InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Last Phoenix Demon Trilogy Part I: Freedom of the Fire Bird ❯ The Promise ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I only own my original character Sora in this story and the plot for this story. I own nothing else.

Sorry for the long wait. I was sick for two weeks and writer's block didn't help either. I finally got around to updating something. The previous chapters were revised. Thank you for being patient.

My pen name is now Fenikkusu Ice on mediaminer.org, fanfiction.net, and fictionpress.org.

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Rabid-Inu-Girl, Deadly Tears: Thanks! Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the long wait.

Rynnie: Yep! It's a Sora/Sess pairing!

Amai: I thought the idea of a phoenix demon would be interesting since I'm sorta interested in the legend and I thought the fire bird is cool. So yeah that makes my fic more original.

Mediaminer.org

Horse_Gurl: I'm planning on continuing but it would help if more people actually liked this story though. But no worries. Thanks for your support.

`The Last Phoenix Demon Trilogy Part I: Freedom of the Fire Bird'

By Fenikkusu Ice

Chapter 4: The Promise

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`Dream demon. I should have known. Only a demon as weak and cowardly as that one would only fight her in his domain,' she thought as she coughed up more blood.

Yume youkai were demons that were physically weak in real life, but in their domain, which is dreams, they can kill even the strongest demons. They have the power to change anything in a dream, no matter if it is to strengthen their abilities or weaken their targets. The only problem with that was that they had to sleep as well which left them vulnerable to other demons or so she had heard.

It was still dark outside. The position of the moon told her that it was only a few hours past midnight. With her knees shaking a little bit, Sora walked to a nearby lake not even paying attention to the other youkai sitting next to a tree, watching her every move. She bent down and washed the blood from her mouth and face. She winced as she felt the injuries inflicted on her body. Earlier she had rebandaged what she could but it could only help so much. She couldn't heal them completely now. The taiyoukai would be suspicious since he thought that she was a human. The last thing she needed was another youkai chasing after her, especially in her weak state.

`Why is so many after me? What do they want?' she thought. When she lived in her master's village, she was warned by her master to always change her scent to a human's, as if there was not a trace of demon blood inside her body. She could not do that when she was in her demon form however. That was a problem when she was training as a youkai, developing her powers. When she did, the demons would smell her blood and come terrorizing the village. At those times her master and she would dispose of the menace and continue on living their lives. The whole village was afraid of her in the beginning but had gradually come to accept her as a person despite of her origins. There were still many people though who resented her.

Sora crossed her legs and sat near the lake, looking out over the dark horizon where the sun was just starting to peak out. She hadn't realized that she had been sitting there for hours already.

`Just what did those men want? It just didn't make sense. If they hated demons then they would have tried to kill me not having me caged like a wild animal. Why did they ask me those specific questions? What was their goal?' There were still a lot of questions she just couldn't answer. After all those despicable creatures were dead. All she knew was that she had to keep from changing to her other form as of now.

She sighed and made her way back to the campground. Sesshoumaru was already up, watching her with those golden eyes. She returned the gaze but winced inwardly. Sora felt as if his eyes were piercing through her eyes, seeing past all the barriers into the depths of her soul, learning all her secrets. His expressionless face told her nothing of what he could or could not see. His own eyes revealed nothing.

Still holding his gaze, Sora asked, "Well where are we going?"

Sesshoumaru's piercing eyes didn't waver as he replied, "I do not have to answer to you, human." Seeing her eyes flicker with a tinge of red on her stoic expression brought him some satisfaction. "The only reason you're still alive is because you said that you could get the Tetsusaiga." With that said, he made his way into the woods. Sora sighed then went off to gather firewood, assuming that he was going to hunt.

`I'm going to have to leave soon. Very soon. Once I feel strong enough to challenge him.'

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Breakfast proved to be a quiet and uneventful one. Sora kept glaring daggers at Sesshoumaru and he returned the glares, neither one of them trusting the other. After the meal, they continued towards Sesshoumaru's destination with Sora trailing behind him just a few feet away.

Even though he hated to admit it, the human impressed him. They had walked for hours and she hadn't complained once. Turning his head slightly, he could make out a look of determination in her mysterious eyes, hiding all other emotions behind them. She was as good in hiding feelings as he was.

He was unaware that Sora had a reason for hiding her feelings at that very moment. Sora took a glimpse of the taiyoukai before resuming her gaze towards the ground. She couldn't believe that for a second, she actually thought that his silky silver hair was appealing. That lead to other thoughts about his physical appearance such as his beautiful face, his confident stride, his muscular back side. . .

`OK, do NOT go any further,' she said in her mind. What was happening to her? Out of all the eighteen years of her life, she had never paid even that much attention to a guy's looks before. But then again, how many males looked like THAT?

`Besides this is not the time to be ogling,' she almost blushed at the word, `that demon. I have to find those who are responsible for the deaths of everyone I care about.' With that thought completely overpowering her previous one, her amethyst eyes glowing in a narrowed gaze, replacing other emotions with determination.

Her eyes saddened as the thoughts of the deaths of her master, her family, her friends and innocent people entered her mind.

Knowing that Sesshoumaru's eyes were on her, Sora said emotionlessly, "I must return to my master's village."

"That is not your decision to make, human," he replied, repeating her tone of voice.

Without any hesitation, she retorted back, "If you want the Tetsusaiga, then you WILL let me have this ONE request."

His golden eyes flashed as he turned around sharply and came face to face with Sora. Although his face remained as cold as it was before, his eyes were showing a tint of red. Sesshoumaru was trying to hold off his anger as best as he could. The thought of slicing the girl in half was very tempting at the moment, as he was not used to being challenged by a human. Youkai cowered in his presence let alone humans, yet she continued to hold her head up high, not backing up one bit.

What she said was true though. After all the countless battles with Inuyasha, his half-brother, he had -should he say- failed in his attempts to claim the sword that can kill a hundred with one strike. He was now desperate, as much as he hated to admit even to himself, to use any means necessary to get the Tetsusaiga and still maintain his pride and reputation in some way.

Remembering that this girl at least can hold the sword, Sesshoumaru's anger dissipated slightly but enough so that he could control temptation to kill her right here, right now.

Sesshoumaru made sure that he had her full attention by holding her in an intense glare. "Very well, but remember, it is only because I am interested to see how you could actually get the Tetsusaiga." And with that said, he scooped her up by the waist, she letting out a barely audible squeak in surprise.

Sora was surprised to say the least when Sesshoumaru conceded.

While he flew, she pointed out the directions once they were high enough for her to make out familiar territory. Pretty soon, they were landing just outside of her master's village.

Sora's eyes widened in shock, her mouth hanging slightly. She was hoping that the leader of the men who kidnapped her was lying, even though her mind was telling her that he was indeed telling the dreaded truth. The entire village was now a ghost town; the houses were burnt down, now lying in rubbles. People's ashes were spread on the ground. Black remains littered the area with its sickening meaning behind it all. Some of the people's flesh that was not burnt was visible. Some of the weapons that were still there were stained with dried blood.

Sora turned back to Sesshoumaru, giving him a look that warned him not to interfere. He said nothing but stayed where he was standing as she walked further into the village.

She held back the tears that threatening to fall at the sight of the house, the village that had been her home for the past thirteen years. Now the people and her master were dead. She tried to keep her rage in check. `How could they? The woman and children, the men, slaughtered. They did not spare anyone. Have they no shame in their actions? Murderers.'

Her eyes sobered even more as she looked at the exact place where her master had left her his sword and died shortly after. He was all she had left. She now had no one. Her thoughts lead to the events of that fateful day. . .

~Flashback~

Sora trained as usual in the early morning at a clearing about a mile from the village. Her sword glimmered in the sun as swung it again and again at an invisible enemy. Every day she would practice her steps, her body position, and her speed while using her sword. Every day her movements were acceptable to her standards. She was a perfectionist after all. But not today. Today she was strangely distracted.

As a phoenix youkai, a bird demon if you will, she was taught to listen to her instincts, always and to never doubt them. Today she had a gut feeling that something tragic would happen.

Finally after about an hour of training, she gave in to her instincts and ran, using her demon speed, which was something she had used so rarely before.

Her instincts were right.

Already half of the village's men were dead, their bodies spilling blood everywhere. The woman and children were nowhere to be seen but Sora concluded that they were probably seeking shelter in their houses.

The intruders were attired in armor, soldiers perhaps.

Sora wasted no time as she joined the battle, killing five of the intruders in only a few seconds. She wanted so badly to use her demon powers, but she remembered that she had sworn to her master to never reveal of what she really was, and that included the use of her powers in the presence of any other than her master.

Sora gritted her teeth in frustration but she resisted the temptation to slice off their heads with her claws. So far she was only kicking, punching and stabbing with her sword, but to her, she was wasting her time. For every second that she wasted, one more person who she knew fell to their death.

She caught sight of her master as he fought with one of the intruders. At that moment, the leader of the men came behind her master and stabbed him with a knife, right at the stomach.

Sora's violet eyes flashed with red streaks as she witnessed the attack.

The leader had run to fight the other men from her village. She was too far so she did not have a good look at his face. She swore that she would kill him for that attack.

The concealed phoenix demon held her master in her arms, wincing at the blood that spilled from the wound. Her master's eyes opened slightly. His eyes seemed empty as he was obviously disoriented for a second.

There was nothing she could do. The wound was too deep and her youkai sense of smell told her that one of the deadliest poisons was used on that wound.

Apparently her master was not as disoriented as she thought, for he seemed to lose all of his enthusiasm for life, his spirit that she had often found annoying suddenly seemed so much more precious to her.

"Sora," her master said roughly, coughing out blood in the process.

"Shhh, master you have to rest. You'll be find," she said softly, hoping that her voice or her eyes did not reveal her thoughts.

"You don't have to hide the truth from me, Sora," her master coughed out. His eyes rested her hers briefly before turning his head to look at the sword and the sheath strapped to his waist. He had never used that sword before, but it striked her as odd that he did not use the sword during this battle.

He raised the sword in his right hand and Sora took it, holding his hand with her own while her other hand rested at his back, while he lay.

"Sora," her master said, his voice losing audibility with each passing second. "Sora. Take this sword. Leave us and don't look back."

"No. . ." she whispered to him, silently pleading him, but his breath had already left him.

A single tear ran down her cheek.

Suddenly she felt a sharp prick. She ripped the small needle-like device from her neck before she felt disoriented. Her vision was blurry as she whispered, "Sleeping potion," before she collapsed into a deep sleep.

~Flashback End~

Sora pushed away the rubbles of her old house as she searched for her belongings. If she was to find those responsible for so many deaths, she would have to fight.

-------

A few hours later, after praying for everybody she knew and for the innocent people who have lost their lives, Sora, now changed in her clothes that had survived the fire, found herself walking where she and Sesshoumaru had been. The taiyoukai was not there.

Sora had attached her master's sword to her belt and she held her own sword, the one that she used to train every day in her hand.

She turned around and stabbed her own sword to the ground and tied the red sash she had always carried as a child around it. She kneeled and prayed, remembering all the people in this village. Thoughts of all the things her master had done for her, treated her as if she was of his own blood flashed in her head. He, like all of the people in the village did not deserve death, far from it.

Her amethyst became a blood red, her mind filled with rage and anger.

She managed to calm herself down, knowing that she had to take control before she completely became insane with rage.

She closed her eyes briefly before revealing her amethyst eyes, sparkling with new hope and determination, glowing with fire in her irises. Her fists were clenched, showing white knuckles.

"I promise, I swear with all of my being that I will avenge you, my master, my family, my friends. I will kill those who are responsible for your deaths and pain. They will suffer. This I promise you or my name isn't Sora."

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It's longer than usual to make up for lost time. So what do you think? Please read and review!

Till next time,

Fenikkusu Ice