InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Mark of Brotherhood ❯ Part One ( Chapter 1 )

“STOP IT!” came the panicked cry. His ears pricked at the sound and he started to run towards where the cry had emanated from. He had to get there before it became too late. The question, though, became a matter of why. He knew who the cry had come from and he could have cared less if anything had happened to him. Yet, he ran on, drawn towards the plea as if his own life depended upon it and fearing what he'd find once he got there . . .

“Lord Sesshomaru?”

The youkai lord opened his eyes to see Rin sitting on his lap, her eyes shimmering with concern. For a moment, he wondered if he'd been speaking out loud and had wakened the girl in doing so. It was simply intolerable on his part and inexcusable. He did not show his emotions. To do so, in his mind, meant most certain death. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly had awakened Rin. She was a child, a human child no less, and needed her rest. It was in that moment of his wondering that he noticed his heart was racing. His breathing was normal but his heart pounded loudly in his own ears.

“What is it, Rin?” he inquired, his tone neutral.

 

'Best not to give anything away,' he told himself, especially if it was only his heart that would indicate that something was wrong. He didn't want to worry her, after all, and he knew that she would. It was a human quality of hers that he'd never be able to get rid of, no matter how hard he tried. And he didn't think he wanted to, either.

“You were talking in your sleep,” the girl replied. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, Rin, I am fine,” he replied evenly, not betraying his cool exterior to the girl. “It was just a dream. Nothing to concern yourself over.” Mentally, he cringed. Just what had he been saying, he wondered.

The girl looked dubiously at him but, thankfully, decided not to press it. Slowly, she slid out of his lap.

“Okay, Lord Sesshomaru,” she whispered. “Good night.”

She walked back to where Uhn and Ah were laying, curling up next to the two-headed dragon as it curled up around her. Within moments, she fell asleep, her breathing deep and even. Sesshomaru watched for a moment, looked at Jaken, then stood up when he saw that the toad imp slept as well. Walking to the edge of their camp, Sesshomaru looked up at the moonless sky.

'Why, Inuyasha? Why have you been invading my dreams at night? What is going on with you?'

To those questions, he had no answers. A breeze picked up, ruffling his kimono, and tossing the leaves on the trees about. He'd get no more sleep tonight.

 

* * *

 

Sesshomaru sighed as he gazed up at the crescent moon. Five days had passed since he'd had that dream, five days of trying to figure out what it meant. Of course, the last five nights he still dreamt of his brother and each dream was more disturbing than the last. Images of his brother being held down and beaten kept flooding his mind. He felt he'd go insane if it kept up. Finally, because there was nothing for it, Sesshomaru had decided they'd pack up camp and leave. They'd traveled all throughout the day and into the night. Rin and Jaken had fallen asleep on Uhn and Ah's back as he had insisted that they keep going. He had to reach Edo. He had to be sure that foolish half-brother of his was safe.

'But why? Why do I insist upon this? I don't care what happens to Inuyasha. Why do I feel the need to find him and make sure that he's all right? He's my dirty, half-breed brother. Not worth bothering with.'

Yet, he walked on, heading towards the village where Inuyasha was rumoured to be living in. Each step he took brought him closer. He knew that his brother and his friends would be on the defensive the instant he appeared at the edge of the village.

'I can expect to be attacked. It's a given with Inuyasha.'

His eyes narrowed as he stared straight ahead. It was always the same between them. Insult after insult would lead into an argument then a full- fledged fight. Inuyasha had been like that ever since he had learned what an insult was. Not that Sesshomaru minded. The further Inuyasha stayed away from him, the better. Sesshomaru walked on. He was almost there. Eventually, the village was within sight. His aura would attract the priestesses and the slayer. It was another given.

As the village grew closer, he heard the cries of “Demon!” and the sounds of the villagers grabbing weapons. The demon slayer and the monk were the first ones to approach him, their weapons at the ready. Behind them were the young miko and the fire-cat but no Inuyasha.

'Odd . . . he's usually right here, right in front. . .' Sesshomaru frowned, sniffing the air lightly for any traces of his brother. 'In fact, his scent is old, days old. . . He hasn't been here for some time.'

“What do you want, Sesshomaru?” the monk demanded.

“Where is Inuyasha?”

They looked at each other, their eyes wide. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed even more. They were nervous, fearful . . . because they were effectively defenseless against him and they knew it. They needed Inuyasha and their actions gave them away. It was as he suspected. Inuyasha wasn't there. Which meant . . .

'He's in danger,' a little voice whispered. 'Your dream has come true, Sesshomaru. Something has happened to the true heir of the Western Lands.'

Sesshomaru turned his head away from the humans, in the direction where Inuyasha's scent had taken off in.

“What have you gotten yourself into this time, Inuyasha?” he murmured, taking a step in the direction of the forest.“Lord Sesshomaru?” Jaken's high-pitched voice greeted his ears.

“Jaken, you and Rin stay here. I'll be back.” Before Jaken could protest, Sesshomaru took off. Inuyasha's scent was days old but still easy to track.

 

'I can find him and then the dream will be just that. A dream. Nothing will have happened to him. Nothing for me to regret.'

A small shred of doubt, however, nibbled at him. And he knew. He knew that he'd get there too late.

* * *

'Where is he? He's around here somewhere. His scent is strong, fresh. He's been here recently.'

Sesshomaru wrinkled his nose as he continued. It had been several hours since he'd left his ward and his retainer at the village and he'd traveled several ri away from Edo in a short amount of time, going until Inuyasha's scent became fresh, blood mingling with it. According to his nose, the wolf tribes had been through recently. Their scents was just as strong as Inuyasha's and they muddled it, making it difficult to track Inuyasha. And there was something else. Something familiar . . . something he couldn't quite place his finger on.

'I've got to keep going. I'll figure out the scent later. I have to find Inuyasha.'

A soft whimper and the scent of fresh and old blood caught his attention. He knew the blood, knew it better than anyone else's next to his own.

“Inuyasha,” he murmured. Carefully, he trailed the scent to its source, a bundle of red and silver. Relief flooded him, thankful that he'd found the boy in time . . . until he got a good look at the younger male.

The hanyou lay flat on his stomach, blood dripping from his nose and lips. His eyes were swollen closed from bruising and his expression was a pained one. There were chains around his neck and wrists, and his clothing had become tattered and shredded.

“Inuyasha,” he repeated, kneeling next to his half-brother. “What happened?”

“Male hanyous are such a rare treat, aren't they? Especially a good-looking one like him,” a feminine voice purred. “I can make it worth your while if you're interested in him. Very much worth your while.”

 

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes . . .

 

* * *

“Stop . . . please, stop.”

 

His brother's whimpers and pleas still echoed in his ears, despite his attempts to drown them out. Inuyasha had begged for him to set him down, to let him rest. More specifically, to let him die. Yet he walked on. He couldn't stop. Inuyasha's life depended upon him reaching the safety of Edo. Why he was concerned with Inuyasha remaining alive, he couldn't quite say. He reasoned it was because he wanted to kill the half-breed himself but it sounded frail, even in his own mind. There was more to it. Killing Inuyasha had nothing to do with why he wanted his brother to live. It was because they were family, if he were to be honest with himself, and because Inuyasha had become someone he could be proud of. The boy refused to quit, to lay over and let the world walk all over him. He had strength to him, strength that reminded Sesshomaru of their father, and he didn't want to lose that last scrap of their father that he had left. Sure, they both had family in the south, a grandfather and an uncle, but they didn't count, in Sesshomaru's mind. Neither of them bore a strong resemblance to InuTaisho. Only Inuyasha.

 

After a while, Inuyasha had fallen unconscious, an occasional groan or whimper of pain escaping him. If it hadn't been for those sounds alone and the warmth of his brother's body, Sesshomaru would have thought he had died already.

 

'And he will if I don't get him back to Edo,' he kept telling himself. Each step he took brought him closer to his goal and brought his brother back to the so-called safety of the village. He continued to walk on.

 

Eventually, the scent of fresh blood caused him to halt. Another wound had opened up on Inuyasha and Sesshomaru growled softly. His brother should not have been bleeding still. His demon blood would see that he healed far quicker than any mortal. But it was there nonetheless and Sesshomaru carefully lowered his brother to the ground, noticing the bright stain on his right side.

 

'The woman got less than what she truly deserved,' he thought darkly as he looked over his brother. 'I shouldn't have killed her as quickly as I did.'

 

The right of half of Inuyasha's face was dark and swollen, an indication that he had either had his head slammed to the ground repeatedly or he'd been punched. Possibly even both. Blood still dripped from his nose and mouth but the worst damage . . . the worst of it had taken place on the rest of his body . . . and his spirit. At the slightest touch, Inuyasha instinctively flinched and cowered away, the most pitiful of whimpers escaping him. The torment had lasted five days, nonstop, Sesshomaru had learned. When Sesshomaru had found him, he'd barely had enough strength to stand and he had also found out that Inuyasha hadn't any food, water, or rest. For the dozenth time, Sesshomaru cursed himself for not bringing Uhn and Ah with him. The dragonet would have cut their travel time in half and Inuyasha wouldn't have to be in quite as much pain.

 

“Inuyasha,” he murmured. The hanyou stirred slightly and managed to open his left eye to a thin slit. “You're bleeding again. I need to dress the wound.”

 

With careful ease, he began to lift the red haori, counting down to when the panic would set in and his brother's struggles.

 

“N-no . . .” Inuyasha tried to scramble away from him but the boy lacked the strength. He collapsed against the tree, his breathing laboured.

 

“Shhh,” Sesshomaru crooned. “It won't take me long, Inuyasha. I'll just lift it up and dress the wound. Nothing more.”

 

Inuyasha's breathing became more ragged yet deep. Sesshomaru expected him to fight, to protest a little more, as he had done the previous times, but the words never came. Inuyasha closed his eye and turned his head away, causing Sesshomaru to frown. It was a sign of submission.

 

'You better not be giving up, little brother,' he thought dangerously. 'Don't you dare give up on me. Not now. Not ever.'

 

Delicately, Sesshomaru lifted the haori up and grimaced. Along his brother's abdomen was a huge gash, one that he had patched up once before. Biting back his anger and a sigh, Sesshomaru pulled out some cloth from inside his shirt . . . cloth he'd had the foresight to take from Inuyasha's captor. With careful ease, he began to rebind the wound, putting pressure on it to stop the bleeding.

 

“I can't do this . . .”

 

Sesshomaru looked up at his brother as he patched up the wound. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his breathing remained harsh and ragged.

 

“Can't do what, little brother?” he asked casually, tucking the haori back in.

 

“I can't . . . I just can't . . . It hurts . . . It hurts,” he whimpered. “Please . . . don't do this. Don't make me do this.”

 

Sesshomaru frowned as he watched his brother gulp for air and try to get comfortable. He knew what Inuyasha meant. He'd seen the bruises and other marks on the hanyou's back and chest, and he could still see the chafe marks on his wrists and neck. Carefully, he drew Inuyasha towards him.

 

“It'll be over soon, Inuyasha,” he promised. “They will pay for what they've done to you. I swear it.”