InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tales Of My Kin ❯ It's A Deal ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Sesshoumaru stopped in mid-thrust, hearing a rustle to the left of him. Looking to the creature below him he pulled away slightly; he wasn't going anywhere. It was well past dusk and the stars were just starting to illuminate the sky. The crescent moon was slowly making its way across the night, spreading shadows from the trees and bushes. The forest surrounding him was silent under his vigil and the only movement was from the fireflies, dancing like little candle flames. Turning to the forest, Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, searching for the newest threat.
Within the branches of the tree standing next to the Lord sat a female garbed in black and crouched on a broad branch. She smirked, The Lord has no idea what is to become of him. She slid further down the tree, landing silently on another branch closer to the inu youkai. She drew her swords from the cross-shaped sheathes on her back. Careful not to let the metal catch the light of the moon, she raised the swords.
Sesshoumaru turned and sniffed the air. Whoever was with him was smart, either they were downwind or hiding their scent under spells. He turned to his right at the slight sound of a sword being unsheathed. He drew Toukijin and used it's youki to find the coward hiding from him. Nothing. Not even Toukijin could seek and unveil the spells concealing the threat's identity. The only thing made clear was his stalker's gender. It was a female. ~A woman dares to threaten this Sesshoumaru? She will die. ~
"You may come out now, wench." Sesshoumaru called to his surroundings. He waited for a moment before hearing something drop behind him. He quickly turned to face the threat. I was a female concealed by darkness. Iced green eyes peered up at him from within the darkness, holding nothing but bored patience for what was to be said next.
"What do you wish of me, my Lord?" She asked with a mocking bow. Sesshoumaru scoffed at the woman's audacity.
"What are you doing here? Why do you interrupt my hunt?" He demanded, taking a step toward the female to intimidate.
Kuroi looked to the unconscious and beaten youkai behind the Lord. He was a member of her tribe and only a young one. This was no hunt; it was a mutilation of random youkai. Ever since he had started these skirmishes she had trailed him, starting with the first of her tribe. An elder with a fancy for strolls at midnight; he held no chance of defending himself. The elder-thankfully-held an heir, but he was prized to her village for his wisdom none-the-less.
"A question for you. Do you kill randomly or plan your victims?" She asked with honest curiosity.
Sesshoumaru growled, "You will not speak to me with such insolence."
"Then you will not kill my kin without reason!" She hissed back.
"I do not kill without reason, these youkai are trespassers on my land. I dictate whether they live or die by my hand." He yelled at the woman. Something about her presence made him angry without reason. Then again she was overstepping her boundaries.
"We live on your lands with permission from your father. If you really didn't want us here, you would've tried to remove us already." She stood and stepped into the moonlight. She was fairly tall with a black silk cloak concealing her form. The hood kept most of her face and head from view as well as whatever color her hair was. The only thing still visible was her haunting green eyes.
"Who are you?" Sesshoumaru asked of her, still watching her form for any sign of movement.
"I am the last of my villages Kunoichi. Many call me Kuroi." She replied, bowing with respect this time.
"The last? There were more females?" Sesshoumaru asked warily.
"For the sake of conversation, let’s say there were. I am the final and last unless I mate and produce a female to carry my family's tradition." She sat before him and bowed her head as if just speaking her family was to be honored.
"Your family carried a line of warriors, ninjas?" He asked also sitting under the moonlight before her.
"It was our way of life. We lived by war, died by war. Some worshiped the swords, others the bow and arrow. Whatever weapon one chose to command, it was his right to live and died by it, nothing more. Our females chose the bow and arrow to preserve the family's on-going line. I was without mother to be taught the safer weapons; my father taught me the sword." She drew the twin swords from their sheaths with grace and laid them before her. "My father's sword and my grandfather’s sword. Passed down through six generations of swordsmanship, ending on me. Fitting way to end our line, with the only female to learn the most dangerous of swords. The double blade has not yet been mastered in my line, I am it's first." She admonished proudly.
Sesshoumaru was silent. What could he say? He knew how it felt to be alone in a sea of faces. He too was the last of his line, well, the last pure blood of his line. InuYasha wasn't fit to even step in the throne room much less sit upon it. Human blood would not taint his family further, he would see to it personally.
Sheathing her swords, she stood. With an angry glance toward the still unconscious form by the trees, she bowed before the sitting Lord, sinking to her knees. "My Lord, in exchange for the lives of my tribesmen I will do whatever you wish of me." She closed her eyes as he stood, but stayed silent.
"You would place yourself at my mercy to save the lives of your tribe. Why?" Sesshoumaru asked curiously. From the way she had spoken to him, he got the impression that she wasn't the kind to do that for anyone. She was a strange female; selfless and strong, she held a courage not found in many females. A woman who could hold her own in battle with skill and knowledge was almost unheard of in the growing age of war and strife. To be female and hold the will of a sword in your hand was power at your fingertips. She was truly one of a kind.
"I live for my family, if living means serving or possibly dying for them I will do it gladly." She stood and took off her hood and tossed away the cloak.
Sesshoumaru's eyes feasted on her form. She was all curves and muscle covered in a form-fitting black gi with silver pads and lined in iced blue. A silver sash sat at her waist holding yet another sword. Her face was round, but pronounced with a white feather lying softly at her forehead and two black stripes lined in silver traced her temples to her cheeks. Her hair was red as fire with two stripes of midnight at her bangs and a darker shade of red framing her cheeks. The hilts of her twin swords peeked out from over her shoulders giving her the presence of a warrior and the respect of a woman.
Starting from her booted feet, to the length of her long legs, along her curved hips and waist, to her chest and slim shoulders, following her graceful neck, and ending at her icy green eyes, Sesshoumaru was mesmerized. She was too beautiful to be a warrior with a warrior's beliefs and skill, yet too strong and held too high of a presence to be anything but a warrior.
"What is your answer?" She asked. Sesshoumaru studied her for any traces of deceit or betrayal. She was sincere in her reasons and in her actions, but what could he do with her?
*You know you could do many things with her...*
'Unlike animals, this Sesshoumaru can find better uses for females.'
*Well, this Sesshoumaru hasn't rut in...How long?*
'A female with her skill can be used for better purposes.' Sesshoumaru insisted.
*We don't care, remember that. You said so yourself, we've been alone without friend or mate since childhood. With her skill and beauty our pups would be the finest, worthy of our blood, worthy to carry our line. Think wisely, with BOTH heads.*
Sesshoumaru chuckled to himself. Looking back to the girl he thought to himself. While his beast was right, the female had to be willing. She had to want him as much as his inner demon wanted her. Unless...
"I will accept your proposal, on one condition." She looked to him with confused eyes, something he found strangely endearing. "You will fight me." He turned to her with a serious face. "If I win you will suffer the fate my inner beast has dictated for you. If you win you will suffer my fate, deal?" He looked to her.
Kuroi blinked. His...inner...beast? She shrugged mentally before nodding physically. "When will I know my fate?"
Sesshoumaru turned from her and started through the underbrush. "When you win..." he looked at her over his shoulder.”...or lose." He turned away and re-began his trek. "We will travel to my palace and hold the battle there before all to see. Along the way you will be tested, should I find what I see unworthy of me, I will slay you myself."
"How will I be tested?" Kuroi asked slipping into the shadows while following his ominous form.
"With my life. I will not make a single move to protect myself from anything we may find along this journey. You will be entrusted with something few have had the privilege of protecting. I'd keep it safe." He blended with the moonlight, not bothering to train his senses on his surroundings. He had more than enough confidence in what he knew of her during the last hour to know she would not disappoint him. The sound of metal against flesh reaffirmed his belief.
"Problems?" Sesshoumaru caught a glimpse of white and a flash of metal before a bloodied, unrecognizable head was dropped at his feet. He looked up before Kuroi's smirking face disappeared into shadow once more.
"Not at all."
"What do I call you?" Sesshoumaru called after her.
"You’re Kuroi."

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