InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ War's Shadow ❯ Deceptive Calm ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 4 – Deceptive Calm

As he sat to wait out the last of the night, Sesshoumaru peered up at the sky, watching as starlight twinkled down at him from further away than his mind could fathom. That light was already beyond ancient by the time it reached him. He liked to travel at night, perhaps partially for that reason. Daylight was for those things that passed quickly; at night the things that were more secure in their permanence ruled. Those stars would outlast him, one of the few things that lessened his own significance. How odd that he liked them.

There was some movement nearby as Rin shifted in sleep again. She was obviously uncomfortable and not resting well, but he knew from past experience that she would adjust, and relatively quickly. He had been forced to stop them when her footsteps began to slow from weariness, but had been unable to find any sort of decent shelter, which meant a few hours of sleep spent in the colder elements. She never complained, but he knew she was tired and numb from the early-spring chill, which was why he was seated beside her instead of taking the still hours to wander a bit on his own.

He was sitting with his back to Ah-Un, which was the only other creature that remained awake with him. The beast gazed placidly about, one head turned to the south, the other to the east. Ah-Un was stuck as he was, a source of heat for a weary human girl and a cold-blooded toad that, demon or not, hated winter with a vocal passion. Jaken was heaving out rasping breaths as he slept, sprawled on Ah-Un's back and completely oblivious to everything around him.

Another movement. This time Rin sat up with a tired sway, her hair falling in tangles to her elbows, wearing a faint expression that said she was still mostly asleep.

"Rin?" he questioned, but became aware that she was not fully awake when she turned a blank, sleep-confused stare on him, looking as though she was barely recognizing him as being there.

"Cold," she murmured, reaching for the small nest of blankets she had brought and pulling them more closely around her before lying back down again.

He felt sorry for her, but there was nothing to be done about it. It had been her choice to come.

You could have said no, his mind told him.

Yes, but he had not really wanted to. Rin had become a natural part of his ordered lifestyle. Where he was, she was, and that was all there was to it. It was astounding to him that within the space of less than a year since she had rejoined him, she had managed to become such a fixture within his life.

He was learning to be grateful for that type of relationship, something that had always eluded him in the past, to the point where he had been unaware that it was something he would even want. And yet, at the same time, he was displeased. It had been unwise for him to allow his heart to go this far.

Sesshoumaru had been serious when he had told Rin that remaining with him would mean that their relationship would not be able to change overly much, but that had not been exactly so. Publicly, their relationship did not truly exist, though rumors abounded. Safety was maintained as long as those rumors did not become fact. Physically, their relationship was held at bay. There was a boundary that Sesshoumaru would not step past, despite Eizan's suggestions to the contrary. That was not always easy to adhere to, but Sesshoumaru prided himself on his immense self-restraint. It was absolutely necessary for Rin's best interests as well as his.

Still, a great change had manifested itself within him. Their relationship had been altered, and in a way he could not prevent. She extended great amounts of love and affection and feeling toward him, and it was becoming difficult not to respond to that. The emotions that came from her were almost foreign to him. Who had he cared for in his lifetime? A very, very small number of people, something that he did not regret. It complicated life when one became concerned with the welfare of too many people. Sesshoumaru liked things to stay simple.

And for someone who preferred simplicity, he had turned his life into a complex menagerie of strange feelings, things that were forcing him to learn how to interact with someone on a more intimate level, a constant battle of expression and restraint.

He recognized that part of the reason he was about to become involved in this war was the right to be able to keep her with him. That is what this would turn into. Beyond the bad blood between Eizan's family and his own, and the conflict surrounding his complete rejection of Elif, there had been something underlying Eizan's words the day he had come to inform Sesshoumaru that their dispute was about to be settled. Eizan would not allow for Elif to be rejected in favor of a human girl.

He would have to win this war. Beyond the fact that his pride demanded it, there were issues at stake here that would affect more than him. Eizan's winning would mean that Sesshoumaru's territory would belong to someone else. He would demand Sesshoumaru's death, naturally, but that would mean Rin's as well. He had not discussed the stakes with her, as he did not want to make her any more nervous than she already was. Besides, she was entirely confident that he could win, she believed in him as an infallible source of protection.

He was not that, but damned well near it. He found that he became especially motivated when problems tended to involve Rin ... yet another side effect of becoming too closely entangled with a human creature.

"How long until dawn?" her prone form suddenly mumbled, raising her head to look around her with the bewilderment that came from being half-asleep.

"Not long," he replied quietly. "It will be warmer today," he assured her. And it would be. He could feel the subtle changes in the air that came with the shift between winter and spring.

She sat up again, this time more awake, and glanced back at Jaken, who was still collapsed over Ah-Un just behind her, snoring away. Pulling her blankets with her, she settled closer to Sesshoumaru until her body was welded next to his, leg to leg, cold hands burying themselves in the sleek white fur of the pelt that hung over his right shoulder.

He was always warm ... an ever-present source of unfazed heat, and much better than the fire that was consistently sending up sparks into the darkness.

"Of all your abilities, I envy this one the most," she said with a small yawn.

"This one?"

"The ability to stay warm no matter what. Do you even know what it's like to be cold?"

"Yes, though it usually requires far colder temperatures than these for me to take much notice." He paused and then decided to divulge an old memory, since she always seemed so fascinated by his past. "When I was a very young child, I was caught in a blizzard. It took my father a while to find me ...."

"Because you blended in?" Rin guessed with a small laugh.

"Yes," he replied with a serious nod. "It is difficult to find a white-haired child amidst snow drifts. High winds hindered an attempt to find me through scent. It was an. … uncomfortable night."

"And when he found you?" Rin asked curiously, finding it difficult to imagine the stoic, ever self-sufficient Sesshoumaru as some lost, helpless child.

"He was exasperated,” Sesshoumaru replied, looking amused as he thought back to the old memory.

"But glad to see you?" Rin said, a light smile tugging at her lips.

"Always,” he agreed with another nod.

"Do you miss him?"

"You ask strange questions,” he answered, evading her.

Rin grinned at this expected response. "I'm just trying to keep you talking."

He glanced at her, eyes like liquid gold in the firelight. “That will be your challenge, I suppose.”

“I’ve known that for a long time,” she answered, thinking that, indeed, it was likely going to take another sixty years or so of being with him to get him to engage in a complete conversation. Over long years of being alone, he had acquired the frustrating habit of simply not responding when he was spoken to.

She leaned her head over onto his shoulder and exhaled a weary sigh, blinking burning eyes. The wind blew through again, but this time Rin found she was no longer cold. “There are a lot of things I don’t know about you. When I can get you to talk, it helps fill in some of the mysteries.”

He was silent for a moment before saying, “Perhaps it is not that I dislike speaking, and more that I prefer to listen.”

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As she walked toward the fortress home of the dog demon Kanaye, Zadi could feel the moon’s radiance casting down on her from overhead. It was as though someone was walking behind her with an oil lamp, bright enough to hue the grass a midnight blue, illuminating her path.

She did not know Eizan’s true motives in all of this, and was inherently suspicious of the demon lord, as he had greeted her and her people from the very beginning with open hostility. That had been his mistake. It had been her desire for a peaceful coexistence, and so she had not pursued any sort of retribution for the unprovoked attack. She had simply laid claim to her tribe’s new home and instructed Eizan to go away.

And now he thought she was another pawn to be carefully maneuvered within his game. He was ridiculous. She had no interest in the lives or deaths of the demons, nor their petty squabbles. She didn’t even know why exactly it was that Eizan was so intent on killing off the remnants of an almost extinct family.

Her purpose in this was to reclaim Ashitera from the wasteland that was a society that snubbed her. With the little girl’s mother recently dead, there was no one left to take an interest in her. Zadi had witnessed that just the night before, when Ashihei, Eizan’s spineless, self-important youngest son, had arrived and brought the child to see her, to prove that she was alive and well cared for. “Well” being the arguable word … she was clean, and appropriately dressed, but Zadi had noticed that they only referred to her as “the child” or “the hanyou”. Ashitera in turn referred to her father as “Ashihei-sama”.

No, this was certainly not a family that welcomed her, and Zadi supposed that the only reason she had been kept with them at all was for the purpose she was being used for now … payment to Zadi for services rendered.

Fine. Eizan wanted a hired assassin, and he would have one. When this was over and done, it would be he who would pay the consequences for such aggression. Demons were an inherently belligerent species. Eizan’s single-handed destruction of another lord’s realm was not going to go over well, no matter how much he tried to convince himself of the contrary. All the more reason to retrieve Ashitera now, before matters escalated further. Then she would be able to witness Eizan’s implosion from the outside.

Ahead in the inky darkness, she could see the outlines of several buildings, most of which were situated behind a massive, crumbling stone wall. This place gave off an aura of seclusion, with nothing to keep it company save a small human-inhabited town some miles to the west.

To live alone in such a remote location, this Kanaye was clearly not a sociable creature, but Zadi could understand that. Sometimes it was better to keep to yourself. Her people had long since learned that.

She looked up and to her left then, feeling the slight movement of disturbed air as a shadow moved among the trees before changing its course to come in her direction.

Unsociable … but clearly more than willing to greet his guests.

And he was quick, too. By the time Zadi had turned her head back to face the looming fortress, her keen eyesight caught onto the gleam of moonlight flashing off of a tall, armored form. His hair was long and pulled back from his face, hands held at his sides, but still radiating a menacing threat.

Completely unconcerned, she inspected him through curious eyes, thinking again how strange this land was, to have such creatures roaming freely. On first glance, he appeared mostly human, but there was a feral gleam in his golden eyes and that impossibly white hair framed a youthful face that belied centuries of life. He was clearly not human ... and would likely have decapitated her for the comparison.

"Kanaye-sama?" she called in greeting, coming to a halt, her long hair and skirt blowing lightly in the sudden gathering of wind.

“I can only assume that a human having found her way to my home means she became lost and took an unwise course of direction,” he stated coldly in a low, silky voice that hinted at a serious contemplation of violence. “For surely you did not come to seek me out.”

“Actually, I did,” she replied, smiling lightly at his arrogance. “Please draw your weapon.”

Kanaye’s eyebrows rose at this invitation as he regarded the strange, dark-haired human woman that stood at a distance, but not nearly far enough away to secure her safety. Kanaye reached for the hilt of his sword and unsheathed it, holding it loosely in one hand.

“Are you seeking death, human? There are better ways to meet it,” he told her, wondering vaguely if she was suicidal or simply her village’s lost idiot.

“Yes, I am,” she replied quietly, her senses feeling for the youki that clung to his weapon, “but not my own. Forgive my rudeness, but this is necessary.”

The demonic energy that surrounded the blade appeared as a physical thing to her eyes, swirling, bound to the weapon; an aid to its own destruction. As Kanaye moved to attack her, Zadi struck first without even having to shift her stance.

Kanaye was in mid-leap when he felt a searing heat gather within the hand that grasped his sword, burning to an inferno as the blade itself swelled, glowed red-hot, and then exploded in a hurtling shower of shrapnel that sliced cleanly through skin.

He hit the ground instantly, too astounded to even feel pain at first, suddenly enveloped by the heavy metallic scent of his own blood. He pushed himself back up from the slick grass, allowing his demon blood to surge in his defense, but before he could attempt a transformation into his true form, there was a sickening crack and complete darkness.

Zadi watched her victim as he fell back to the earth, lifeless and limp. She did not appreciate bloodshed, but sometimes it was necessary. One target was now down and with little expended effort. As soon as she saw to the other two, her role in this would be finished.

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He was waiting again. Constantly waiting. Kagome was slow as hell whenever she went home. She would kiss him goodbye, jump into that cursed hole, and go "shopping" with her irritating, overly-talkative, shrill modern friends. It's not that he wanted to go with them … he'd sooner have his ears pulled off, but it annoyed him that he didn't have the option. As it was, Ayumi, Yuka, and Eri already thought he was a little odd. After all, they generally only saw him one night out of the month. Kagome had decided it would be too much of a hassle to constantly make him wear the hats, and so he only visited her friends when he was human.

She thought it was a hassle? He was doubly grateful that he only turned human once a month.

Still ... her mom was probably cooking something good ... it was dinner time here ... which meant it was dinner time there, and Inuyasha could almost swear he could smell the tantalizing scent of cooking steak. He could risk it, he supposed. He could go visit Kagome's family while she was out and get her mom to cook for him ... but he could just imagine the "Osuwari!" he would get if she came back with her friends and found him there.

Crossing his arms in quiet defiance, he paced restlessly, a victim to his own boredom. There was nothing to do to entertain himself. Hanging out with Sango and Miroku was dangerous at the moment. Sango was expecting their second child and while the exterminator Sango was a foe to be reckoned with, pregnant Sango was downright terrifying. Inuyasha had learned to steer clear of her at times like this, but he was constantly amazed at how she could go from sweet and kind to raving bitch in less than a completely-formed sentence.

Although, there was some entertainment to be had in Miroku's torture. The monk had long since learned to keep his eyes straight ahead at all times. A nasty concussion awaited him if he dared look in the direction of anything that was remotely feminine.

There was always Kaede, but that old woman complained about him too much, always calling him "troublesome" or “obnoxious”. Shippou was a brat. Enough said.

That left waiting for Kagome.

And even Kagome herself was acting strangely lately. Whenever she came back from her ventures at home, she would return with these strange books filled with pictures of women in long, heavy white dresses. Kagome would always ask his opinion, and he would just say the women would be unable to escape a dangerous situation ensconced in so much material. It was impractical. That had apparently not been the right answer.

Kagome had explained that they were "wedding clothes" and she had gone on to tell him about the purpose and meaning behind such a ceremony in her time. Inuyasha had done his best to stay awake throughout her speech, but had gotten little out of it save for that fact that Kagome obviously wanted some huge scene so that her family could gawk at them in those hideous clothes.

Inuyasha just didn't understand. Kagome was his mate. That was that. To hell with the flower petals and mushy “parting at death” crap. Human women were crazy and irrational. Both Sango and Kagome were the easy verification of that.

Before he could resign himself to eternal boredom, his nose picked up a vaguely familiar scent clinging to the air. His ears swiveled at a rushing sound that came from the wind. As he turned to look over his shoulder, a darkly clothed demon materialized only a few feet away from him, appearing very casual and wearing a faint smile.

"Inuyasha," the elegantly-dressed youkai greeted in a noncommittal tone.

"Yeah?" Inuyasha asked, turning slightly so he could eye the guy a little bit better. He could safely guess who this was. He smelled just the same as the idiot that had tried to lead that army past the village the other day. Great … well, at least it's better than staring down an empty well.

"My name is Eizan. I am---"

"Yeah, I know who you are," Inuyasha interrupted, not losing his look of boredom. "Let me guess: you're here to fight me over that ass-kicking I gave your army the other day.”

"Not at all," Eizan replied easily. "My son is reckless. He did not have my permission to cross into the west with his men. However, that will soon change."

"And why is that?" Inuyasha asked with casual interest.

"Your brother, Sesshoumaru, and I are having some problems that he refuses to resolve by any means other than violence."

"Heh ... I'd believe that," Inuyasha muttered, turning to sit on the rotting wood that surrounded the well. This was only slightly more fascinating than watching an empty well, but the prospect of hearing someone’s complaints about Sesshoumaru was at least on par with watching Miroku get the Sango-version of “Osuwari!”

"I thought you would,” Eizan replied. “I wondered if you might not be reasonable about this, considering your own history with him. I wanted to make sure to pay you a visit to discuss exactly what can be expected from you in this conflict."

"It's none of my business,” Inuyasha answered with a shrug, though he was now eyeing Eizan carefully. There was just something about this guy he didn’t like … something that set off alarm bells. “You go ahead and beat the crap out of each other. Neither of you need my permission. But I'm curious .... what do you actually want out of this? Besides making Sesshoumaru eat dirt, that is."

"I want someone other than Sesshoumaru to be in control of these lands,” Eizan answered instantly, the very image of seriousness. “Has he discussed his problems with me before?"

"Sesshoumaru and I aren't chatty," Inuyasha responded. “He doesn’t tell me anything, and I don’t give a damn. It’s a good arrangement.”

"Then I can count on you not to become involved in this?” Eizan asked, hands moving to idly adjust the armor that surrounded his wrist and forearm. “I know that the two of you are estranged, but ….”

"Frankly speaking, he's a bastard,” Inuyasha said, piercing Eizan with a cool stare, “but I get the feeling that you're a lot like him. Keep this between yourselves and I won’t get involved."

“You truly have so little interest in your father’s territory?” Eizan asked, sounding almost suspicious, as though he could not fully comprehend the true motivation behind Inuyasha’s apparent disinterest.

"None. Although, if I had to lay a bet, it'd be on Sesshoumaru. Things have a way of getting dismembered when he gets pissed off. I'd recommend you just apologize for whatever you did and leave things alone,” Inuyasha suggested as, behind him, his ears caught the light sounds of feet impacting the bottom of the well, followed by a slow and steady climb up the slick, rocky wall, then a delicately-worded curse.

“I will accept your word then, Inuyasha,” Eizan replied with that same vague smile, very much like a vulture that was trying to decide which piece of carrion to dive onto first. He watched as Inuyasha was distracted by a gathering commotion from within the well. A human girl’s head poked up out of the dark hole, followed quickly by the rest of her body.

“Interesting …” Eizan murmured, quirking an eyebrow at this bizarre scene as Inuyasha moved to extend a hand to pull Kagome the rest of the way out of the well, only to have his arms filled instead by a dozen multi-colored paper bags.

As Inuyasha turned to make a rude comment about that observation, he blinked when he found that the clearing was empty. Eizan had already taken his leave.

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Should I? she wondered. Is it really worth it?

Rin eyed the small stream Sesshoumaru had found with much trepidation. The snow had all melted away, save for a few patches of thin, lingering ice in the shadier places of the forest around her. The air still held a faint chill, but it was warm enough to be comfortable, as he had promised. But the water ... the water was sure to be frigid.

Pulling off one of her new boots, Rin sat down on the edge of the stream's bank and extended her foot until the toes made contact with the water. Instantly, she pulled them back, creating an outward-spreading ripple, cursing silently when she discovered that 'frigid' was not nearly descriptive enough. But it had to be done. Her hair felt disgusting. She had dirt under fingernails. It couldn't go on this way ....

"The water will not come to you," Sesshoumaru's voice called out from behind her, and she turned her head to find that he had apparently come in search of her.

"I'm trying to decide whether I'm dirty enough to do this to myself," Rin explained, frowning apprehensively.

"And are you?" he questioned in return, walking forward to inspect the nearly-idle stream of water. The sun was casting rays down from above, making it look deceptively inviting.

"Yes, she answered him, looking pained to have to say it. “You're very lucky."

"And why is that?"

"You don't get dirty," she teased.

"That's not so."

Purposefully set on getting clean, Rin began first by rolling up her sleeves and shoving her arms under the water. She rubbed her hands together and then began an attempt to clean her nails, which had become broken and jagged from climbing up hills and over rocks during the last several days.

She finally pulled her hands back out and dried them, suppressing a shiver from the chill. "I'm going to do it,” she said resolutely, though made no effort to move the rest of her body toward the water.

Sesshoumaru inclined his head slightly and rose gracefully back to his feet. “See to your torturous bath, Rin. Jaken and I will wait."

But as he turned to take his leave, he stopped and went still, as though listening for something. Rin watched him curiously as he stood like a statue. Budding branches swayed quietly overhead. The birds stopped chirping.

“Your bath will have to wait,” Sesshoumaru said, gesturing for her to rise to her feet and follow him.

Rin grabbed her boots and stood quickly to do just that. She trailed closely behind him as he moved forward in a purposeful direction, one that was not taking them back to Jaken, but instead into the deepening cover of the trees. It was not long before Rin’s ears also picked up on what he had been hearing; there was the echoing sound of a voice that was gaining volume as it shrieked a panicked “Sesshoumaru-sama!”

Sesshoumaru finally stopped and Rin studied his expression, wondering what this could be about. This person was clearly looking for him. Maybe Eizan had tried to attack somewhere else? Her gaze was brought back to the trees as a short, furred body hurtled out from the forest, gasping and clearly out of breath.

“Zeshu, what is this?” Sesshoumaru asked, his features gathering in a light frown as the much shorter youkai dropped to his knees in a motion of obeisance.

“Kanaye-sama … Kanaye-sama …,” the creature gasped as he tried to speak and inhale breath at the same time.

“What about him?” Sesshoumaru inquired in a tone that was settled neatly between curious and impatient.

“He was attacked and lingers near death,” the raccoon-like demon finally got out in one last exhalation.

Sesshoumaru’s body language instantly changed to something more confrontational. “By whom?” he questioned, though his mind could easily guess. The timing of this was too exact to be coincidence. Of course, Eizan would first go for the one that was not expecting the assault. Annoyed with himself for being lax in warning Kanaye, Sesshoumaru glared at the huddled servant, awaiting verification of his suspicions.

“I do not know. He sensed something last night and went to investigate … he never returned and when I found him ….”

“I can assume he didn’t send you to ask for my help,” Sesshoumaru said wryly, absolutely certain that Kanaye would prefer death if faced with the alternative of politely requesting a revival courtesy of Tenseiga and his nephew.

“No, my lord, I came to find you on my own,” the creature’s black eyes moved then from the ground to Sesshoumaru’s stony expression. “Will you help him?”

“If he’s not dead, there is little I can do for him at the moment.”

“Sesshoumaru-sama …."

Faintly exasperated at this nearly tearful plea, Sesshoumaru responded, “I didn’t say I wouldn’t come, Zeshu. Pry your face out of the ground, and we’ll go.”