InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tsuki no Aika ❯ Verse 2: Souunga ( Chapter 2 )

Title: Tsuki no Aika (Lament of the Moon)
Summary: The tale of the love between the daiyoukai of the West and a hime from the East.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its elements. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi.
Note: Telepathy is denoted like /-this-/.

Much gratitude to eleiaand quietharm for beta-reads and feedback.
Also thanks to you wonderful readerswho left me comments. This is for you!

 

~ Two ~

 

The creature had been spotted at moonrise.

 

The owls had moved to turn it away, an attempt that cost them the lives of two young ones. Kaida, who was the fleetest, had been dispatched to sound the alarm and seek aid.

 

She found him near dawn, sprawled on a branch. He had answered her call, dropping to the forest floor as lightly as one winged. Eyes burning with tightly-contained grief and anger, the young owl spirit related her news, barely aware of his son coming to stand beside him. He nodded, saying nothing, and she sped off in feathered form, leading the way to where her folk kept cautious watch over the intruder.

 

It was standing on the bare crest of a hill, a beacon of youki. Malevolent red eyes surveyed the land and ragged clothes hung from its gaunt frame, fluttering in the early morning breeze. In sharp contrast to the tattered appearance, the long silver sword in the creature's hand caught the light.

 

Two bright spheres shot ahead of Kaida. With a harsh hoot, she veered off, correctly interpreting the sign of dismissal. Taking their cue from her, the rest of her kin took wing and, together, they returned to their holt. They were tired and hungry... and they had their fallen to tend to.

 

Touga alighted within the stand of trees just below the summit of the hill, shielding himself in that vulnerable moment of transformation. Immediately after he had resumed his two-legged form, he stepped out into the open and faced the creature.

 

Wind brought him the other's scent and Touga frowned; if it was a youkai he faced, it was one that had been dead for a while, judging from the smell of decay it carried. A golem, then. But what did it want—

 

And then he caught another scent, mingled with the first: owls' blood. Fury stirred within him. “You trespass,” he said, challenge clear in the curt words. “And for the lives you have taken, I will exact retribution.”

 

Lifting his right hand, he held out two fingers and formed his ki into a whip. The glowing blue line snaked out, slicing deep into the golem's flesh. Ichor oozed out of the gash, green and pungent, yet the creature showed no reaction.

 

Touga's scowl deepened and the twin questions assailed him: Would I kill an unresisting opponent? and Why is this killer passive now?

 

And then the creature moved.

 

It was fast, going from motionless to a blur of grey skin and flashing blade in less time than it took to blink.

 

Touga lashed out with his energy whip again, parrying the golem's downstroke. Gaining the bare moment he needed, the inu daiyoukai leapt aside, giving himself room to draw his sword. He took a fighting stance, eyes fixed on his opponent with new intensity.

 

Dilemma solved: good.

 

The undead turned to him, red eyes blazing. The round jewel at the sword's pommel glowed, echoing that lurid light.

 

He took the initiative this time. Feinting right, he shifted the grip of his sword so that the edge of the blade faced outward and lunged directly at the creature. One swipe was all he needed to behead the intruder and end this.

 

But instead of slicing cleanly through its neck, the inugami's blade met the silver sword.

 

To his battle-heightened awareness, the moment of contact stretched to seconds. He heard the slide of metal against metal, the sound grating at his ears.

 

And then, just as he was past the golem, just as the contact disengaged, his blade shattered in a violent burst. Shards of metal cut through the air; Touga felt the trickle of spilled blood on one cheek following the passage of a fragment.

 

He executed a flip, putting more space between him and his opponent. Casting aside the useless hilt, his brows knit and he studied the creature. It was not as simple-minded as it looked.

 

And what had it done to his sword?

 

There came a wheezing sound; the creature laughed.

 

/-Such a base blade is no match for I, Souunga,-/ tolled a voice of rough malice.

 

Souunga.

 

The golem's lips had not moved.

 

Touga's brow smoothed with understanding; it was the sword. The sword bore a spirit that was controlling its bearer, granting it skills and abilities beyond its natural capability. The youki he sensed... it was from that thing.

 

The new knowledge changed nothing; he still had only to remove the creature. Without a host, the blade would be powerless.

 

For the third time that morning, he released his energy whip. It looped around the golem's body, forming a loose, glowing cocoon. The tip coiling tight around the creature's ankle, imprisoning it against any escape. A simple tightening of his ki would rip that unliving body apart. He pulled—

 

But the creature was gone, save the ankle and foot that had been trapped. Those were torn to pieces, spewing ichor and the sickly sweet smell of decomposing flesh.

 

The only direction the golem could have gone to save itself was up. Touga threw back his head and searched the skies.

 

It was directly above him and diving, sword outthrust.

 

The Inu no Taisho sprung away, taking to the air. His whip wrapped around the tip of the sword and he wrenched, pulling short the golem's downward strike. When the creature righted itself and faced him, Touga saw it had indeed sacrificed its ankle and foot to free itself. Ichor dripped sluggishly from the stump.

 

They faced off, hovering above the bare crest of the hill, the topmost branches of trees far below their feet.

 

The golem charged him, arrowing through the air. The sword, raised to attack, rippled with youki.

 

He backed away, flicking the whip to thrust aside the gleaming edge. “Sankon Tetsusou!” He swiped the air. His claws traced lines of light that sliced everything in its path. The undead puppet blocked two with the blade, but the other three struck; one sliced its arm, another bit deep into its forehead, bisecting its skull.

 

The last severed its sword arm at the shoulder. The severed limb still clutched the youkai blade and remained in mid-air as the wasted body fell to the ground.

 

Faced with the true culprit of the transgression, the inu daiyoukai narrowed his eyes and lifted his fingers to his face. The cut on his cheek had closed but there was still blood on his skin. He ran his claws through the drying patch.

 

With scarlet-stained claws, he drew his hand back to unleash a second attack. “Hijin Ketsusou!” Bright red crescents spun end over end, finding their mark on the long silver sword. Each detonated, but left no visible damage on the blade.

 

The mocking laughter rose as the sound of explosions faded. /-Did you think so simple an attack would destroy me? I am the Power of a dragon!-/

 

Touga shot back, “And what is the use of such power if one is an inanimate blade?”

 

/-I am of ... much use to my bearer.-/ There was an ominous pause that rung with things unsaid. /-Despite the paltry fighting, you are powerful,-/ Souunga said, sounding almost thoughtful. /-Claim me and, together, we will be great.-/ As if in invitation, the limb of the golem fell away, leaving the sword in the air. The jewel in its pommel dulled to lackluster white. /-Take hold of me and you shall have all my power.-/

 

A crow flew by overhead and suddenly Touga was no longer alone. “Oyakata-sama!” the flea called excitedly from his shoulder.

 

“Myouga,” the inu daiyoukai answered. His tone clearly indicated that he did not wish to be disturbed at this time.

 

“Oyakata-sama, do not touch that blade. It will seek to possess you as it possessed its previous bearer!” the flea urged.

 

Touga paused. He had thought his chief advisor oblivious to the ongoing battle, but clearly he was not. “And how do you know this?” Touga asked.

 

There was silence that told Touga that Myouga spoke on a hunch. “Well, I received news of… that is, there were rumors... It was a logical deduction,” the flea concluded with a defeated air.

 

Still, he trusted Myouga's instincts: in addition to carrying a wealth of knowledge, the flea had a good nose for smelling out danger.

/-He speaks true. I have bent other bearers to my will before, those who were weak and powerless.-/ The derision in the sword's tone was clear. That edge of malice crept back in as the sword abruptly reversed its earlier tact. /-Human, youkai, men and women, young and old, all have fallen before me. Would you care to test yourself against my will?-/ The challenge, issued with such disparagement, was artful.

 

It wants me to take it in hand, Touga realized.I smell a trap.

 

And yet, he was had to dispel the threat of this sword from his lands. He could not very well leave it the way it was; it would only find some other unfortunate to bear it. He could not seem to destroy it; to protect his territory and its inhabitants, he would have to seal the sword's power to keep it from doing harm.

 

He heard Myouga's faint, imploring call as he slowly stretched his hand towards the sword in silent command.

 

/-Are you certain, inugami? Would you pit your will against that of a dragon?-/

 

He did not deign to reply, simply waited.

 

The blade glided over to him, hilt first. It did not fall directly into his hand but stopped within reach, leaving the culmination to Touga.

 

Every nerve alert, he grasped the blade.

 

Emotions crashed in on him, as unforgiving as a tsunami. Anger and caprice and malignance and hatred. And within them was a philosophy - a belief - that insidiously whispered.

 

Every single living thing in this world, with their pitiable joys and sorrows and blessings and worries, all were not meant to be here.

 

Distantly, he noted Myouga springing away. The flea never stayed with him when there was danger. Which meant—

 

Everything living was created only to die. They belonged to the underworld and he, Souunga, would claim them for their true home.

 

He did not remember moving but found himself holding the sword two-handed, his fingers fitting along the long hilt. Reacting to the maelstrom of emotions within, his lips skinned back, and he growled low in his throat.

 

And so he would kill and kill and kill again and when every living thing was no more, he would unleash the dead...

 

/-You are indeed powerful... Touga.-/ The caustic triumph in the sword's words made him rear back. He felt it prowling his mind, a slithering darkness, knowing him. Against his will, he felt his youki swell.

 

...andtheworldofthelivingandtheworldofthedeadwouldbecomeon eandthesameandtherewouldbenodifferenceinbetweenthetwoand...

 

Of their own volition his hands lifted the sword high above his head, tip pointing heavenward. In his being, he felt a searing elation not his own. The sword descended, carving a bright arch through the air. /-Yes. It is fitting. The dragon king and his hound. Together.-/

 

...they would rule over all.

 

No. The denial resounded in his mind. He heard a howl and the realized that it was torn from his own throat. He lost his balance, then realized that he was falling. He hit the ground, the physical sensation shocking him back to some semblance of control, only that he still held the damnable sword. Drop it, he thought but his fingers would not listen.

 

He struggled to his feet. “No,” he growled at the blade in his hand. “I will not be governed by you and your dishonorable ambitions.” His wrested control of his youki back to himself, shrouding the blade's powers with his own, penning it. “In you prying, you failed to understand that I do not rule; I only protect.”

 

/-Foolish cur, I—-/

 

The Inu no Taisho hardened his will and pushed. The rest of the sword's sneering was smothered beneath the implacable barrier of the inugami's youki.

 

The silence, as they say, was deafening.

 

He stood there for a long moment, staring at the blade, letting his battle instincts slow. Scent and sound alerted him of his son's approach. More telling was the resumed presence of Myouga on his sode.

 

There was a contemplative pause.

 

“What now, Oyakata-sama?” Myouga asked.

 

“I don't think this is the end of it,” Touga murmured. “Souunga will continue to fight me.”

 

“Souunga?”

 

“So it called itself. Didn't you hear?”

 

The flea shook his head and a glance over his shoulder told Touga that Sesshoumaru had not heard anything either.

 

“Ah. Interesting.” He lifted an eyebrow in an expression of irony, then glanced down at the blade. “It - he - claimed to be the power of a dragon. I suppose he could be a dragon spirit trapped in a blade. Perhaps the swordsmith can tell us more.”

 

Myouga bowed in agreement; the lack of commentary told Touga that his advisor had no information for him.

 

He started in the direction of the clan home, then stopped short, finally noticing his surroundings.

 

“I did not do this,” he said flatly, eyeing the line of charred trees and riven earth that cut straight through the woods to the valley below.

 

“It was the sword, chichi-ue,” Sesshoumaru confirmed. He flicked only a cursory glance at the weapon but Touga was not fooled at his show of disinterest. “It would seem that it is indeed powerful.”

 

The inu daiyoukai made a noncommittal sound. In that direction lay the owls' holt... the foxes' dens… the wolves' cliffs. “Myouga.”

 

“Hai.”

 

“I want a report on the damage,” he said curtly.

 

“Wakata,” the flea replied, bowing in acquiescence. He left to do as he had been instructed.

 

Grim, Touga set off in search for the swordsmith. He walked, not wishing to transform while bearing the cursed sword. At another time, he would have savored the serenity of the forest around him, dark and slightly damp, filled with the muted sounds of life. This very peace was what he fought for, warding off enemy after powerful enemy, preserving the safety of the land and freedom for its inhabitants.

 

Today, that peace had been threatened yet again.

 

The clan house sprawled on an incline. It was made up of several standalone huts with a larger structure in the middle. The architecture had been counted as grand in the past but these days it paled beside the ostentation of the Emperor's palace in the East, and the dwelling of some human lords.

 

Still it was a far, far cry from the nomadic way of life that had been his before the war against the Hyounekozoku. If it had been up to him, Touga would still have been wandering rootless and sleeping beneath the naked sky. Mitsuko, his wife, had deemed it appropriate for a great warlord to have a large house. “Room enough for your followers,” she whispered in his memory. He had wanted neither house nor vassals but had had little choice in both.

 

When his son was born, he had been in no frame of mind to pay attention to the household. In fact, he had left it behind, returning to his wandering ways, burying pain and anger in solitary tracks through the land. When he returned, it had just taken less effort to let the house run on its own, which it seemed to do well enough.

 

Toutousai had claimed one of the furthest lying huts, one that gave him easy access to cold water from the spring, one where he could work in undisturbed.

 

Crossing the threshold, Touga paused to let his eyes adjust to the difference in light. The room was less than immaculate, as usual, with odds and ends of swords scattered on just about every other available surface. A half-eaten meal on a tray shared table space with bits of metal and some tools. The smell of smoke permeated the room.

 

Sesshoumaru halted just behind him, radiating distaste.

 

There was no sign of the smith.

 

“Toutousai,” Touga called out. “I need a sword.”

 

“What happened to that beauty I made you?” came the immediate question and then the fire youkai stood before him, seeming to appear out of nowhere. He dropped a perfunctory bow, an automatic gesture rather than a proper greeting; his attention was focused on what had befallen his precious weapon.

 

“The blade shattered,” Touga said shortly. He stepped to the table, pushing aside the debris on the table. In the empty space created, he laid the dragon blade.

 

“Shattered? How can a blade like that shatter?” Toutousai was fast losing his modicum of composure to frustration and artistic outrage, failing to notice his oyakata's terse manner. “What did you do to it?”

 

“Nothing,” he answered, looking down at the silver sword.

 

The smith came to face him across the table. “Nothing?” he demanded. “A blade forged by Toutousai does not shatter at nothing! Did you—“

 

He cut himself off, finally noticing the blade on his table. Toutousai stared.

 

Into the silence, Touga said, “I did nothing. My sword shattered when it came into contact with this blade.”

 

“Where did you get that?” asked the smith in an awed whisper.

 

Touga eyed. “Do you know what it is?”

 

“It's a work of art,” the recently enraged smith breathed, transfixed. He reached for the sword.

 

Touga tensed. His youki still coiled around the blade, keeping the dragon powers leashed within and he was loath to let others touch the sword. But when the smith's knobby fingers closed around the hilt, the barrier held. Touga relaxed minutely.

 

“What can you tell me about this blade?” he queried.

 

With his free hand, Toutousai scratched his bald pate.

 

The light in his eyes was fading to curiosity. Picking it up, he turned the sword this way and that, looking for hints to its origins.

 

“Hm...” he mumbled meditatively, studying the temper of the blade. “Mm…,” he went on, squinting at the negligible cross-guard, the long unadorned hilt, the curve of metal and crystal at the pommel.

 

“Well?” Touga prodded.

 

The fire youkai gently set the blade back down on his work table. “This is unlike anything I have seen before, Oyakata-sama,” he admitted. “I can't tell you who made it or where it came from. I can only tell you it was indeed made from a dragon's tooth.”

 

Touga heard the soft sound of derision from behind him but ignored his son's reaction. “What about blades that bear a malign soul? Or blades that possess their bearers?” he pressed.

 

“Mm, yes, now that you mention it.” Toutousai crossed his arms, a scowl pinching his usually open face. “Kaijinbou forged the Blade of Heaven and Earth from a hundred youkai. That much youki in one weapon made it able to overwhelm its bearer.”

 

Touga paused to see if Toutousai would draw out the relevant point on his own. When the smith did not, he prompted, “What happened to the sword?”

 

“Ah, well, to that end, I have only rumor. It is said that a miko took the blade from its former owner and sealed it away.”

 

“Then it can be sealed,” Touga latched onto the salient conclusion.

 

“Just so. Perhaps the Inu no Taisho's Fuuyin no Kiba would do the trick,” he added thoughtfully.

 

Since the smith was a plainspoken man and not given to flattery, Touga could only conclude that he spoke in earnest. “Are you,” he asked with a narrow-eyed look, “Suggesting that I bite this sword?”

 

“Hm, no,” Toutousai said, so lost in thought that he missed his oyakata's irony. “You'd have to leave the fang in to complete the sealing and I don't see any way you could bit through a blade made of a dragon's tooth.”

 

“Neither do I,” Touga agreed dryly. “I will seek a miko. Or a priest,“ he said, knowing precisely who to ask for a recommendation. Out of habit, his right hand brushed the hilt of his sword and when he touched thin air. “Meanwhile,” he said by way of parting, “I really do need a new sword.”

 

“What's wrong with this one?” The swordsmith nodded to the silver sword on the table, seeming genuinely puzzled at the question.

 

Knowing the threat that Souunga presented, the smith's obtuseness vexed Touga. He glared at Toutousai, who froze defensively.

 

“That blade holds a malign spirit that would destroy this world if it is allowed free rein,” he ground out. “While it is quiescent within my barrier now, I will not risk the safety of the entire land to my own strength; I am no all-powerful god to be ever vigilant.” He leaned forward, bracing his fists on the table to emphasize his point. “Never doubt that there will come a time when I will not be able to contain it and then the world of the living will come to an end. For the protection of everything we know, I intend to see it sealed in the deepest regions of the underworld, where it belongs.”

 

“I will, of course, be happy to forge a new blade for the Inu no Taisho,” the fire youkai stuttered. “However, until the sword is sealed, oyakata-sama will have to keep it with you to maintain the barrier.”

 

It was true. Much as Touga would have liked to disagree with that point, it was true. He scowled.

 

Reading reluctant agreement in the glower, Toutousai lost his caution. “You can use it. As long as you don't get possessed, it'll be fine.” He studied the sword, pretending not to hear the inu daiyoukai's growl. “It's too long to hang from your obi; you'll have to wear it on your back,” he said judiciously. “Let me find you a sheath.”

 

* * *

 

Notes
1. I gave Sessmom a name: Mitsuko. It's not canon.
2. I gave Inupapa a new attack. That, too, is not canon.
3. I am calling Inupapa `Touga' by name, `Inu no Taisho' as a title. The former is not canon, the latter only canon for anime.
4. For the record, the inu youkai do not have a house; they are nomadic.

Glossary
chichi-ue - Father, possessive/personal
daiyoukai - Greater youkai. Literally 'big / great youkai'.
Fuuyin no Kiba - "Fang of Sealing" - attack used to seal powerful enemies when no means of destroying them can be found. (Non canon)
Hijin Ketsusou - "Blades of Blood" - combine Sankon Tetsusou with own blood to form red crescent blades that can be thrown from afar.
Hyounekozoku - Panther youkai tribe that fought Inu no Taisho. It was in driving them out that he earned the title of Inu no Taisho.
inu - Dog
inu no taisho - "Dog General"
inugami - Dog spirit of Japanese myth.
ki - A "life force" or "spiritual energy" that is part of everything that exists and sustains living beings (based on belief systems in Asia).
miko - Shrine maiden of Shinto belief, not to be confused with priestess.
oyakata - Clan leader
Sankon Tetsusou - "Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer" - basic claw attack that is powerful enough to tear apart enemies.
sode - shoulder and arm guards that are attached to the dô (cuirass) via the watagami (breastplate shoulder straps).
wakata - "I know", "I understand", "I got it"
youkai - Creatures in Japanese folklore. Some possess part animal and part human features. Generally have a sort of spiritual or supernatural power.
youki - A youkai's power / energy