InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth About Cats and Dogs ❯ Myoga's Warning ( Chapter 21 )

Recap: Kirara was saved from Kagura's blades and Inuyasha's Wind Scar by Sesshomaru, but he threw the gang out of his castle and warned them never to return. Feeling guilty and needing an explanation for her dream message from Midoriko, Kirara enlisted the help of Momiji and Botan.

 

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Chapter 21 - Myoga's Warning

 

“Oh my dear, whatever happened to you?” Rinko wailed, dropping to her knees in front of Rin and grabbing her by the shoulders.

 

Sesshomaru eyed the crazy old fox over, wondering why she always insisted on kneeling down before Rin. He could understand why she did it around Jaken, but Rin was almost as tall as the fox herself, negating the need for such an action.

 

“I was attacked,” Rin whispered, lowering her head.

 

“Oh my dear, that's awful!” Rinko wailed, shaking Rin slightly in her enthusiasm.

 

“See to it that she has new clothes,” Sesshomaru said.

 

It was true that Rin's clothes were torn and needed replacing, but his true motivation for giving the order had been merely to get the old lady to let go of Rin and get out of his sight.

 

“Right away, my Lord!” she gushed, pressing her hands and face to the ground by his feet. “I shall see to it that…”

 

Rinko's voice faded as Sesshomaru walked on. After the day he had just had, he was not about to listen to that annoying little fox blether on about inconsequential nonsense.

 

“Milord, it is not my place to question your actions,” Jaken began as he appeared from nowhere at Sesshomaru's ankles.

 

“Then don't bother,” Sesshomaru flatly replied, turning off the hall and closing a door in Jaken's face.

 

Sesshomaru was glad to hear that Jaken did not attempt to follow him, the door remaining closed behind him. He knew only too well what Jaken had been about to ask of him, for it was a question his most faithful servant asked him very frequently: why did he keep the annoying, weak old fox demon around?

 

Sesshomaru cast a short sideward glance at a painting as he passed it, silently observing that it was a picture of his father in battle. Rinko the fox demon had been just one of many weak, pathetic excuses for a demon that his father had taken to the castle. His father, it seemed, had collected such weak and pitiful creatures as though they were treasures of some sort; and unfortunately, these “treasures” had formed a large part of Sesshomaru's inheritance.

 

Fortunately however, most of the “treasures” Inutaisho had employed gradually left the castle after his death. They all disagreed with Sesshomaru for one reason or another, and whilst he really felt that they should pay for such mutinous ideas with their lives, he had promised his father many centuries ago that he would spare them; and so he let them walk free.

 

In fact, Sesshomaru thought coldly to himself, all the useless servants had left except Rinko. Even her son had left a long time ago. Sesshomaru had hoped that she would follow her child when he departed and leave the palace. And yet even upon hearing of his death at the hands of the Thunder Demon Tribe she still lingered on at the castle.

 

And of all the servants at his castle, Rinko the fox was the one who caused Sesshomaru the most emotional turmoil.

 

Rinko was a representation of all the things that Sesshomaru did not care to think of. She was employed to raise his children and befriend his mate; and since both eluded him, she merely hung around, like a metaphorical reminder from his parents of his duty to his bloodline to continue the family name. Like Bokuseno and Totosai, Rinko was impossibly old, and showed no signs of ever dying. Sesshomaru's first memories of the fox many centuries ago when he had been nothing more than a tiny pup were of an old woman, and even though since that time his mother had died, his father had died and he had grown into an adult, the talkative old fox was still the same old woman from the days of his childhood.

 

Sesshomaru cast his eyes up to a portrait of his mother in battle, his mind wandering back to her insistence that he choose a mate and continue the family name. He briefly wondered if Rinko was some sort of mysterious curse that his mother had left behind to make sure that he fulfilled his duties - after all, he had yet to see her hands or feet beneath all those unnecessary layers of overly large kimonos she wore, it was possible that she was not a real living creature - but he promptly dismissed the idea as nothing short of ludicrous. The fox demon, a curse? Surely even a curse was not this annoying or eternal.

 

Sesshomaru began the ascent towards his own private quarters, which were located at the top of the highest tower of the castle. He felt the need to remove himself completely from anyone or anything for a few days; but even as he climbed the steps, a deep sense of foreboding warned him that escaping reality was going to prove to be a far more difficult task than he had anticipated.

 

Sesshomaru halted, tensing the muscles in his chest as he tried to fight an urge rising within him. But, despite willing himself not to react, his found his nostrils sucking in a long, slow breath of air, as he stood outside the door halfway up the staircase to his room. As he released the breath again, he let out a small growl, narrowing his eyes at the closed door by his side.

 

Apparently the smell of fire-cat was going to linger there for a little longer than he had anticipated.

 

Sesshomaru forced himself to walk onwards. He had successfully fought the urge to enter that room his entire life, he would not succumb to it now. It was not his place to enter that room, it was a room reserved exclusively for his mate at times of intimacy. He had never particularly wanted to enter the room before, but since that fire-cat had spent a night there, he had suddenly found himself drawn to go into it.

 

Sesshomaru paused on the staircase, the door of his own room within his sights. He had never entered that room before because he had respected that it was a place for his lady; but, he thought to himself, the castle was his. All of it was his. Especially what was in that tower. If he wanted to go into that room, he would do just that.

 

Turning around, Sesshomaru hardened his resolve and marched back down the stairs, grabbing the sliding door and throwing it back. Without hesitating a moment longer, he walked into the room, at first feeling a little stupid when he realised that it really was nothing more than a room - just another one of many, many rooms - within his home; but then he breathed in.

 

That scent it was so… Not the scent of the fire-cat.

 

Sesshomaru began looking around himself, the unusual smell growing, completely masking any other scents that the room had ever held. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

 

Moving to the seeming source of the smell, Sesshomaru opened the shutters of the window, sniffing at the air outside the castle. Whatever it was, it was beyond the castle walls. Gathering up his demon energy, Sesshomaru levitated himself out of the window, and soared slowly over the courtyard, allowing his nose to guide him.

 

It was not a sinister smell, but it was certainly not one that he could trust. To his confusion, Sesshomaru found that the source of the rapidly over-powering smell was beyond the walls of his barrier. Whatever it was, it must be powerful to be able to pass through.

 

“Someone seeks to penetrate my barrier?” he asked, more to himself than anyone who may have been nearby.

 

Deciding that whoever it was beyond his barrier that was choosing to be so stupid deserved to die, Sesshomaru raced through the barrier, choking as the scent became too much to bear. Even though he was still airborne, Sesshomaru tripped over something that felt like a stick between his ankles, and he began to fall through the air. His eyes widened slightly as he saw the ground rushing up to greet him, unable to believe that he was powerless to stop it. Closing his eyes in anticipation of the impact, Sesshomaru braced himself for the effects of his fall.

 

When, after several seconds, nothing happened, Sesshomaru opened his eyes again.

 

“Huh?” he grunted, his face twitching with an involuntary show of emotion as he suddenly found himself lying on his back by the edge of his own barrier, facing the night sky.

 

It had not been night a moment ago, what was happening to him? Sesshomaru lay still for a moment longer, partly because he wished to contemplate what had just occurred, but mostly because his mind and body were once more at war with one another. It was a sensation he had often felt since the day his ungrateful, ignorant younger half-brother had severed his left arm; a sensation that he disliked and yet could not seem to stop from occurring. It seemed to happen just as frequently and just as intensely as always, no matter what he did.

 

He could feel his left arm. Even though it was not really there.

 

It was not that he could feel anything touching it, just that he could feel its existence. And, more importantly, he could feel its pain. It always felt painful. A crippling discomfort from which there was no relief. A trick of the mind, he was sure, and nothing more; and yet the pain was unrelenting. Particularly so that night. Really painful. Excruciating pain.

 

Sesshomaru let out a snarl, sitting up sharply and grabbing his left shoulder, his claws piercing the material of his haori and pricking the surface of his skin below. His body was contorted with the pain of an arm that did not even exist, what was this madness? And why was it so unbearable? It had always hurt in the past, but this pain was far worse than usual. Sesshomaru found himself growling through every breath he released, his demon spirit responding to the pain on instinct, perceiving it as a threat to his life.

 

Gulping hard, Sesshomaru repeated over and over in his head that the pain was not real, slowly forcing his shoulders to relax as he did so. Looking up through the translucent walls of his barrier, Sesshomaru could see Jaken and Rin in the distance. Rin appeared to be running towards him in a state of distress, and Jaken was running after her, looking even more upset.

 

Rising to his feet, Sesshomaru released his shoulder, relaxing his outward appearance to hide all signs of his suffering before stepping through the barrier.

 

“Milord!” Jaken screamed.

 

Sesshomaru began to slowly walk towards Rin and Jaken, his pace even slower than usual as the pain continued. Although, it was no longer so painful, more just like a discomfort again. An unusual, unsettling feeling that was almost nauseating in its intensity.

 

“Lord Sesshomaru!” Rin gasped breathlessly, stumbling to a halt in front of him.

 

Sesshomaru stopped, blinking down at her questioningly. She had that salty smell about her again, her face was wet, she was trembling slightly and she was clutching onto three withered looking roses a little too fervently.

 

“Rin, I hope you have been well,” Sesshomaru said casually, deciding that he obviously had, quite inexplicably, lost an entire day lying unconscious on the outskirts of his own barrier.

 

“Lord Sesshomaru, Master Jaken said that you had gone to see the princess, but I said that you wouldn't go without saying goodbye, and Miss Rinko said that Master Jaken was-”

 

“Yes.”

 

Rin's face slowly moved to form a small frown, her lips pouting out slightly. Sesshomaru was fully aware that she had not said anything that warranted him saying the word “yes”, but it had at least served its purpose: she had stopped talking. His left shoulder was now starting to cramp and feel as though a weight were hanging from it, and all he really wanted was to soak in the hot spring for an unhealthy length of time and then sleep for an entire day and night.

 

“I picked you some flowers, Lord Sesshomaru,” Rin added, holding up the all-but-dead roses.

 

Sesshomaru nodded his head once in acknowledgement of her offer, but did not move to accept her gift.

 

“Milord!” Jaken squawked as he skidded to a halt by Rin's side. “Sire, I have been searching all over for you! Where have you been? And what happened to your arm?”

 

Despite Jaken's hysterical tone and generally ridiculous outburst, Sesshomaru found himself looking down at his arm. As he suspected, there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. He slowly moved his eyes back to Jaken, but the toad still looked awestruck.

 

“Lord Sesshomaru, did you go to see Kirara?” Rin asked.

 

Sesshomaru turned his head sharply to Rin, his eyes narrowing at her remark. Why was she asking him about the pesky fire-cat at such a moment?

 

“Did Kirara use some of her special medicine to cure your wounds just like she did for Ah and Un?” Rin asked.

 

Sesshomaru paused, his mind completely forgetting about his troublesome missing arm as he tried to concentrate on what the two little creatures before him were talking about.

 

“Is this the work of the fire-cat, Milord?” Jaken asked cautiously.

 

Rin yawned openly, and Sesshomaru decided that this was as good an opening as any to rid himself of both the girl and the toad at once.

 

“You should retire for the night Rin,” he said. “It is late.”

 

“Yes my Lord!” Rin said obediently.

 

“Jaken, go with Rin,” Sesshomaru added, pointing at the castle as he addressed Jaken.

 

Jaken gave him a look that suggested he wished to contest the point, but a continued, unblinking stare from his master soon cleared all doubt from Jaken's mind.

 

“Aye, Milord,” he said dejectedly.

 

Jaken turned, his head hanging, and walked slowly back towards the castle, dragging his feet as he went. Rin reached her hand up towards Sesshomaru in one last attempt to force the flowers she had picked upon him.

 

“Goodnight Rin,” Sesshomaru said, grabbing the flowers from her hand in the hope of hurrying her departure.

 

“Goodnight Lord Sesshomaru!” Rin cheerfully replied, before skipping after Jaken.

 

As the two left again, Sesshomaru allowed his hand that had been pointing at the castle to fall to his side, raising his other hand slightly to support the wilting flowers he still held. As Jaken and Rin neared the castle, Sesshomaru opened his hand to drop the flowers, hissing as a thorn tore at the skin on the palm of his hand. On instinct, he brought the wound to his mouth, licking away the small traces of blood left behind.

 

How odd that he could feel the cut, the blood and even his own tongue against a hand that did not actually exist.

 

Sesshomaru paused, his tongue still stuck out of his mouth. He crossed his eyes to look down at his own hand directly in front of his face, a small voice calling his own sanity into question at what he saw. That was his left hand - but he no longer had a left hand, so how could that be possible?

 

Deciding to test a theory, Sesshomaru lifted up his right hand, holding it next to his left. He could definitely see two hands in front of his face, but it did not make any sense whatsoever.

 

With his right hand, the hand he at least knew for certain was real, Sesshomaru pulled up the left sleeve of his haori, an action he had often performed to show his own eyes that his arm did not really exist in the desperate hope of ending the sensation that it did; but, unlike every other time that he had performed this action, this time he could actually see his arm. It looked just like it always had, save a long, thick scar that ran from the outer edge of his wrist up over his elbow bone to about two thirds of the way up his upper arm, where it merged with a second scar that seemed to run around the circumference of his bicep.

 

It was just as if his arm had been reattached somehow. All the scars from the original injury were still there, but now he had his limb back. But such a thing was surely impossible?

 

Being lured out of the confines of his barrier by an unusual smell, falling over and then spending a day unconscious from nothing were also all impossible things. This, Sesshomaru decided, was a dream. And it would end soon enough.

 

“Lord Sesshomaru!”

 

Sesshomaru stiffened, his eyes locking onto the small shadow that was floating towards him from the general direction of the castle.

 

“Oh my Lord, I was so worried out you!”

 

Sesshomaru watched as Rinko collapsed at his feet, bowing profusely before holding out a towel towards him, her hands and arms still concealed beneath her extreme clothing.

 

“I thought you might like to take a nice bath, my Lord,” she offered.

 

`This isn't a dream,' Sesshomaru thought to himself. `This is a nightmare.'

 

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“Kirara!” Shippo cried, opening his arms out as Kirara landed in front of him.

 

“Shippo,” she greeted him, crouching down and opening her arms to him.

 

“Did you find what you were looking for, Kirara?” Shippo asked, jumping up into her arms.

 

“Yes,” Kirara replied, standing up as Shippo crawled around her back towards her shoulder. “Is Kagome back yet?”

 

“No,” Shippo replied as he settled into Kirara's shoulder.

 

“No?” Kirara echoed. “She has been gone a very long time!”

 

“Inuyasha went down the well to go get her back,” Shippo added.

 

Kirara cocked a small smirk, a darker part of her mind suspecting that Kagome's extended absence and now Inuyasha's disappearance were merely a sly plot the two had come up with to steal some precious time alone together. Since Kirara had forced the two to be more open with each other, she had noticed not only an improvement in their relationship, but also an increased desire for intimacy; something they could never have camping out in the open with Kirara, Sango, a pervert and a questioning young child.

 

“Where's Sango?” Kirara asked, deciding to distract both her own mind and Shippo's from Inuyasha and Kagome.

 

“She went for a walk with Miroku,” Shippo innocently replied. “He said I should wait here, because he wanted to get armours for Sango.”

 

Kirara snorted as she tried to suppress a giggle. “Get armours for Sango” was, she decided, Shippo's childlike translation of “get amorous with Sango”. Although Kirara would normally have gone after the two, she knew that Sango would now be happy with anything Miroku tried; and if she was not pleased with anything he tried, she would very quickly put him in his place on her own.

 

“I guess that just leaves you and me, Shippo!” Kirara said.

 

Kirara paused, a voice in her head mocking her for her ridiculous attempt to sound cheerful. Even to her own ears she had sounded pathetic and false. But why was that so? Her friends were all happy and healthy, surely that was enough to make her happy?

 

“I'm tired, Kirara,” Shippo said through a yawn.

 

“Yeah…” Kirara muttered, looking up at the full moon overhead. “Let's go to sleep for now.”

 

Kirara made her way to Kaede's hut, carefully tiptoeing over to the back corner of the hut so as not to wake Kaede. Kirara sat down with her back to the wall, and Shippo gladly leapt into her lap, falling asleep with the speed and ease that only a child so young could manage.

 

For Kirara however, falling asleep was no easy task that night. She was torn between her thoughts of her visit to the two priestesses, the images from her dream and the rapidly growing distance between herself and her friends.

 

Kirara tried to pass the changing lives of her friends off as nothing; how many times had she been adopted as a pet by a young girl, watched the girl grow, help her train, listen to all her problems and then be cast aside when the girl became a woman, a wife, a mother? Sango was no different from any other of the many, many girls she had befriended over the many years of her long life, and yet Kirara felt a much stronger bond to Sango than she had to any other.

 

Kirara held Sango in higher regard than even Midoriko; letting go was going to be one of the hardest things she would ever have to do.

 

Kirara lifted her chin until her head touched against the wall behind her, her eyes rising to the ceiling in thought. Maybe letting go would have been easier if she had still been a cat, and their relationship had not developed into such an in-depth two-sided one. Maybe this hardship was another test.

 

And, Kirara thought to herself, why had she seen Naraku, Kohaku, Shippo and herself as a little cat again? What did it all mean? The priestesses, she told herself, had served their role from her dream - they had helped her repay her debt to Sesshomaru - and yet something still seemed amiss, as if they were still yet to play a role in her future somehow.

 

“Ah Kirara, am I glad to see you.”

 

“Huh?” Kirara grunted, sitting forwards and blinking rapidly to clear her thoughts at the sound of a male voice inside the hut.

 

Shippo slid from her lap, groaned, turned over and continued sleeping as though nothing had happened.

 

“I've come all the way from the Inu Royal Palace, Kirara.”

 

Kirara frowned, tilting her head to one side in confusion.

 

“And I can't tell you how glad I am to see you here. Alone.”

 

Kirara stood abruptly, drawing her sword.

 

“Show yourself, demon!” she hissed.

 

Kirara scanned around the hut, but saw no traces of anyone or anything; but a second later, she felt a slight tickle on the side of her neck, followed by a sharp stinging sensation she was all too familiar with.

 

“Myoga the flea,” she growled, slapping a hand against her neck.

 

“K-Kirara…” he said faintly as she pulled her hand away, watching him fritter through the air.

 

“What are you doing here, Myoga?” she asked as he landed on her upturned palm.

 

“I've just come from the Inu Royal Palace, Kirara,” Myoga explained.

 

“Yes, you said as much,” Kirara patiently replied. “What were you doing there?”

 

“Well…” Myoga began awkwardly.

 

“Why did I even ask that question?” Kirara groaned. “So you went for a feast. Why did you come back here?”

 

“I heard terrible rumours at the castle, Kirara,” Myoga replied. “I came to speak with Inuyasha to find out if they were true, but on my way here, I made two shocking discoveries.”

 

“And?” Kirara pressed.

 

“First of all, I learned that a demon is looking for you.”

 

“For me?”

 

“I'm not sure. She is looking for your group, maybe not you personally, I couldn't be sure. She is accompanied by a dragon, and she is quite determined to find you all.”

 

Kirara paused, a brief image of the dog demon princess riding on Ah-Un's back floating through her mind. She gulped audibly, but before she could give the matter too much thought, Myoga continued.

 

“And secondly, there is a terribly strong demonic aura, emanating from the west,” he said. “It's very dark and very powerful, and it seems to be growing stronger by the minute. I first felt it as I neared this region.”

 

“Do you think it's Naraku?” Kirara asked.

 

“I don't know,” Myoga replied, shaking his head.

 

“Kirara?” Shippo groaned, sitting up and rubbing sleepily at his eyes.

 

“Wait here, Shippo,” Kirara ordered, before running out of the hut.

 

Still holding Myoga in her hand, Kirara ran across the village and through the trees at the other side, her heartbeat hitching up a notch as she began to sense it. It was extremely powerful and sinister, and it did feel a little like Naraku.

 

Kirara arced off the path, dodging her way through the trees to where she knew there was an upward slope in the forest. Hurrying up the hill, Kirara then scaled the tallest tree she could see, standing up on the highest branch that would take her weight, looking out to the west.

 

Kirara could not see the light of a growing energy or a swarm of Naraku's poison insects, or even a mass of Naraku's demons; but she could feel an overpowering demonic aura radiating from a source far, far away. A demonic aura that was familiar to her somehow. It almost felt like Naraku, but not quite. It was like when she first encountered a new incarnation of Naraku; it felt like Naraku, but more focussed: instead of being several demonic auras swarming into one, it was the energy of just one demon, just one element of Naraku.

 

“I know this demonic aura…” Kirara muttered.

 

“Is it Naraku?” Myoga asked.

 

“No,” Kirara said, shaking her head slightly.

 

It was not Naraku. It felt like Goshinki, the mind-reading incarnation of Naraku who had managed to bite through the Tetsusaiga; but how could that be possible? Goshinki had been killed by Inuyasha the day he broke the Tetsusaiga.

 

But, Kirara thought to herself, a cold shiver shooting down her spine, one part of Goshinki had lived on. His evil spirit still resided within the Tokijin, the sword made from his fangs. Which could mean only one thing.

 

“Sesshomaru…” Kirara whispered.

 

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Sesshomaru stood by the edge of the swamp beyond the walls of his barrier, looking down at the surface of the murky water. A layer of ashes lay over the water, making the swamp look almost like a sea of lava. The two warring demons in the swamp had been quite big and of reasonable strength; but one sweep of the Tokijin had reduced them to ash in an instant.

 

Sesshomaru pulled his hands closer to his chest, shifting his eyes to the glowing blue light of the blade of his lethal sword. He had never considered that, by using the weapon with just one hand, he had only been accessing half of its power. The power he had been able to conjure up grasping the sword in both hands was like nothing he had ever experienced before; did this now mean that his sword was more powerful than the Tetsusaiga?

 

Sesshomaru slowly thread the Tokijin back through his belt, lifting up the left sleeve of his haori one more time.

 

The scars had gone, the pain had gone and even the discomfort had vanished. It was just as if Inuyasha had never sliced off his arm in the first place. But Inuyasha had sliced off his arm. Sesshomaru could remember it quite clearly. He had done it on the same day that he had claimed the Tetsusaiga from their father's grave, which, it had turned out, had been entrusted to Inuyasha to watch over.

 

Inuyasha was an ungrateful and dishonourable half-breed, totally ignorant to his heritage and completely unappreciative of it.

 

And, Sesshomaru thought to himself, there was really only one way to find out which sword was strongest between the Tetsusaiga and the Tokijin.

 

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Next Chapter: With Kagome and Inuyasha still on the other side of the old well, Sango, Miroku, Kirara and Shippo are left to confront the threat of an incoming demon on their own. Chapter 22 - Shippo's Surprise.