InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sesshoumaru's Secret Life ❯ Preperation For War ( Chapter 21 )

Chapter 21: Preparation For War

 

“What do you mean he is gone?” Sesshoumaru questioned the little toad with a tone of foreboding in her voice.

 

“M-my l-lord, t-the door, h-he melted the hinges…” Jaken grovelled on the floor on all fours under the intense, unhappy stare he was receiving.

 

“Take it easy, Sesshoumaru, it's not Jaken's fault,” Inuyasha defended the small imp, feeling sorry for him.

 

“So whos fault would it be, brother?” the demoness demanded turning her irritated glare on him. “You should have killed him where he lay,” she ground out.

 

“He's our cousin, our family. How can you be so callous…oh yeah, I forgot I was talking to the ice demon,” Inuyasha sneered, becoming angry himself.

 

Sesshoumaru narrowed her eyes and grabbed her brother by the front of his haori. “Watch your tongue, little brother, or I will rip it from your mouth.” She pushed the hanyou back making him topple over onto his butt beside the toad. “Our family is here, in this castle. If Anoki is not loyal to us, he is our enemy regardless of his relationship to us,” she stated, looking down at her hanyou brother. “Do you think he would have shown you such mercy? What would have happened, do you think, if Jaken had not arrived in time to save you?”

 

Inuyasha's face turned a lovely shade of red as he remembered his demon cousin above him with that smirk of victory plastered on his face. No, he would not have shown the same mercy at all. “You know, our family is fucked up,” the hanyou grumbled, rising from the floor.

 

“That may be,” Sesshoumaru conceded, her anger beginning to ebb and worry beginning to take its place. “But we still have to find a solution to this problem. We cannot allow him to gather forces against us. He could very well ally with the humans, they have been more than troublesome and I fear we do not have the numbers they have.”

 

Inuyasha's eyes widened in shock; did his sister actually fear the humans? Sesshoumaru noticed his surprised stare. “The humans are weak but there are many of them, I never underestimate a foe,” she returned.

 

“So what, we should go out and kill the humans?” Inuyasha asked in astonishment. He knew his friends would never agree to this and he certainly wasn't going to be killing humans no matter what his sister said.

 

“No, we cannot leave the castle undefended,” she said thinking of Rin and her three pups. “You will take some demons and men that are loyal to our family and go find Anoki. If you think you can persuade him to leave us in peace, I will accept that. If not,” and here she became very serious, staring straight into Inuyasha's eyes, “you will kill him. You have your nieces and nephews to think of now. You must protect the pack,” she finished firmly.

 

“But, what of you, my lord?” Jaken questioned.

 

“I will stay here with another group and defend the castle should it become necessary to do so.” As much as Sesshoumaru wanted to go and talk with her head strong cousin herself, her need to stay and protect her young was too strong. She would not leave them in the care of others unless it was absolutely necessary and she would not take them on so dangerous a mission thereby thrusting her brother into the role of general in the war she feared was coming.

 

<><><><><><><><>& lt;><><><><><><><><>< ><><><><><><><><><> ;<><><><><><><><><>&l t;><><><><><>

 

Naraku had gathered many demons to his side as well as humans and was amassing quite an army. He had found out, though his link with Anoki, Sesshoumaru's little secret and once he had gone to the lords around the inu taiyoukai's territory, many had been quite interested in this development and had agreed to ally themselves with the teal eyed demon to help him claim the western lands. In exchange Anoki/Naraku would promise them power or land deals and with one lord, even the taiyoukai herself upon her capture.

 

Naraku was not so foolish as to think that Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were just sitting around waiting to be attacked. His spies had returned telling him of the inu's attempts to gather their own forces, even going to some of the lords he had approached to garner support. He also knew of Inuyasha's attempts to find him but he was not ready to face the hanyou and his sister at the moment.

 

No one knew who he really was behind the façade of the grey haired inu and he intended to keep it that way, at least for now. He grinned when he imagined their reaction when they found out who was inhabiting this body and he couldn't wait to have a `personal' audience with a certain demoness.

 

They would pay for destroying him and leaving him in this spirit form, having to steal a body not nearly as strong as the one he had worked so hard to develop previously. He had been lucky that Kanna had survived the battle and had managed to snag his soul into her mirror before it had been dragged down into hell where there would have been no escape.

 

Naraku sat and daydreamed of the day he would be able to see Inuyasha die a slow and very painful death, grinning happily, and selling Sesshoumaru into a life of slavery would be worse than death for her. His smile increased in a most unpleasant way.

 

“My lord,” came a small voice.

 

Anoki/Naraku looked at the rat demon bowing before him. “Yes?” he questioned, irritated at having his thoughts interrupted.

 

“My kin and I have more news for you.”

 

“Very well, what is it?”

 

The small rat demon stood and looked at his new lord that his clan had allied themselves with. Their own territory had been taken over by humans who had been hell bent on destroying all of his kind, so when this rather large and intimidating inu demon had approached and promised protection for his kind, he had gratefully vowed to serve him as best as he and his family could. They were the main spies for Naraku's growing army and they could morph down into animal rat form and go anywhere, hear anything.

 

“The female demoness is staying in the castle, she has pups and will not leave them. Perhaps you could make use of this information.”

 

Naraku grinned hugely, yes he could definitely make use of this information. He knew, just from dealing with Sesshoumaru in the past, how protective she had been of that little human female. In fact he had used that weakness against the demoness more than once. What would she do to protect the lives of her own flesh? he wondered. “We will have to make plans to attain these pups,” he smirked. Naraku felt a pull on his soul; that other one, the one in here with him was trying to make him stop. It did not want him to harm the pups or Sesshoumaru.

 

Be still, he told the presence of his host. You wanted revenge on her for lying to you, for choosing that human over you. Now she has bourn his pups instead of yours, you should be happy to be rid of them. If we capture her, we could impregnate her with our own seed. We could have heirs that would continue to rule for us. That is what you want, is it not?

 

What I want is you out of my body, now! Anoki told the tenacious ghost. The dog demon had, and still did, want to get back at his cousins for the embarrassment they had caused him but he was not in the habit of harming defenceless pups. And although the thought of Sesshoumaru submissive under him did have its attractions, even if she was female, he did not want this thing inside him to be enjoying it as well.

 

Not going to happen, Naraku told him. The former hanyou was a bit surprised at how strong willed this demon was. He was having some trouble keeping him quiet and submerged within their combined psyche. He knew Anoki would not be able to force him out but this constant clashing of wills always gave him a headache, impairing his concentration and ability to use this bodies powers. Enough! he yelled, pushing down hard on the mind of Anoki, forcing it back into the darkness. Naraku sighed, rubbing his temples with his hands. Just a few more months and I'll have myself and my army ready. The demon walked off towards his room in the old castle of his host, passing the servants and slaves that were putting the building back into usable condition. Right now I have other matters to attend to.