InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Lucky Ones ❯ Chapter Twenty-Four ( Chapter 24 )

The Lucky Ones

By Terri Botta

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Sole copyright belongs to Viz and Rumiko Takashi. I'm poor so don't sue.

Rating: R for later chapters.

Pairing: Inuyasha/Kagome, Miroku/Sango

Summary: Sometimes Fate hands you a gift you never thought you'd ever get, and it's up to you to accept it for what it is.

Email feedback to: tci100@psu.edu

Webpage: http://www.wordsmiths.net/Botta

A/N: I'm getting a bunch of comments about breastfeeding as birth control. Yes, breastfeeding women don't usually ovulate but only if 1) they feed on demand every 4 hours and no longer than 6 hours at night with no other supplemental feeding, the infant is less than 6 months old, and the woman had not resumed menstruating. The conditions for this type of birth control are very specific, and while 98% effective while in effect, it is unreliable because it is very easy to break the conditions and once a woman starts menstruating again, all bets are off. I know of at least 2 women who have had "Oops, but I was breastfeeding" babies. Kagome does not meet these requirements for a number of reasons, therefore she would not be protected.

Please see:

http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/html/breastfeeding_and_birth _control.htm

For more information.

Glossary of terms used in this chapter:

Geta- sandals
Hei- low-roofed defensive walls of a castle.
Yagura- `arrow house'- housed weapons and soldiers.
Tenshu- main keep or tower of the castle
Honmaru- innermost bailey of a castle (where the Tenshu is located)
Ninomaru- second bailey
Sannomaru- third and outermost bailey

This information about Feudal Japanese castles was found at:

http://library.thinkquest.org/C001119/defense/parse.php3

And lastly, Kristin's done it again! Another awesome Lucky Ones pic. Go to http://www.kristinsstudio.com and click on Gallery then Inuyasha.

Okay, I'll shut up now and let you find out what I did to poor Fluffy.

********

Chapter Twenty-Four

It had been so long since he had traveled unfettered that he'd forgotten what it was like. The ground was a green blur beneath him as he ran, leaping from tree top to tree top, the sky an endless sea of white-capped blue. It struck him as odd that he actually noticed stuff like the green and the blue when before he couldn't care less what the land around him looked like. He blamed Kagome's influence. The woman was always pointing out how lovely this field looked or how nice the view was or some such female nonsense about trees and flowers and the weather, but when he finally reached the outskirts of the Western Lands two days later, he had to admit that it was beautiful.

The weather was warm with autumn coming late to the temperate land, and he remembered well the long sunny days and mild winters of his brief childhood. One of the first things he had done once he was self-sufficient was leave the Western Lands behind with a vow never to return. He hadn't kept that vow, of course. Shard hunts had brought him there a number of times over the years, but he never went there unless he had a reason, and he always avoided his father's stronghold. He had nothing but painful memories of the great house on the coast. It was there that Sesshoumaru brought him after his mother had died, it was there that he learned what it meant to be a hanyou among youkai, it was there he had spent some of the most painful and sad years of his young life. He hated that place more than he hated any other place in the whole of Nihon. And now he was willingly going back there. He knew he must be insane.

Two days into his trip, he began noticing signs of invasion. Villages were damaged, rice fields destroyed, and the signs and scents of recent violence and death tainted the normally sweet wind. On the morning of the third day, he stopped in one small village that seemed to have been severely affected. All of their fields had been decimated.

`Fucking bastards. These people will starve if they can't replace the food before the growing season ends.'

He saw one rice field that had had all of its banks destroyed and the precious water needed to grow the rice had run off.

`Damnit.'

He was staring at the destruction when he heard a noise behind him. He turned to see a group of peasant women, all looking wan and weary, staring at him with fear and hope in their eyes. They regarded each other for several long moments then one of the youngest ones ran forward and threw herself at his feet.

`What the?'

"Inugami-sama! Inugami-sama, please help us!" she begged. "Our fields are destroyed and our oxen driven off. All of our men are gone and not returned. We are defenseless and helpless."

Another of the women, looking older with earth-stained hands and a worn face, came to try to drag the woman away.

"Hitomi, come away. Do not trouble the lord with our petty problems…"

`Petty problems? Woman, your fields are destroyed and you're all going to starve if you don't do something! Where the fuck is my brother? Not even he would have let this go unanswered!'

"Get up," he ordered, crossing his arms over his chest.

Both women scrambled to their feet, bowing and trembling.

"Forgive her, my lord. She is young and unused to hardship…"

"What happened here?" he demanded.

"An army, my lord. A terrible army came. They raided the village. They took our food and our able bodied men…" the older one replied, her eyes down in respect.

"They took everything! The food, our men, and our beasts! Then youkai came and destroyed the fields! We have nothing left! We will all starve!" the young one sobbed.

"Where is this army now?"

"It marched West, my lord, to make war upon the Great Lord," the older woman answered, eyes still down.

"How long ago was this?"

"Nigh on two moons, my lord."

`Two moons… Shit. Something must have happened to Sesshoumaru… Fuck!'

"Have you heard news of the army's success?" he asked carefully.

"A man coming from the coast said the army was routed and survivors were fleeing. He said several villages had been attacked and burned by soldiers and youkai running away from the Great Lord," the young one blurted.

`So Sesshoumaru did rout the army. But if that's true, why isn't he seeing to his people? He always took his responsibilities seriously. Even if he himself didn't see to it, he had seneschals and underlings who would.'

"And what news of the Lord?"

The older one ventured a brief glance, but dropped her eyes immediately when he looked at her.

"Rumor has it that the Great Lord retreated into his castle after the last battle and has not been seen since."

`So was he wounded? Did he rout the army then die? What the fuck is going on here?!'

"If your men have not returned, you will have to fix your fields yourselves," he told them. "You said the army took your beasts?"

The older woman nodded while the younger began to cry. "What ones they could catch. We freed as many as we could before the soldiers could take them and chased them into the forests, but many were eaten and those that are left are too smart for us to catch."

He sighed. `I don't have time for this, but if I don't help these people, they'll starve. Kagome will understand. She'd want me to help them.'

"Alright. I will find and catch your beasts, and help you repair your rice fields. After that, the rest will be up to you."

The young one collapsed, sobbing in relief. Even the older one bowed more deeply and he could smell tears on her face.

"Thank you, my lord."

"Gather your women and your tools. How many beasts am I looking for?"

"Only two or three are left, my lord, and we have seen them in the lower forest."

"Miyu tried to catch one this morning, but it got away," the young one added.

He grunted that he understood and set off to catch the oxen. There turned out to be three and a half because one had dropped a calf. He grabbed them by their horns and dragged them, mooing loudly, to a corral the women had hastily prepared. The calf he just picked up and tossed in, figuring it would know which one was its mother.

With the oxen corralled, he turned his attention to the fields. His first priority was to repair the rice paddies, and he rolled up his haori sleeves, pulled back his hair, and set to work on the ruptured banks. About twenty women came to help him, packing the earth he dug up with his claws into the holes. It was slow work, even for him, and he did not finish before late afternoon.

Afterwards, he went into the village at the head woman's insistence. There he found a number of other women who were either too old or left caring for young pups to help in the fields. All of them looked tired and hungry, and the pups were too thin, their eyes haunted and sad. He knew he didn't have enough Ninja food to feed them all, but he gave them what he had and showed them how to make it.

`It'll be enough to feed the pups, and I thought I smelled a couple of boars in the forest. I can catch them and they'll feed the women.'

Not one to rest while there was still work to be done, and driven by an unspoken need to right the wrongs left behind by the army, he went into the forest to hunt. He brought back three boars, a stag, and an armful of rabbits and ground birds. If the women rationed the food, it would be enough to feed them for several days.

"Inugami-sama, please," one of the women begged. "You have worked all day in the heat and not stopped to rest or eat. Please, rest with us. We will prepare you a meal and draw you a bath."

"Keh, don't waste your food on me. I'm fine." But he knew he wasn't fine. He'd been traveling non-stop for over two days, and had spent the afternoon working hard. He was exhausted, filthy, and starving, but he wasn't about to take food he knew these women didn't have.

`Plenty of fish in the streams…'

"We insist, my lord. You gave us your magic food to feed the children and brought us all of this game. Please allow us to show you our gratitude. We have little to offer, but what we have we have to share. You have saved our lives with your help today. We must do something for you," the headwoman pleaded.

He sighed heavily, but gave in, if only for the bath and a few hours of sleep. They guided him to a hut that contained a large wooden tub and filled it with hot water. One woman offered to take his clothes, giving him a white yukata to change into, and two offered to stay and `wash his back.' He refused, a little harshly, but he was tired and hungry.

`And sweaty and lonely. Kagome. I miss you so much. I see these women and they need so much that I can't give them. If you were here, you'd be out there comforting them and using your medicine. I'm no good at any of this.'

"Please forgive them, my lord," the headwoman said, making the trembling girls leave.

"I'm sorry. I've been traveling a long time and I'm tired. It makes me cranky. Besides, I already have someone who is special to me and we have a pup. I would never betray her."

The headwoman nodded. "The fidelity of your kind is well known, my lord. Inu-youkai mate for life, and nothing but death can sway them from their bond."

`Mate for life? Yes, we do. But Kagome's life will be much shorter than mine. I'll have barely reached middle age when she is an old woman. There will come a time when I'll have to live without her,' he thought sadly.

He moved behind a paper screen and disrobed, putting on the yukata. When he came out, the headwoman bowed deeply.

"Do you wish your clothes to be washed and mended?"

"No. My clothes are special and linked to my youki. They will mend and clean themselves."

"Remarkable clothes."

He grunted and looked at the bath. Soap, rinse water, towels, a bathing brush on a long handle, and a bathing stool had been put out for him.

`No `shampoo' though. That's something from Kagome's time.'

"Is there anything else you require?"

"Privacy."

"As you wish, my lord," the headwoman answered and backed out of the hut, still bowing.

Sitting on the stool, he dropped the yukata and scrubbed his body clean, then he rinsed with the rinse water and got into the large tub for a long soak. He almost fell asleep in the hot water, but noise from outside the hut roused him and he let out a warning growl loud enough for the intruders to hear.

"Don't even think about coming in here!" he snarled, using one of Kagome's `modern' terms.

There were frightened squeals and the sound of running feet, then the sound of the headwoman scolding the girls as she caught them fleeing the scene of the crime. He waited a few more minutes until he was certain no one else was planning to peep before getting out of the tub, drying off and dressing in his clothes. When he was ready, he stepped out of the hut and the headwoman, who had been waiting for him at the entrance of a hut across the way, came over to guide him to his meal and rest.

The food was a meager supper of boiled roots and gathered vegetables. One of the ground birds he had killed had also been de-boned and the meat roasted on spits. He ate only the bare minimum required for politeness' sake, knowing that none of it would go to waste if he left it, then asked to be shown where he could sleep.

"Please pardon my forwardness my lord, but are you any relation to our Great Lord?" the headwoman asked as he was led to yet another hut that had been prepared for him.

"Sesshoumaru is my half-brother," he replied, deliberately leaving off the term of respect.

"Your half-brother? Then you are…"

"A hanyou. Yes."

He waited for her disgust and hatred, but it did not come. Instead, she lowered her gaze and nodded.

"Years ago my father told me a legend passed to him by his father of a younger brother to the Great Lord who had been cast out."

He snorted. "Cast out? I left, woman. No one cast me out."

"He said there were rumors that the rejected brother would one day return with an army to steal the Great Lord's lands."

"Is that so? Sounds just like my brother's pansy-assed seneschals."

"I must admit, when the army came I feared it was the legend coming true, but their leader was a human; a man who called himself Takasho Nimori."

`Hmmph, never heard of him.'

He nodded. "Sesshoumaru said it was a human army that threatened him."

"Not just human. Before the army came, a man passing through on his way to the coast warned us that he had heard tale of the Great Lord's marshal betraying him."

`So that's what Sesshoumaru meant when he said not of all his subjects were trustworthy. I feel sorry for anyone who dares to betray my brother. He'd rend them limb from limb then leave them alive just to suffer.'

"My lord, have you returned for good?" the headwoman asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"No. I just came to check on my brother. I live in Musashi country now."

"Musashi? You have come a long way."

"More than 200 ri and I have further to go before I reach my brother's castle."

They stopped outside of the hut and he turned to her. "I'll rest for a while then go. No one is to bother me."

The headwoman bowed. "I will see that your wishes are obeyed, my lord. You have been so kind to us. It is the least we can do."

"Thank you. I'll try to come back on my way home to let you know what's happening, and if any of your men are coming home."

The headwoman took his hands and kissed them. "Thank you, my lord."

He nodded to her then entered the hut, making sure the reed door fell closed behind him. A little fire had been lit in the pit, and a futon with fresh bedding had been laid out for him. Seeing the sleeping space, his heart ached and he wished for a cozy den that smelled of fresh hay and Kagome.

`Kagome. I wish you were here. I don't know if I can sleep alone anymore.'

He didn't bother with the futon, but sat with his back to the far wall, Tessaiga resting against his shoulder. Sleep came slowly, but it did come because his body desperately needed it. He slept lightly for only four or five hours, but it was enough for his hanyou body to `recharge its batteries' as Kagome would say.

It was the middle of the night when he emerged from the hut and the village was quiet and still. He caught two night hares and left them in the hut as an offering for their hospitality, then moved to continue on his journey to the Great House.

`Hell if I know what I'm going to find there.'

********

Morning dawned on the forth day and found him less than 20 ri away from the coast. He'd stopped again to wait for dawn because he wanted to see clearly. Now he was regretting that decision.

The human army had trampled the land in one huge swath that looked like a massive road leveled by hundreds of feet, all leading to his father's House. Any village in its path was ransacked, then attacked by the youkai that followed the army, feeding on the dead and the dying. Over and over he saw the same plight of the people as he had seen in the little village the day before: women left behind, men conscripted to fight, fields decimated and pups starving. And no one had heard a word of the Great Lord. They knew the army had been defeated, the human leader killed, and the remaining soldiers were running for their lives, but of the Great Lord, they knew nothing.

And everywhere, the rabble of the youkai world- the carrion eaters- wreaked havoc on the countryside. The bastards actually had the audacity to challenge him; to call him `filthy, weak hanyou' and try to kill him. They were pathetic excuses for youkai and he didn't even bother to soil Tessaiga with their blood. By the time he reached the familiar coastline, he was worried, pissed off and fed up.

`Sesshoumaru, you asshole. You'd better be dead, because if you're not and aren't gravely wounded, I'm killing you myself!'

The worst damage was just outside the walls of the Great House. Bordered by the sea on one side, and sheer cliffs on two others, the only way to lay siege to it was from the north side. It looked like the army had attempted to breach the first defensive walls but that was the furthest they got. Parts of the hei had been burned in what was an obvious effort to use fire to burn the Great House down, but that was the only damage the castle sustained.

`Stupid assholes. You think a taiyoukai's castle would be vulnerable to fire? Were you guys complete idiots?'

The long barren plain approaching the castle was a scorched graveyard of hundreds of human skeletons that were picked clean by the carrion-eaters. Bones and bits of hair and armor were scattered all over the hard, blackened ground, and everywhere the scent of blood and death lingered. What disturbed him most, however, were the remains of a huge cremation pyre just outside the Great House's main gates. The bones here were not human, but youkai- and not lowlife youkai either. Judging by the scraps of armor and clothing that had escaped total incineration, the bodies appeared to be some of Sesshoumaru's seneschals.

`He killed his own seneschals? What the fuck is going on here?! These were the ones left in charge when he went off hunting Naraku! Why the fuck would he kill them?'

The last body answered some questions. It was what was left of Sesshoumaru's Lord Marshal. Not even the carrion-eaters had dared to touch the corpse of the inu-youkai who had been dismembered, flayed open and nailed to a massive tree trunk that had been forcibly rammed into the ground directly in front of the gates. All four limbs had been removed, the rib cage cracked apart and the abdomen sliced open. The body was contorted in agony, the sightless skull frozen in a horrible scream.

`Looks like someone disemboweled him then injected him with poison. He was dissolved alive from the inside out and there was fuck all he could do about it because his arms and legs were ripped off,' he thought, holding his nose to block out the stench of rotted flesh and the remnants of his brother's poison claws. `Whatever you did, you must have really pissed Sesshoumaru off. Were the rumors true that you betrayed my brother? If they were, it looks like he went easy on you.'

With no small amount of trepidation, he moved around the tree with its grotesque warning, and scaled the gates and inner walls to reach the honmaru. Once inside the inner circle, he noticed the complete lack of life. Where normally the Great House would have its youkai retainers, staff and defenders, now there wasn't a hint of activity. The tenshu was deserted and in a terrible state of neglect. Parts of it looked smashed and blown away, and two of the yagura had been destroyed.

`Not quite deserted…' he thought, catching a familiar scent and heading for it.

He found Jaken huddled outside the closed shoji of the Great Hall. The little toad looked shell-shocked and was staring off into space.

"Oi. Toad," he said, making Jaken nearly jump out of his skin.

"Inuyasha?!" the small youkai exclaimed.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

Jaken focused on him and stared at him for a long time, then the little toad ran to him and threw himself at his feet.

"Inuyasha-sama!"

"Eh?" `What is it with people throwing themselves at my feet? And the toad has never called me Inuyasha-sama!' A cold feeling of dread filled him. `Does this mean that Sesshoumaru... NO! There's no body! And everyone I've talked to said that Sesshoumaru defeated the army. He can't be dead!'

He kicked Jaken lightly. "Get up and tell me what the fuck is going on here! Where is my brother!?"

Jaken sat up, his huge eyes watery, his small body trembling. "Sesshoumaru-sama lies within," he replied, pointing to the closed doors.

He snorted and moved to open the doors but Jaken stopped him

"You must not! He will kill you if you approach him. He's killed anyone who has tried. He even attacked this Jaken, his faithful servant for over a hundred years!"

`So he is still alive. Phew.'

He sat down cross-legged in front of the toad. "Tell me what the fuck happened here."

Tears spilled out of Jaken's eyes. "It was horrible. At first it was just Sesshoumaru-sama defeating that insolent human and his pathetic army. Jaken fought by his side and Sesshoumaru-sama laid waste to them in a day. He left the bodies to rot as a warning to any others who might try to come after or seek revenge. He hunted the stragglers and struck them down as well. Then he returned to the House. I thought we would have a celebration to commemorate his swift victory, but he came back with murder in his eyes."

Jaken shuddered at the memory. "Long we had suspected that there was a betrayer. The army had magical wards to protect them and hide them from detection, and they had been granted passage across the country in Sesshoumaru-sama's absence. When Sesshoumaru-sama returned from hunting the last of the human rabble, he knew that the betrayer was Manshirou, his own Lord Marshal! He attacked and their battle was terrible!"

"Was Sesshoumaru wounded?" he interrupted.

Jaken shook his head. "Not seriously. Tenseiga protected him from the worst of it."

"So he fought Manshirou here. That's how the yagura got blown up?"

Jaken nodded. "But I haven't told you the most horrible part. Manshirou had conspired with that hated Naraku to plot Sesshoumaru-sama's death!"

"WHAT?!"

The toad nodded again, furiously. "It would seem he was hoping Sesshoumaru-sama would be defeated by Naraku and then he would seize the Western Lands, but Sesshoumaru-sama would never lose to a lowly hanyou!"

He winced but ignored the insult.

"When Sesshoumaru-sama defeated Naraku, Manshirou plotted to kill Sesshoumaru-sama himself!"

"Oi! I defeated Naraku!"

"Never! I witnessed it myself! Sesshoumaru-sama dealt the killing blow!"

He whacked the toad on the head. "You were too busy hiding behind that two-headed dragonet with Rin to see me destroy Naraku with my Tessaiga, you coward!"

"It's not true!"

He grabbed Jaken and shook him, then realized if he killed the toad, he'd never find out what happened. He threw him roughly to the floor and pulled Tessaiga.

"Tell me what happened next."

Jaken began to shake violently, but not with fear of Tessaiga. "Sesshoumaru-sama defeated Manshirou and began to mete out punishment. He dismembered Manshirou and skewered him to a tree..."

"I saw what he did," he interrupted.

Jaken shook his head. "No... you don't understand. Sesshoumaru-sama used Tenseiga on him to... to..."

`He can't be serious! He didn't... He didn't! Not even my brother would do such a thing!'

"Don't tell me he used Tenseiga to revive him then kill him again!"

Trembling even more, Jaken nodded. "He did it twice before Tenseiga rejected him."

`Tenseiga rejected my brother?'

"He threw his father's sword away and then... he went mad."

"Went mad?"

Jaken nodded. "He drew Toukijin and began killing. Manshirou had conspirators, and he killed those first, but then he moved on to anyone who was in his path: servants, courtiers... anyone who dared to come near him. Most deserted him and escaped with their lives; the rest he burned."

`The cremation pyre of youkai bones...'

"At first I thought Toukijin had taken him over the way it did Kaijinbou, but Sesshoumaru-sama's eyes were clear and he spoke with his own voice. I ran and hid, but I would not abandon my lord, so I waited until it was all over. Sesshoumaru-sama had retreated into the Great Hall. A few of the servants who remained faithful to him tried to reach him, but he struck them down. Their bodies lie within. I tried, but he struck at my voice and barely missed. The rest left, fleeing this place, but I remained behind. He's... been in there ever since."

He sighed, his heart heavy, and sheathed Tessaiga. Then he stood and looked at the closed shoji.

"I will deal with Sesshoumaru." `What can I do if he's gone crazy?'

Jaken stood and grabbed his haori sleeve. "You must not. If Sesshoumaru-sama is not fit to rule, then you are rightfully the new lord! If Sesshoumaru-sama kills you, the Western Lands will fall into the hands of the rabble!"

"Bah! I don't want these lands. You've said it yourself. I'm a lowly hanyou. The inu-youkai would never accept me as their leader."

`What was it that pushed him over the edge? Was it Tenseiga's rejection? If the sword accepted him again, would he return to reason?'

"Where is Tenseiga now, Jaken?"

Jaken turned and led the way out of the house. The sword was lying by the garden next to the partially decomposed body of the two-headed dragonet.

"Ah-Un was killed during the fight between Sesshoumaru-sama and Manshirou," Jaken explained sadly. "Rin will be so sad. She was very fond of Ah-Un."

"Sesshoumaru brought Rin to us before the fight."

Jaken nodded. "I know. We discovered a plot to steal her, and Sesshoumaru brought her to you to keep her out of danger."

`So that's why he needed me to keep an eye on the kid!'

"I am very glad she was not here to see what happened. She would not have run away and she would certainly have been killed."

`Maybe... or maybe that girl could have been for Sesshoumaru what Kagome is for me: a reminder of my heart.'

Nodding, he approached Tenseiga and knelt before the sword. He knew both this sword and his own had sentience, and chose their masters carefully.

`Tenseiga, you rejected Sesshoumaru because he used you for evil and dishonored Oyaji, didn't you?'

He took Tessaiga out of its sheath and placed it beside its twin.

`Tenseiga, Tessaiga: forged from Oyaji's fangs until Tessaiga was broken and repaired with mine, but still Oyaji's fang lives in my blade. Tenseiga, great sword of healing, will you help me for a short time?' he addressed respectfully.

Slowly, he reached for the hilt, his hand shaking slightly.

`Will you reject me as Tessaiga rejects Sesshoumaru?'

His hand closed on the hilt and there was a long, tense moment, then Tenseiga pulsed twice in his hand and transformed, the blade beginning to glow with an unearthly blue light. He breathed a sigh of relief.

`Thank you, Tenseiga.'

With his free hand, he picked up Tessaiga and put it back in its sheath. Then he stood and moved to walk away, but Tenseiga pulsed again.

`What is it?'

He saw shadows moving in his peripheral vision, and looked at the body of Ah-Un. In the light cast by the sword he thought he saw... little ghouls picking at the corpse.

`What are those things? Are... are they what Sesshoumaru strikes at when he uses Tenseiga? Will it even work after the body has been dead all this time?'

Tenseiga pulsed again and he felt the pull. `I guess so. Okay then, it's obvious what you want, so here goes...'

Swinging the blade, he struck at the ghouls and killed them. They disappeared with little shrieks and the moment they did, Ah-Un's body healed and became whole again.

`Wow.'

He looked at Jaken, who was sputtering with shock.

"Inuyasha-sama..."

Behind him, Ah-Un groaned and began to struggle to stand.

"Toad, stay with the dragonet. I'm going to bring my brother back his sword."

Jaken bowed and did as ordered, staying with the newly revived dragonet while he went back into the house. Steeling his nerve, he marched to the Great Hall and threw open the shoji.

"Oi! Sesshoumaru, you asshole! What the fuck do you think you're..." He stopped because the hall was empty except for the rotting bodies of three servants. `What the fuck? He's not here?'

A breeze from behind the main throne brought his brother's scent to him and he crossed the room, moving behind a separating screen to find a portion of the outer wall slid open to the sea. The covered walkway looked out over the cliffs and the crashing waves below.

Moving out of the house to the narrow gangway, he turned and saw Sesshoumaru at the end of the corridor. His brother was slumped against the side of the house, staring out at the sea. Physically, he did not seem harmed, but the look on his face froze Inuyasha to the core.

"Oi! Sesshoumaru!" he began, making his way over.

Sesshoumaru moved almost too fast to see. Toukijin was out and striking, a blast of power flying his way. Instinctively, he raised his hands to protect himself, blocking the blow with Tenseiga. The sword pulsed and deflected the blast, sending the energy careening harmlessly off into the air.

`Tensegia...' "Keh! Nice try," he taunted.

Sesshoumaru glared at him from the corner of his eye. He hadn't moved from his spot on the gangway floor.

"So Tenseiga chooses its new master. A worthless half-breed. Take that useless thing and go," the inu-youkai ordered, hate in his voice.

"Feh! Not hardly. Like I'd want your sword. It just wanted me to come in here and kick some sense into your stupid ass."

Sesshoumaru struck again, and again he blocked with Tenseiga.

"Insolent whelp!"

"You're one to talk! I'm not the one sitting here staring at fucking seagulls while your lands fall apart!"

"What do I care for these lands?! They are full of worthless humans and traitors!"

The youkai lord flew to his feet and rushed at him, Toukijin slashing. He leapt back, almost hitting his head on the roof of the walkway and blocked with Tenseiga. Tenseiga pulsed and let out a burst of energy every time the demon sword hit it as Sesshoumaru tried to cut his brother.

`Shit! He's fucking nuts!' he thought as he was pushed back again. Tenseiga continued to protect him and he did nothing offensive towards his brother, merely defended and trusted in his father's fang.

"They're yours! Oyaji left them to you! You always took care of them! You said it was your duty as Oyaji's heir. You never got involved in the humans' petty disputes and you didn't dispense Law, but you made sure they weren't starving or being slaughtered."

"They are the scum that rose against me!"

"That bastard Takasho Nimori wasn't from here! He was a foreigner who stole men from the villages and forced them to fight if they wanted to protect their families! Half of them didn't even know you were back and thought they were fighting Manshirou!"

"You will not say that cursed name in my presence, hanyou!"

Blades clashed and he held his ground, gritting his teeth and meeting Sesshoumaru's furious glare.

"I came all the way here because you left your brat with me, and she was pining for you so much that she wouldn't fucking shut up! I find villages burned, fields destroyed, women and pups starving, carrion-eaters running around doing whatever they damn well please, and my good-for-nothing brother who thinks he's so much better than me, staring off at the tides!!"

Using all of his strength, he thrust Sesshoumaru backwards, sending him flying down the gangway.

"Why am I, the bastard hanyou, the one your seneschals have been saying was cast out, doing more for your people than you are?"

"FILTHY HALF-BREED! Know your place and lick the ground!" Sesshoumaru seethed, rising to his feet, his face starting to elongate.

`Shit! He's gonna transform!'

"I don't bow to anyone! Least of all you! Go ahead and show your true form if you want to lose your other arm! I've got both of Oyaji's swords and I took down Ryuukotsusei who killed Oyaji! Do you really think you can beat me in the state you're in?"

"How dare you threaten me, you worthless cur!" the taiyoukai raged, but he did stop transforming.

"If you've got the energy to fight me, you'd be better off using it to rid Oyaji's lands of the rabble that are taking it over! The one who is responsible for these lands isn't me, it's you, and you've got hordes of carrion eaters out there laying waste to your countryside."

As if on cue a mass of writhing lower youkai appeared on the cliffs, drawn by the sounds of battle and the promise of fresh meat, and Sesshoumaru turned hateful eyes their way.

`Heh, there's only one thing Sesshoumaru hates more than me, and it's those pathetic bastards.'

"Low-life SCUM!" Sesshoumaru roared, flying out to attack the carrion-eaters with Toukijin.

`And I'll give you a hand,' he thought gleefully, shoving Tenseiga into his waistband and drawing Tessaiga as he leaped after his brother.

"Kaze no Kizu!"

He blasted a horde of them, sending their bits and pieces falling into the sea.

"Heh! Take that!"

Suddenly, Sesshoumaru slammed into him, knocking him down to the cliff. He skidded on his back, thinking that Sesshoumaru had just attacked him, but the taiyoukai only had eyes for his new prey.

`What the fuck?'

"Stay out of this, hanyou!" Sesshoumaru ordered, before turning his blade to the carrion-eaters.

At first, he was pissed off, but then he saw the light back in his brother's eyes and laughed to himself.

`Okay, you wanna do the ass-kicking, I'll let you. I've done plenty of it already. I'll let you have some of the fun.'

He sat back and watched as Sesshoumaru made short work of the youkai too stupid to run away.

"Get out of my lands, worthless rabble," the inu-youkai growled, finishing off the remainder of them before coming to stand next to where he sat on the cliff.

"Keh! There's plenty more where they came from. The whole of the Western Lands is infested with them. I killed countless of them on my way here."

Sesshoumaru growled again.

"Hey, what do you expect? You've been fucking brooding for two months, of course they're gonna move in and take what opportunities they can. They're fucking scavengers and you've got a whole field of bodies out there for them to feast on while you were staring off into space. What the hell happened to you Sesshoumaru?"

His brother didn't answer, but faced the sea, his long white hair blowing in the wind. Then he turned and leaped back to the Great House, disappearing into the Great Hall. Inuyasha followed.

Sesshoumaru crossed through the Great Hall and walked out of the house, not stopping until he had left the main entrance. Inuyasha found him outside in the courtyard, staring at Jaken who was standing there with Ah-Un. The toad youkai bowed deeply, his nose almost touching the ground.

"Sesshoumaru-sama."

"Jaken."

There was silence, then Sesshoumaru spoke again, this time softly. "You stayed."

"This Jaken would never abandon his lord."

The inu-youkai did not reply, but Inuyasha swore he saw the cold golden eyes soften.

`Hmmm, maybe Kagome is right about him and he isn't as hard-hearted as I thought he was.'

Sesshoumaru moved and he, Jaken and Ah-Un followed him past the smashed yagura and out of the honmaru. The inu-youkai crossed through the ninomaru and sannomaru and came to the main gates. He opened them and exited the castle stronghold, sparing only a glance for what was left of his Lord Marshal as he walked.

They came to the scorched battlefield full of human bones and Sesshoumaru stopped to survey the sight. Inuyasha came to stand beside him and spied a group of bones that caught his particular attention. Judging by the scraps of clothing and simple geta scattered around where their feet would have been, it was obvious that these men had been peasants, probably conscript farmers from one of the villages. He saw Sesshoumaru turn his head to look where he was staring, and a little frown marred the normally expressionless face.

`He sees what I see. Poor bastards forced to their death.'

In his waistband, Tenseiga pulsed.

`Hmmm, Tenseiga. You don't like it either do you? Are you ready to go back to your master?'

The sword pulsed again and he nodded, pulling it from his waistband.

"Oi. Sesshoumaru," he said, offering his brother the blade.

Sesshoumaru was silent for several moments, then spoke, "Tenseiga has rejected me and chosen a new master."

He shook his head. "Tenseiga rejected you because you abused its power and dishonored Oyaji. I think it will take you back if you vow to never use it to cause pain again."

The inu-youkai stared at the sword for a long time, then tentatively reached out to grasp the hilt. Inuyasha saw the uncertainty in his brother's eyes and did his best not to smirk.

`Taken down a notch or two, eh, asshole?'

Sesshoumaru's hand closed on the hilt and the sword did nothing for several seconds, then it pulsed and transformed. Showing more emotion than he'd ever seen his brother show, he watched as Sesshoumaru lifted the sword from his hands, touched the hilt to his forehead, and closed his eyes with relief. Then he turned and held the blade high.

"Now hanyou, witness the true power of Tenseiga."

Sesshoumaru swung the blade once in the direction of the dead peasants.

`He's killing those little ghouls...'

En masse, the bones grew flesh and the bodies healed, revealing a group of thirty or so simple farmers.

`Shit! All of them at once!'

The farmers drew breath and began to sit up, looking at their hands and at each other.

"What happened?" one asked another.

"I don't know. The last thing I remember was fire..."

"You were dead," Sesshoumaru said simply.

The farmers turned their heads in their direction, eyes flying wide open when they saw the inu-youkai and his entourage standing there.

`Heh, never seen the `Great Lord' up close have you?'

"My Lord!" one cried and threw himself to the ground. The others followed suit.

"You were dead. Now you are alive. Go back to your villages and trouble me no longer. Your families and homes need you."

"My Lord, did you revive us?" another of the men asked.

"Is there another here who possesses that power?" Sesshoumaru asked coldly.

`Keh! Now they're going to think you're a fucking god!'

"N... no my Lord!"

"Go home. Tell your villages that this Sesshoumaru rules the Western Lands again and will not tolerate rebellion."

The peasants stood on shaky legs and bowed repeatedly as they backed away. Finally, they turned and ran off, moving as fast as their legs could carry them. Sesshoumaru watched them go impassively, his face once again a mask of stoic calm.

"Jaken," the taiyoukai called.

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama," the toad youkai replied, coming to stand next to his lord.

"Take Ah-Un and gather your tribe. Bring them here to begin work on repairing Chichi-ue's house," Sesshoumaru ordered.

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama. Immediately, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"And send word to the other inu-youkai Houses that this Sesshoumaru rules again. Their courtiers are to return here, but they are to be warned that traitors will suffer the same fate as Manshirou," he added.

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama. This Jaken will see it done."

As the toad-youkai did as commanded, Sesshoumaru began to walk among the skeletons. Inuyasha followed silently and it soon became apparent that his brother was searching for more peasants. Each time he found one or a group of them, he would use Tenseiga and return them to life. Some he could not revive because the bones had been scattered by the carrion-eaters, but each time he found one intact, he wasted no time in using the healing sword. The invading army made it easy for him by putting all of the conscripts in the front lines. One swing of Tenseiga and he could revive dozens at once.

`That sword… that sword is amazing. How could he have ever hated it and resented Oyaji for giving Tessaiga to me? Look how effortlessly he wields that blade. He resurrects fifty of them with one swing and barely breaks a sweat.'

But he knew that what Sesshoumaru was doing wasn't easy, and he could see the strain on his brother's face as he walked the battlefield. However, the inu-youkai did not stop until every peasant that could be revived had been returned to life. They huddled in confused groups until Sesshoumaru ordered them to return to their homes, then they dispersed, each heading for home as fast as they could go to spread the news of the Great Lord's mercy and divine power.

"You said there were villages burned and fields destroyed?" Sesshoumaru asked him once their work on the battlefield was done.

"Yeah, lots of them," he answered.

"You will show me these villages."

`Shit… is he asking me to help him?' "Umm, sure."

"We will kill the carrion-eaters as we go and rout them from these lands."

`He is asking me to help him! What the Hell? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?'

"Keh! No arguments there!"

Sesshoumaru cast him a glance with one golden eye that perhaps was not quite as cold and emotionless as it had been.

"Let us go."

He hid his smirk and smug smile, and leaped forward. Sesshoumaru followed close at his heels as they set off to restore the Western Lands together.