages across the country. This was creating additional violence on both sides as the humans retaliated against the demon population, their small brains so certain that one youkai was just as guilty as another. Demon-hunting was becoming popular again, which was deeply angering all youkai, many of whom were also being targeted by Naraku’s demons.

Bow and arrows clasped in his hand, Sesshoumaru walked outside, automatically inhaling a breath of early evening air to gauge for signs of any unidentified presence. Rin was seated next to Jaken on the top step, the toad chattering at her in his usual pompous fashion, entertaining her with stories of their war against Naraku. Rin was listening with rapt attention, something Jaken seemed to be enjoying enthusiastically.

“Jaken,” Sesshoumaru broke in, “find something else to do.” It would not do to allow him to remain; he would only disrupt her lesson with his taunts and jeering.

Looking almost regretful to lose such an attentive audience, Jaken rose and clambered back up the steps as Rin looked questioningly up at Sesshoumaru. Her gaze then fell to the strange-looking bow in his hand.

“Is that what you’re going to teach me to use?” she questioned.

He nodded, motioning for her to rise and walk with him. She followed him down the stairs and out toward the edge of the forest, listening as he explained.

“You’re not heavy enough to wield any of the swords in my possession. They were meant for youkai strength. They would swing you,” he said with a trace of humor. “This bow is not normal, which is for the best since the bows created by humans are useless for almost anything beyond killing their food. They certainly do not match up well to youkai, which is made painfully obvious every time a human village tries to defend itself without specialized equipment.”

“What is special about that bow?” Rin asked, glancing down at the weapon that was clutched in his hand. It gleamed a shiny white-gray and was apparently not made of wood, as most normal bows were. Sesshoumaru was quick to verify that assumption.

“This belonged to my father’s youngest sister, Sesali. It was constructed from the bones of one of our family’s greatest enemies, a dog demon named Eido. He was, at the time, the lord of the north. My grandfather was overconfident in his dealings with the northerners, which eventually resulted in their defeating our family and seizing our lands. My father and his younger brother and sister were the only ones to survive, though they were barely more than children at the time.”

Rin listened in subdued silence at this story, finally opening her mouth to say, “But you are in control here again …”

Sesshoumaru smiled slightly, looking more than a little malicious as he replied, “My father retaliated. A few decades later he, his brother, Kanaye, and Sesali led a war against the northern lord and killed him and his immediate family, leaving Eido's brother to ascend to power in that region. My father set about securing his position and was determined not to repeat his own father’s mistakes. He made friends, demon and human alike, and he dealt harshly with his enemies.”

He paused in his story and extended the bow toward Rin, who took it, examining the carvings and writings that were scrawled across the bones. “Sesali was the one to kill the northern lord. She extracted the bones from his corpse and sent the remains back to his family with a message saying that, in death, he would help her defend the lands he stole. She then used the bones to construct this bow, which retains some of its youkai power to this day.”

Rin looked up from where she was studying the weapon. “What happened to Sesali?”

Sesshoumaru looked less pleased as he reluctantly revealed, “She followed my father’s lead and mated with a human. I have not seen her since I was very young, but I assume she is residing somewhere near what is likely an appalling number of hanyou offspring by now.”

“Cousins?” Rin teased.

“I barely claim my brother,” he reminded her. “Sesali’s unfortunate children are not my family,” he answered, then swiftly changed the subject by saying, “I have enough to irritate me with my uncle and his two brats. Raise the bow.”

Nodding, Rin did as he asked, her hands clasping awkwardly at the bone-material as she tried to find a comfortable place to put her fingers.

“No,” Sesshoumaru said instantly, finding himself inconvenienced by the lack of two functioning arms. It was difficult to train a novice at using what was obviously a two-handed weapon when the instructor only had one with which to demonstrate. Placing the arrows in the grass at their feet, he moved to stand behind Rin. He reached out and moved her fingers into place, first one hand and then the other, until they were in an adequate position.

Rin was suddenly very aware of how closely he was hovering over her, his fingers moving over hers to correct their grip with swift, gentle motions. Her mind began to register that this contact was not unwelcome at all and, simultaneously, her heartbeat began to pick up steadily of its own accord. Desperate to change the track of her thoughts, Rin focused intently on the bow, stammering slightly as she said, “This … this is awkward." She then blushed at the words, as they quite aptly described the situation as a whole.

“You’ll adjust. That is the correct way to hold it,” he assured her, stepping away for a moment to retrieve one of the arrows.

“Right,” she answered, annoyed with herself but completely unable to deny that she was sorry he had moved away. What is wrong with me? she thought. Come on, Rin, nothing but trouble will come out of thinking about him in those terms ...

She turned to grasp the arrow he was offering her, steadfastly avoiding looking at him. Nervous…I’m just nervous, she said to herself as she allowed him to show her how to properly string the arrow. She pulled back as he instructed, let it go, and was instantly mortified when it fell at her feet.

“You were holding it too tightly,” he said simply, handing her another and appearing completely unconcerned about her failure. The wind picked up slightly then, blowing her hair into her face. She paused to tie the errant strands back into a knot before picking up the bow again. Hearing a murmur of approval at her hand positions, she took the arrow he extended and tried again. This one was blown off course.

“It’s too windy,” she complained.

“If you are ever attacked, an assailant will not wait for a moment that is conveniently windless enough for you to shoot straight. You have to learn to alter your aim in such a case, but that will come later. For now, I will be satisfied once you hit that felled tree,” he said, pointing past her to a rotting, moss-covered log that lay near the edge of the forest.

It was quickly apparent that satisfying him was going to take the entire evening. After nearly two hours of try after try, Rin had successfully shot an arrow everywhere except the log, almost all of which had fallen flat. She was beginning to wish she had not asked him to teach her to use a weapon, so embarrassed was she by her performance. Sesshoumaru, however, remained as composed as ever in the face of his student’s growing frustration.

When darkness began to fall around him, he moved to take the bow away. “It’s too dark for you to see. We will try this again tomorrow.”

“No,” Rin answered vehemently, her expression firm. “I’m going to do it.”

Resolving to allow her to have her way, Sesshoumaru stepped away and seated himself on a nearby rock, watching as the young woman pulled back arrow after arrow only to have them fall short of their target again and again. He admired her determination, but had to admit that it was unlikely that she would be ready to face an opponent any time soon. She did not have an innate talent, but with enough time, he knew that skill could be taught and that would be enough.

Almost all of the women he had truly known in his life had been more than capable of taking care of themselves. Even Midoriko, human as she was, had been more than sufficient in that regard. Rin was vastly different; this was a girl whose heart was not meant to kill. Though he was willing to train her as she wished, he had the distinct feeling that, if given the opportunity to kill an attacker, she would hesitate with likely fatal results. Killing was simply not in her nature, and Sesshoumaru found that it was refreshing to be around a female that was not a hardened, trained warrior as were most youkai women.

His eyes followed the progress of another arrow, one that actually looked to be on course and carrying itself with enough velocity to…strike the target. The arrow embedded itself rather weakly into the outer skin of the fallen tree’s bark, resting there a moment before falling to the ground. This was enough for Rin to declare victory and with a gleeful exclamation she hurried over, surprising him by grasping his hand between her two smaller ones, clutching at it as she said jubilantly, “Can you believe it? That was amazing!”

“Agreed,” he said wryly, unable to keep from smiling slightly at her exuberance.

“Jaken-sama will never believe it …”

“No, he won’t.”

“We’ll do it again tomorrow?” she asked hopefully.

“Yes,” he answered as she released his hand and returned to gather her new bow and the scattered arrows.

Sesshoumaru watched her as she piled the arrows into her arms. Her enthusiasm and energy were infectious; never before had he known someone who could be so easily pleased by such trivial things. He did not have the heart to tell her that that shot would have been lucky to scratch a youkai even by accident. It was a start, at least.

The wind blew past him again, this time carrying with it the scent of someone’s approach. He stood, finding the smell to be familiar and not especially welcome, and his eyes fell to the young woman who was hovering at a distance that was a bit too far for his comfort.

“Rin,” he called, “get away from the forest.” She looked up at this command, but took it as a warning and immediately moved toward him, clutching the bow and arrows to her chest.

As she came to stand beside him, Sesshoumaru’s eyes pierced the forest, waiting expectantly; a tall, lithe form emerged from the dark trees, moving out from the woods with a steady, inborn gracefulness. Fiercely violet eyes flashed in the moonlight as they locked on him.

“Sesshoumaru!” the female youkai called, as though greeting an old friend, her elegantly beautiful face breaking into a wide, white-fanged smile.

“Elif,” he replied, sounding much less thrilled with the encounter than she seemed to be.

Rin alternately watched the face of the woman and Sesshoumaru, unsure if this was going to be a violent meeting or a friendly one. There was something about this “Elif” that she immediately distrusted, but perhaps that was due more to Sesshoumaru’s reaction to her arrival than any particular gut instinct. She was attired in clothing that looked to have been made of very expensive material and, though she was rather ethereal-looking, there was something formidable about her that expressed itself silently as she walked sedately toward them.

Elif finally halted her forward motion a few steps away from Sesshoumaru, purposefully invading what most youkai would normally consider personal space. Sesshoumaru held his ground, staring at her with an exasperated expression.

“What do you want, Elif?” he asked her without further greeting.

“As rude as ever,” she said teasingly, shaking her head as though amused by his poor manners. “But I’ve always liked that about you. You always get straight to the point.”

“I would appreciate it if you would return that favor.”

Elif’s unnerving, eerily purple gaze moved slowly to Rin, who was still standing to one side, watching with undisguised curiosity. “A human girl?” Elif asked, with great interest. “Is it a pet for Jaken?”

“A pet?” Rin repeated incredulously, offense ringing in her tone. “I---“

“She is here at my invitation,” Sesshoumaru interrupted.

“Ah, a guest?” Elif assumed, eyeing Rin with cool intrigue. “She’s adorable, truly,” she offered, still speaking as though Rin was some sort of creature that should be kept outside. “You must understand my confusion, Sesshoumaru. I have always thought you to be rather opposed to humans, violently so, actually.” She turned her back on Rin, and smiled brilliantly up at Sesshoumaru once more. “But then you always have had a penchant for surprising us. Just a word of warning … don’t get too attached to it, they die so easily.”

“Why are you here?” he questioned again, sounding less patient by the word.

“My father asked me to request that you attend a meeting at our home. It is scheduled for two days from now. The other lords are expected to be there, as are the heads of the tribes, the territorial leaders, and a few others.”

“Whatever business the other lords have with one another does not concern me,” Sesshoumaru replied blandly, sounding bored.

“But you are going to be one of the matters they discuss, my dear,” Elif answered, that slick smile seemingly permanently etched into her face as she took another step toward him. It seemed to Rin like she was avoiding flinging herself at him by the barest thread of restraint.

“Then I suggest they find another topic," Sesshoumaru stated, tone frosty.

Elif went on, undaunted by the veiled threat. “My father and the others are…concerned...over the problems Naraku’s escaped horde is creating. It is rumored that you had something to do with their reemergence.”

“Your spy is inaccurate.”

“Spy?” she replied innocently. “Honestly, Sesshoumaru, it’s not spying … we just like to keep an eye on our friends. We’ve also heard that you managed to single-handedly eradicate a very large portion of Naraku’s leftovers. You must understand why such a weapon would concern my father and the others. It might well shift the balance of power, though, personally, I don’t care. You’re stronger than my father already. I would trust you implicitly with such a weapon,” she added ingratiatingly.

Unfazed by her attempt at flattery, Sesshoumaru said, “Again, your sources have no idea what they are talking about. I have yet to hear a sufficient reason for me to travel to the north.”

Nodding as though in sympathetic agreement, Elif replied, “There is one other matter, though I think it will interest you even less. The humans have taken to blaming us for the actions of Naraku’s horde. The little fools have been rather busy retaliating, as I am certain you have heard. Father says that we have granted them too much leeway and should perform an extermination of our own. He has widespread support. The humans have become far too much of a nuisance,” Elif said, glancing slowly over in Rin’s direction. “If you are unable to see to the humans in your domain, he is more than willing to do it for you.”

Heart pounding and suddenly recalling the conversation of the other night in which Sesshoumaru had revealed his disgust toward humans, Rin fixed him with a nervous stare, waiting for his reply.

His face hardening into a cold expression, Sesshoumaru stepped closer to Elif and caught her with an icy glare. “Tell your father that if I find he has taken one step onto my lands without invitation, I will gut him personally, and any that come with him. I have not forgotten.”

With a deep, martyred sigh, Elif shook her head as though indulging him of a tantrum. “Again, history rears its ugly head. I respect your decision, Sesshoumaru, but you know how the lords are when they gather in one place; each always trying to outdo the others. You are just the steadying influence we need,” she told him, the suggestive smile creeping back into place. “I am certain that if you argue against them, a nasty conflict can be avoided. And I will admit that I am very much looking forward to seeing you again in a more personal setting. You know I’ve always been very fond of you.”

“Inform them that I will be there. I look forward to discussing my displeasure with your father in person,” Sesshoumaru said coolly, steadfastly ignoring the rest of her statement.

“Wonderful!” Elif exclaimed warmly, as though he had not just issued an obvious threat toward her father. “I look forward to your visit.”

Sesshoumaru waited for Elif’s scent to fade enough for him to feel certain that she had indeed left the area, then turned to find Rin watching him with a worried expression. Had she actually believed that he would stand for such a thing as an extermination of humans on his lands? He did not like the creatures, but it was not for the northern lord to dictate their collective demise.

“Will they really try to exterminate humans?” she finally asked quietly.

He answered her honestly, his words deadly serious as he said, “I cannot control what they do in their own territories, but it will be made perfectly clear that the only extermination they will find in the west is their own.”