InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tales Of My Kin ❯ Protection From A Shadow ( Chapter 2 )

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

Over the course of the trip Sesshoumaru neither stopped his pace nor had to deal with nuisances. The only indication he had of his Kuroi's battles was the occasional bloodied appendage or distant sounds of battle. He did however stop to refresh himself with nourishments and a hot bath and each time she would disappear. Her youki signature, scent, and the presence he'd grown so used to would vanish. When he would resume his journey, she'd be waiting for him ahead of him.
Sesshoumaru paused in his steps. He scented his surroundings and searched the forest with his youki. He growled lowly. "Kuroi." He called. When he received no answer his growl increased in volume. "Woman, answer me."
Kuroi appeared before him with bloodied swords drawn and a gash along her thigh and right shoulder. Her eyes were ablaze and she was panting heavily. "What?" She gritted out with anger.
"What is going on?" He demanded of her. She glared harder.
"Nothing I can't handle. Resume your travel." She turned from him only to have him grab her shoulder and spin her back around.
"Do not presume to order me wench! Now tell me what the problem is." He growled at her with anger.
"A rather large and powerful demon intercepted me as I was scouting ahead. It was as if he was waiting for me...During battle he made the notion of another demon coming to deal with you. I had no doubts as to your abilities, but we have a deal." She was angered, that much was true.
"Our agreement is hereby cancelled for the time being. I want all demons off my Lands." Sesshoumaru spat as he drew Toukijin and disappeared after his Kuroi.
Sesshoumaru stopped in a clearing ahead of him. There were two of them, a snake and a kamakiri both were waiting for him further ahead. He turned to his surroundings with searching eyes. He sighed audibly. "Must you do that?"
His Kuroi's haunting green eyes sparkled from the darkness before him. "Of course my Lord. How else should one named for darkness move but with it? Besides this way I can move undetected to all but you." She stepped from the shadow and smirked while crossing her arms over her chest. "Do you not approve?"
Sesshoumaru looked her over and smiled evilly, a smile she should fear as he stepped toward her. Her eyes cleared a little of her cockiness but still retained their arrogant shine as he stopped before her. He looked her over once more before leaning toward her. He watched as her eyes became panicked and she stepped back a few paces. He grabbed her arms and held her steady as he leaned further, but side tracked at the last moment. He placed his lips next to her ear and whispered deeply, "Oh I do...very much so."
"Are we interrupting something, my Lord?" A sleek voice asked from behind Sesshoumaru. He turned to find the youkai he was hunting behind him and his Kuroi. He looked to his Kuroi in time to see her growl before she disappeared.
"Not at all. We were just discussing your deaths." Sesshoumaru drew Toukijin and waited for the intruders to move, getting a good look at them. The snake was covered in blackened scales from its forearms to it's fingertips as well as from it's thighs to its feet. His eyes were brown with orange pupils and a scar ran across his face from his temple to his chin. His clothes were blue, the signature dress of the famous Nobushi. The kamakiri beside him was covered in natural green armor and his gray eyes were narrowed in distaste. He too was garbed in the traditional dress of the Nobushi, but in green. Both of them held swords at their waists, but the kamakiri held a bow in his hands as well as a quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder.
"My Lord, forgive our intrusion upon your lands. We have been sent to kill you." The snake said with a bow.
Sesshoumaru smirked at the audacity of the Nobushi. "Very well." His Kuroi reappeared beside him and drew her double swords.
"Your wench protects you?" The snake asked, surprised. Sesshoumaru opened his mouth to speak, but his Kuroi beat him to it.
"His Kunoichi protects him, I am no wench." Kuroi hissed before disappearing. She watched from the shadows as more words were exchanged before heading for the snake first. She wanted to slit his throat first for the comment. She melded with the shadow behind him bringing her blade up like lightning to cut his head clear off. He fell to his knees before falling forward, his head rolling off his neck to rest at Sesshoumaru's feet.
The kamakiri raised his bow and drew an arrow; he notched an arrow and released it. The arrow sped toward Sesshoumaru, but a small dagger intercepted the projectile and it was flung into a tree. Sesshoumaru watched the action with barely leashed interest and wonder. She was good. The kamakiri repeated the action several times before Sesshoumaru grew bored. "Dispose of him; I grow tired of this play." Sesshoumaru turned away from the youkai and started to walk back the way he came. The sound of a body dropping met his ears before he tuned his senses to the road ahead of him.
Several miles from his palace Sesshoumaru called to his Kuroi. She appeared before him this time in person, her clothes still torn but the wounds healed. "What is your real name? I cannot very well keep calling you my Kuroi." She cocked her head to the side.
"My Lord, I am Kuroi. My real name means nothing to you or to me. Call me darkness for that is all I am." She said with a sorrowed face.
"For the time being I will continue with the name, but you will tell me your real name." Leaving no room for arguments, Sesshoumaru resumed his trek toward his palace.
Kuroi looked after him before sighing. This wasn't going the way she had planned; she wanted to just do as requested of her and return to her village. But it seemed he didn't want her to return. She slowly trailed after him, not bothering to expend energy to meld with the shadows. She observed the forest around her while keeping her senses on anything within twenty feet of her that moved. Not bothering to hide her emotions, she sighed loudly and followed after the Lord in front of her.
Sesshoumaru listened to her sigh as he walked to his palace gates. What could be so bad about her name that not even she would care to say it? He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She seemed so peaceful in the forest surroundings. But when she melded with shadows she was simply irresistible...
*I'm glad you're being honest for once....* Sesshoumaru growled lowly at his inner beast.
'I am simply attracted to her power, nothing more.'
*...so...you're saying that you might taste her...?*
Sesshoumaru almost smirked. 'Perhaps.' He did smirk at his beast's elation.
Kuroi gasped at the vision before her. The white gates were tall and wide with twin statues of howling dogs atop the towers on both sides of the gate. The iron gates opened without prompting for her and the Lord. Now at her feet, the courtyard was covered in wisteria blossoms and a pebbled walkway led her to a water fountain in the middle of the beauty. It was a white marble inu youkai standing over fallen enemies with its head thrown back and its jaws open to a howl of victory, the water ran from its parted jaws and down its body to the pool beneath it. Walking around the fountain, the walkway led her further to a doorway. It was as white as the walls of the castle that held the inside.
Sesshoumaru led her inside, paying careful attention to her aura. It would warm and expand with each thing she saw and her eyes would light upon every little detail that he had personally added since his father's death. He watched as a small smile made its way onto her face as he took her through the foyer to the Western Halls.
The walls were adorned with the occasion battle scene or portrait as well as some masterpieces he had acquired along his travels. The floors were dark green marble and the walls were painted white. He took her to one of only two doors in the hall and stopped before the first he door he came to, the other about thirty feet further down from the first.
"This is where you will stay during your time here. The battle will be held in two days, it will give you time to prepare for your wounds." He smirked at her slow-rising anger. He opened the door and let her walk inside.
Kuroi resisted the urge to gasp. The room was done in soothing blue hues and silver. The wall was a midnight blue with a simple blue rug covering the floor. The furniture was done in stained cherry wood as well as the canopy bed. It was high off the floor in a western style she had only seen a few times in the richer houses. It was covered in a blue close to the walls, but a shade or two lighter and trimmed in silver. Silver, blue, and black pillows lined the head of the bed. A glass door opened out to a balcony with lounge chairs and a table and a bench against the far wall. Kuroi could imagine herself curling up against the wall with a book before sunset. A small emblem engraved into the headboard on the bed made her pause. It was a crescent moon...!
"You're putting me in the Lady's room?!" Kuroi yelled turning to face Sesshoumaru.
"Yes, is it a problem?" He smirked to himself as she looked around as if she was unwelcome.
"I am not the Lady of this house or anywhere near worthy for the title. Why not house an actual Lady here instead of me?" she asked. Sesshoumaru saw his chance and stepped to her. He curled two fingers under her chin and brought her head up to look into her eyes.
"If there were a Lady to house she'd be here. You are here instead." He watched her swallow hard and try to back away. He held her firm and went in for the kill, his lips settled over hers and he watched her eyes close very slowly, but she remained tense.
Kuroi stared at her closed eye lids in panic. Her body tightened even further as Sesshoumaru's tongue came out to coax her mouth open. Suddenly a taught cord was snapped and she growled. Her claws lengthened to talons and sunk into his waist as feathers scattered throughout her hair. Her eyes narrowed and her talons sank further under his skin as two white wings burst from her shoulder blades. She opened her mouth and kissed him feverishly before pulling him from her. She glared at his cold eyes and pulled her talons from his waist.
"Do not try to bed something you're not ready for, Lord. Leave me." She turned from him and flung the blood from her talons.
Sesshoumaru growled in silent fury as she turned from him. He watched his blood spatter on the floor and glared harder as red bled into his eyes. Realizing the mistake if he were to charge her now, Sesshoumaru turned and left the room. He walked to his study and started on the pile of paperwork waiting for him.

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