InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Void ❯ Farewell ( Chapter 3 )

A/N: Can’t believe I actually managed to write this chapter.

Maybe my writer’s block is ending now? ^_^

-Tryst/Punishment of the Inu - Lol, yeah I wasn’t entirely certain if that was gonna work or not. But maybe it will. I’ll have to change her looks around a bit I suppose-- make her more demonish-- but other than that it could be possible. ^_^ -- I’ll be sure to let you know if I get stuck, though I’m not entirely certain what help you could be. No offence meant of course, I just happen to be one of those overly stubborn people who usually come out a problem better once they’ve worked through it on their own. That’s all. ^_^ Actually, I suppose I already should be thanking you for your help, cause this is a really interesting plot, and I never would have come up with this story without your challenge. ^_^ W-ell, okay, maybe I would have, but it’s incredibly highly doubtful... ^_^

-CraneCreator - Arigato! Now all I have to do is make it an actual interesting fic and I’ll be set. ^_^ -- As to how Inuyasha is Naraku’s son... well I’m fairly certain that that’s all there is to the story thus far. I hadn’t given it much thought to making it any more complicated then that, since the rules of the challenge state that Inu and Sess aren’t brother’s, and I don’t know where else Inu would have come from. Still, you never know, I’ve written stranger things... ^_^

Also, I’ve had to post this on most of my updated fics lately-- Do to a certain amount of stupidity on my part, I haven’t been checking my junk email lately, which, unfortunately, happens to be where all the reviewers not on my “safe list” end up getting their emails sent. As such, I have missed some of them. Gomen to everyone who sent me an email like that-- if I haven’t responded to you, that is very likely the reason. I’ll try and check my junk email right along with the rest of my mail to make certain this doesn’t happen again. ^_^

Well, i can’t think of anything else to do... I suppose I could add a disclaimer, but you guys already have that drilled pretty well into your brains, so really, what’s the point?

Guess that means it’s time for me to shut up and give you the next chapter....   ~*~   Farewell

Inuyasha sighed in as close to contentment as he ever felt.

Out of all the rooms in the incredibly large castle, he had always, without even the slightest doubt, loved the armoury the best.

Of course, that wasn’t necessarily saying much since the place always depressed him slightly as well, as he would take in the swords and armour that filled the vast chamber-- all taken from fallen warriors who had sought to battle his father and had been cut down instead.

Still, it was always fascinating to take in all the different makes from the different eras that filled the rooms-- the different wages of power. He could remember well each power that any individual weapon carried if he had been the one to kill the warrior who had wielded it.

And he usually was.

Sometimes he was sent out to kill just to retrieve the warrior’s weapon or armour.

Several of the blades (and other things) were ancient or from foreign lands, and almost all of them contained some legendary power.

Like Banryuu, the giant halberd, taken from the leader of a band of mercinaries that supposedly caused many demons and humans a lot of trouble. He had slain them all after only maybe an hour of battle.

Of course, considering how long it normally took him to slay his opponents, that did say something about them.

Inuyasha, while openly admitting that they most certain did present a bit of a challenge, and found it surprisingly easy to slay the band of mortals, and had been left to contemplate exactly what the hell it was that everybody had been so worked up about.

Most of them relied either on brute strength, or cunning and twisted tricks, and, while together they formed an excellent balance, having only one of those traits was not enough for survival.

Inuyasha had learned that the hard way.

And because of this only two people out of the entire band had actually caused him trouble (that is, once he began to figure out the battle tactics and little “surprises” the others came up with): Bankotsu, the leader and former wielder of Banryuu, and a man named Jakotsu (though you’d have to actually talk to the guy before you’d be able to tell that he was a guy).

The man was a strange, cross-dressing freak with more audacity and suggestive comments than anyone the hanyou had ever met, and, if that wasn’t enough to effectively throw someone off their game, the twisted bastard used a special blade called “Jakotsu-tou.”

It was an incredibly dangers and hard to predict weapon (even if you’re the wielder) but extremely deadly when accurate, and Inuyasha could understand why the human had favoured it.

He himself had attempted using it a few times because of it’s awesome ability to take it’s opponents by surprise and end their lives before they even realised what was happening, but it was trick to handle and took lots of patience to wield. Patience that he didn’t have.

Besides, the blades were still mortal-made and they only held so much power on their own.

If they ever got disconnected, the blade was all but useless.

He preferred a single-bladed youkai sword anyway.

And his favourite out of all of them by far was a sword by the name of “Tetsusaiga.”

He wasn’t entirely certain how his father had acquired the blade, only that it was extremely powerful and that, when he held it, it became like a part of him-- feeling as though it was a very extension of his arm (which he supposed made sense since the blade had been cracked during battle and his father had stolen one of his fangs (having none of his own) to reforge it). He didn’t mind, because it just made the sword that much more his.

What’s more, he was seemingly the only one who could wield it.

The blade seemed to have some sort of barrier about it, and it repelled his father’s touch, shocking and burning him badly whenever he tried to grasp it.

However, in a complete turnabout of the rules, his mother was able to not only hold it, but wield it as well like she would any blade.

The only problem was, when she held it the blade refused to transform into the mighty fang it became during battle, and remained as nothing more than an ancient, rusty, battle-scarred blade that looked about ready to snap in half at the smallest amount of pressure.

Moving toward the table on which Tetsusaiga rested, Inuyasha wrapped his hand around it, feeling the sword pulse under his touch-- calling to him. But not out of the lust to fight did it call to him, like other swords did.

In fact, he had no real idea what the sword actually wanted from him when it called out to him like that, only that it started to vibrate and pulse whenever he touched it, silently urging him to do something it would not reveal to him.

Shaking his head in mild frustration, Inuyasha secured the blade to his side, before quickly moving and donning his fire-rat garments (the only armour he ever wore since it was both more effective and more comfortable than the heavy metals and leathers that made up the other armour) and then headed toward the stairs that would lead him back to the main hall where he knew his father would be waiting for him-- to “bid him farwall.”

What Inuyasha didn’t understand was why this farewell had to be given with nearly two hours left until midnight. His father had never cared before... and he somehow doubted that he did now.

Resigning himself to whatever fate had in store, Inuyasha slowly mounted the stairs, before heading down the small corridor that would lead him to the main hall.

Naraku looked up when he heard Inuyasha approaching, a smirk splaying itself across his face as the boy offered him a low boy-- already clad in his armour and sword and ready to leave on his journey to battle the dog-lord.

‘I am ready to depart, master.’ Inuyasha said, the hate evident in his aura no matter how well he hid it in his face and voice, and it simply made Naraku grin all the more.

The hanyou had his eyes to the ground, absolutely refusing to meet Naraku’s own (something the demon seriously doubted he did just to show respect) and he frowned slightly, wanting to see the twin amber suns that were his eyes.

He wanted to see them so that he could see the fear there-- not just feel it in the boy’s aura, but have it presented before him, waiting, ready for him to drink his fill of it. He wanted to feel the boy squirm in discomfort and pleasure beneath his grasp.

Stepping forward till there was almost no room between them, Naraku put his hand under Inuyasha’s chin, titling his head upward until their eyes met, silently revelling in the way that body stiffened at his touch, the boy’s jaw clenching and his ears going slightly flat as he forced himself not to pull away.

He had certainly been right to take that bitch miko as his mate.

With her powers waning, she was not worth much herself anymore, but through her he had managed to produce this... exquisite and all around exotic creature that stood before him now.

It made no sense that this filthy half-breed, born of such an unholy union as theirs, could be so utterly desireable and... tempting.

He was light and fire where none else could survive, and Naraku was drawn in by his foreign features that were so different from his own despite the fact that Inuyasha was made from his flesh.

And he was almost ready to reap the unexpected rewards that had turned up from his joining with the miko.

Almost.

But first, there was another, more important matter that had to be dealt with.

Sesshomaru.

Thoughts of the Taiyoukai were enough to snap Naraku out of his haze of thoughts and back into the present, and he stared down into the golden pools before him, pleased to see hints of fear there. ‘No, Inuyasha.’ He thought with a small smirk. ‘I am not going to take you yet. First you must prove to me that you are worthy of my touch.’

As if hearing his thoughts, a small, almost imperceptible shudder ran through the body beneath him, and Inuyasha looked away, his eyes trailing to some uninteresting spot on the wall, refusing to meet his master’s once again.

‘Well then’ Naraku said, releasing the boy and stepping back slightly, the smirk still in place on his face, and Inuyasha mentally sighed in relief that his father had finally broken their contact, opening his eyes (which had drifted shut of their own accord) to find the lust he had smelled in his father now openly reflected in his crimson eyes. It was disgust. It was sick and it was wrong and it was... his fate.

After all, he still had no way to escape Naraku.

He was bound to him.

His mother was proof of that.

Each and everyone of the scars he had ever earned in battle were proof of that.

Hell, the damn beads around his neck were proof of that!

And they were a stronger reminder than either of the other things...

‘I guess it is time for you to be on your way.’ Naraku said pointedly after a moment more of staring at the boy, gesturing toward the door that would lead Inuyasha outside.

‘Yes master Naraku.’ He said quietly, offering another stiff bow before moving slowly toward the door that always taunted him so with the fake promises of freedom.

‘And Inuyasha’ Naraku called after him, making Inuyasha pause in his journey (though he did not look back-- already trying to wash away the memories of his father’s face and scent from his mind to no avail) ‘I will be waiting for you.’ The demon Lord said, and even one as innocent as Inuyasha couldn’t mistake his meaning. ‘Do not make me wait long.’

Inuyasha wasn’t completely naive, despite his inexperience. He knew what his father wanted of him. And he would be forced to give it when and if he came back-- whether or not he wanted to. There was no one there to protect him from it, and he had nowhere to go.

Harnessing the small shudder that tried to run through his body, Inuyasha closed his eyes a moment to empty his mind of all the defiant remarks and actions he wanted to make in his moment of growing despair, before opening them again and, with a determination that belied the thoughts in his head, Inuyasha opened the door and strode off into the eternal night that the miasma created, leaving the demon lord to stand alone one again. ~*~  

Glossary

Banryuu - I’m pretty certain this means barbarian axe... Anyway, if you’ve ever seen the band of seven, you should know what it is-- that giant sword/Halberd thingy Bankotsu’s always carrying around...

Bankotsu - Fairly certain this translates as Barbarian bones... Anyway, he’s the leader of the Shichinin-tai (band of seven) and also happens to be the youngest of them...

Jakotsu - Snake-bone... He’s one of the first of the Shichinin-tai we meet... and he also just so happened to be in love with Inuyasha...

Hanyou - Half-Demon

Jakotsu-tou - Snake-Bone Sword -- Jakotsu’s sword. It seems to be made up of several blades attached at the ends by small rings that allow it to bend and twist “like a snake.”

Youkai - Demon

Tetsusaiga - Iron Pulverizing Fang (or something along those lines)

Miko - Priestess

Taiyoukai/Daiyoukai - Great Demon. Basically it means a demon of supreme power-- Like Sesshomaru or his father, although Sesshomaru only seemed to achieve this in the series after his father’s death... ~*~  

A/N: Not certain if I like the end of this... but we’ll roll with it for now I guess... ^_^ Hopefully I’ll get Sess or someone like that in the next chapter... ^_^