InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ We Will Become Silhouettes ❯ It All Comes Down To This ( Chapter 20 )

 

 

 

We Will Become Silhouettes

 

 

Chapter 20: It All Comes Down to This

 

There were very few things that Sesshomaru let penetrate his thick shell; he had learned at a young age to never let anything get in, because chances are it would only hurt more when it touched inside. For sanity's sake, he had stuck with this policy for many years thereafter, but it seemed as if he had never even had such a policy as he stared up in horror at the blood stained sheet that covered what had to be Inuyasha.

 

From the different stains Sesshomaru could tell he was bleeding heavily from his midsection, and if the amount of blood dripping on the floor was any indication the wounds were very severe. The acrid smell alone stung his nostrils, and made his eyes water, and as he looked up at the covered up form of his injured lover he found that he didn't want to know what was underneath.

 

He didn't want to see his love in such a condition, not when he had allowed Inuyasha to be one of the only ones to penetrate his practically impenetrable barrier, because if he drew back that sheet to reveal lifeless eyes he was almost positive it would break him even further, and this time he doubted he would be able to recover.

 

“Curious to see what's underneath?” Naraku asked teasingly, making his way around so that he was standing to the side of the cloaked form of Inuyasha, a great distance away from Sesshomaru's bubbling wrath. He would kill the bastard whether Inuyasha was alive or dead, but it just depended on the amount of pleasure he would take from it when he got to see beneath the sheet.

 

Naraku had signed his own death warrant, of that he had no doubt. Inutaishou would march an army of thousands over these lands and wipe out every trace of the Lord of the North, but not before Sesshomaru got his fill of the blood that was going to spill from the body that had been foolish enough to harm that which was precious to him. He would reign terror on these lands, leaving no human or demon alive as he took his revenge! If Inuyasha was dead, this world would pay!

 

The inu-youkai watched in slow motion as Naraku slowly withdrew the sheet, revealing inch by inch the travesty that had occurred from the short period of time his lover had been there. He almost gagged as his eyes widened when two pairs of arms were revealed, sliced to ribbons by hair thin wires which had been hastily wrapped around delicate wrists, positioning them awkwardly above his head.

 

The head in question was sagged down, obviously in unconsciousness, and as the sheet fell to the floor Sesshomaru was left with a horrible realization.

 

It was the same….it was the same as when his...!!

 

A wave of nausea passed through him as his entire body froze up in shock. This couldn't be... How could this ever be possible?

 

“Look familiar does it?” Naraku asked, cold biting laughter filling the floor as Sesshomaru took in Inuyasha's bound form. It did look familiar... so hauntingly familiar. Those images were still burned into his brain, and no matter how hard he'd tried throughout his life he had never been able to erase it.

 

“How did you…” his voice cracked. “How did you know about…” He couldn't even finish his sentence as a dizzying sickness took over.

 

“Oh, Sesshomaru... Everyone knows about that,” Naraku teased, laughing about the most painful moment of his life.

 

His father... his father had been killed the same way. Cruelly bound up, bleeding from numerous parts of his body as the pain consumed him to the point of unconsciousness. It had been that act of cruelty that had sent Sesshomaru into a state of comatose depression for almost five years afterwards... Well that, and what had happened almost immediately after the incident.

 

Sesshomaru felt his legs seize up as a cold sweat overtook his body, watching in horror as blood gushed from Inuyasha's torso. He seemed to have at least four punctures through his stomach and chest, and his skin had an almost blue tinge to it. He couldn't tell, but from the terrible feeling in his chest that seemed to overwhelm him Inuyasha might as have well been dead already.

 

“Don't worry, love, your precious puppy is still alive.” Sesshomaru winced at the all too familiar nickname, retreating back to that dark place he had barely been able to crawl out of the last time.

 

No! No... He wouldn't let this happen again…He couldn't allow himself to once again become that pathetic youkai that had almost died so long ago.

 

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, letting a growl rip through his throat as he moved towards Inuyasha, bound and determined to get him down from the wall that he'd been bound up against carelessly. Naraku stepped in front of him though just before he could reach his injured mutt.

 

“He is dying. Nothing can save him now. As a matter of fact I'm surprised he's stayed alive this long.” Naraku smirked. “He is suffering, Sesshomaru…Wouldn't it be better to just put him out of his misery?”

 

Golden eyes glazed over as the words reverberated in his head, the very same words that he had said to himself right before…right before he had...

 

A discombobulating feeling entered him as he watched Naraku pull a sword out of his belt, turning it so that the hilt was facing the youkai, poised for him to grab at any time.

 

“Do what needs to be done, Sesshomaru... Kill your love in the very same way you took your father's life all those years ago.”

 

Sesshomaru envisioned himself running, so excited to see his father after the grand ceremony, only to find him like... that... only to remember picking up the blade... only to plunge it through his heart as the elder youkai gave him the go ahead nod to end his life, his pain and his humiliation.

 

Any innocence Sesshomaru had had left in him had taken a large, fatal blow that horrible night, only to be completely decimated a year later at Naraku's hands. Literally.

 

“Do it, Sesshomaru! Make your father proud!”

 

He couldn't move, he couldn't think, it was like he was frozen to that spot, trapped in his own painful memories as they played over and over in his head. At least back then he had felt pain, at least then he had felt rage bubble up inside of him to the point that he had hunted down and tortured and killed the assassins who had strung his father up in the first place, but now…now all he felt was the overwhelming helplessness he had as a child when he had first taken the sword into his hand. The very same helplessness he had felt about a year later when he had been pressed into the chilled floor, with that bastard's cock ramming mercilessly between his legs.

 

He actually jumped a little in surprise when the hilt of the handle touched his fingertips, and cursed himself for being reduced to such a weak state so easily. He would not let Naraku get to him. He could not let him get to him again so easily. He had trained himself, he had trained himself to move past this. He refused to let the overwhelming feeling of pain tightening and constricting his chest to once more dictate his life.

 

Even as he told himself all of this, Sesshomaru still found himself lightly grasping the end of the blade, taking hold of it as if it would fall apart at any moment if not handled the right way.

 

Why had he taken the sword? The familiar weight of the weapon pressed lightly into his hand, but he never felt a thing as he alternated between looking to the sword in his hand, and his almost dead hanyou hanging from the rafters. Could he do it? Could he end his only love's pain?

 

He had done it back then... He had stabbed the sword no bigger than this one through his father's chest, retracting it at the speed of light and swiping it across a convulsing neck, watching lifeless eyes stare up on him as the decapitated head rolled across the bloodstained earth at his feet.

 

Golden eyes shut, and he tried to ignore the tremor that was making the blade shake in his hands. He had come to a resolution, and he knew that beyond this point there was no more room left for failure.

 

It was like he was in some kind of trance as he raised the sword, bringing it up so that it was aligned with Inuyasha's heart. He had missed the heart back then, but he wouldn't this time. No, this time his aim would fly true. This time he wouldn't have to see that look of agony as he ripped a sword out of cartridge and bone and sliced it across a neck that seemed much too tender for its own good.

 

Why was it that everyone he loved was doomed to die by his own hand? What had he done in life to be punished so much for? No, he wouldn't blame his fate for this. This was his own fault. He had made his lover suffer the same fate as he had when he was younger, and now he was going to give him the same death as his father. No one was to blame but himself... and now was the time to end it.

 

Shutting his eyes, Sesshomaru couldn't stand to watch as he plunged the sword forward, knowing the hanyou's body so well that he didn't even need to look to at Inuyasha to know precisely where his heart was, he had broken it enough times to be able to find it in his sleep.

 

The sword swung through the air, hitting its target right on the mark, just barely piercing the flesh, and as it did, Sesshomaru's sensitive ears picked up a whimper. It happened so quickly, all in mere nanoseconds, though it felt more like an eternity, as he watched the last part of his soul crumble and die.

 

At the sound of the whimper his eyes shot open, coming into contact with another pair of golden ones, filled with so much pain as the tip of the sword hit the breastplate.

 

He was awake! Inuyasha still had enough fight in him to regain consciousness, and yet here he, Sesshomaru, was, stabbing him through the heart!

 

Not being able to stop the impact of the blow, Sesshomaru did the only thing he could to assure that his mate wouldn't suffer an instant death, and angled the blade away from the heart, stabbing it up through his ribcage so that it came out the shoulder blade, hearing a sickening gasp of pain come from Inuyasha as he did so.

 

Warm blood poured into his usually immaculate hair as he buried his face into his mate's chest, not being able to take the pained gurgling noises coming from Inuyasha's throat , or the twitching spasms that wracked his body from the shock it was going through. Sesshomaru's eyes widened to an impossible length as his whole body began to shake.

 

He had stabbed him! He had almost been Inuyasha's true executioner!!

 

No... it couldn't be true. He hadn't really let Naraku manipulate him once again, had he? He hadn't really tried to kill Inuyasha, had he? “NO!” he screamed, ripping the sword back out of the wound and slashing it across Inuyasha's body, slicing at the bindings and cutting the hanyou free so that his weak form fell right into his arms.

 

Keeping him securely against his chest, Sesshomaru fell to the ground, letting Inuyasha rest in his lap as he saw those scared golden eyes open with what little strength he had left, looking up at him as he bled out even more of the very little precious life blood still left to him.

 

“W-why... w-w-would... yo-u...” was all Inuyasha could gasp out as he stared up at him with a look of pained betrayal.

 

All Sesshomaru could do was shake his head back and forth as warm tears poured from his eyes, dripping onto the hanyou's face. “I didn't... I never wanted to hurt you.” He reached out, stroking Inuyasha's face. “I love you... Please stay with me... Don't leave me.”

 

Sesshomaru's mind flashed back into his past, revealing the memory of him as a child, many decades younger than Inuyasha was now. He had been cradling a severed head in his arms and crying the same thing to his father, and it only made him shake more.

 

“…Please,” was the last thing he said before Inuyasha's eyes shut and his body grew even colder, though Sesshomaru knew it was not death that drew the hanyou into unconsciousness... though by how things were going he knew in his heart that it wouldn't be long before it took his last breath. The injury he had dealt the half-demon himself had probably been the final blow.

 

With his bangs covering his tear stained cheeks, Sesshomaru carefully set the bundle in his arms on the floor, making sure his head was tilted back to prevent his love from choking on his own blood. It seemed that his entire body was just running by itself, and he was powerless to stop his actions as his soul lay trapped inside swimming in turmoil.

 

“I suppose you think you fooled me with that stunt of yours,” Sesshomaru growled out, and yet at the same time his voice sounded empty.

 

“Oh no, my love, I know I got you... There's just something oddly poetic about getting a person to slay their own mate that gives you a sense a purpose,” Naraku smirked, pulling a baboon pelt over his head, letting the empty eyes of the monkey mock him. “It doesn't hurt either, I suppose, that I got to see that erotic look of absolute suffering on your face that always worked on getting me off before…and you know what?” he asked, letting a hand travel down to his crotch and giving the obvious bulge a slight rub. “I think it's working this time as well. What do you say, Sesshomaru, once again for old times sake?”

 

“Fuck you!” the enraged inu youkai growled out, not believing the bastard would speak of such blasphemy with his mate bleeding to death beside him. “I'll kill you, and revel in how there won't be a spot on your entire body that's not gushing blood!”

 

“Come at me then, and then I'll cum inside you… I have so missed the experience.” Naraku stepped forward, and much to Sesshomaru chagrin he felt his knees shake a little in trepidation. “Tell me, love, are you still as tight as I remember? Or has that mutt of yours on the floor got to experience you first hand and stretched you out?”

 

Sesshomaru bit the inside of his cheek until he could taste blood as Naraku's words rolled over him, embarrassingly enough filling him with the same fear it had when he was younger... When he had known nothing besides that fear.

 

“No, I don't think you would let him have you... As a matter of fact I don't think you would let anyone have you,” Naraku smirked, as Sesshomaru couldn't stop the shudder that racked his spine when a cold hand came out, stroking across his face. Honestly, he felt like he was fourteen again and trembling under the insane bastard's touch. “It would remind you too much of all the times we made love.”

 

“Love,” Sesshomaru sneered, slapping the hand away in disgust. “Is that what they're calling rape nowadays?” He actually jumped a little when he felt two hands on his waist from behind, and knew that Naraku had used one of his puppets to distract him from the front.

 

“Oh, but you loved what I did to you… Even if your mind protested against it.” Those arms wrapped tightly around him, as memories he never wanted to remember flashed through his head, leaving him in an almost comatose state of utter fear. “Do you remember how your young body spasmed, releasing your essence into my awaiting hand as you cried and begged me to stop?” A chill racked Sesshomaru's spine when those hands around his waist traveled upwards, slipping underneath his haori and feeling the warm flesh underneath. “In my opinion, you never looked more beautiful.”

 

Feeling vomit creeping up his esophagus, Sesshomaru couldn't stand those hands on him anymore; damn his body to hell, he would not allow himself to once more become a bed slave! Reaching into his belt he used Tokijin to stab through Naraku's gut, at the same time using the blood stained sword the disgusting half breed had bestowed upon him to stab through the fake body towards his front.

 

Sesshomaru swiftly withdrew both blades, only to have two puppets fall in two at his feet. He cursed inwardly at himself, glancing around the room to see that a numerous number of Naraku's puppets had appeared all around, all appearing in the same baboon pelt that the twisted freak was known to sport.

 

A dark twisted laugh filled the air, multiplied ten fold by the amount of Naraku's surrounding him. Sesshomaru needed to find out which one was the real one, and then he could satisfy the darkness growing in his soul by feeding it his blood!

 

“I'd get your mutt, Sesshomaru, after all if you don't get him out soon you never will… and you'll only have one chance to get by me before I decide that you've grown boring and quit playing around.”

 

Sesshomaru narrowed his red rimmed eyes, not liking the fact that the bastard was completely right. He would only have one chance to get passed him if he wanted enough time to get Inuyasha out of there and to some kind of healer.

 

Leaning down, he picked up Inuyasha, not liking how he was almost weightless in his arms. The hanyou's head lolled against his chest, as Sesshomaru cradled his fragile lover with the utmost care. Every move he made and would make would have to be delicate and precise, yet with enough ferocity to kill instantly... because if he fought like he usually did in battles one wrong step could be Inuyasha's body's last jerk...

 

Holding Inuyasha with one hand, Sesshomaru let his other hand grip the hilt of Tokijin, scanning the room to try to determine which clone was real. His haori was getting soaked in blood all ready, and he knew that there wasn't enough time to figure out such things like which ugly bastard was real... No, he would just have to destroy them all!

 

Swiftly running forward, Sesshomaru took aim, slashing every single pelt he found, scowling as puppet after puppet fell broken to the ground. The bastard! Was he really so weak that he couldn't face him!? Could he really not face up to all the horrible things he had done!?

 

Sesshomaru's eyes bled red by this time, slashing through dozens of pelts with little resistance. “Coward!” he screamed, blood lust taking over the colder and colder his lover in his arms became. “I'll kill you! I'll rip all the skin off your bones!” His fangs elongated as his claws began to grow. This wasn't good…he was starting to transform!

 

Moving even faster, Sesshomaru made his way through the dummies, striking down everything in his path. His slashes grew wilder, less focused, all he cared about now was making him bleed. He needed to see blood that belonged to someone other than Inuyasha!

 

Throwing away the sword he began using his claws, noticing how the skin around his talons began to grow white with his fur. He needed to hurt something! He needed to kill! He needed to make this weak feeling in his body that he had sworn he'd never let come back leave, because if he didn't the very foundation he had managed to live by would fall apart!

 

“I'll kill you!” he screamed again, plunging through one of the Naraku's chests, only to hear a sickening sound as he pierced all the way through the chest, spilling blood all over the floor.

 

Feeling nothing but satisfaction at seeing the crimson liquid, he reached out, ripping off the baboon pelt so that he could see his face as he fell forward dead. Unfortunately he never got the chance, because as he pulled off the pelt it wasn't Naraku's face that he saw.

 

Warm, chocolate eyes filled with pain looked up at him as sticky blood poured from the hole down into Sesshomaru's chest, spilling down onto the bundle of hanyou in his arms and drenching the unconscious face in familiar blood.

 

“Lycani?” Some sense came back to Sesshomaru as he stared at the girl he utterly despised, bleeding out around his arm. So that had been Naraku's plan all along, Sesshomaru realized. In his own way it was Naraku's sick way of apologizing, because the bastard would never think of actually trying to kill Sesshomaru... He never had.

 

Lycani reached out, lightly touching Inuyasha's cold cheek as her whole body shook to remain conscious. “Help him…” she gasped, eyes growing dimmer by the second. “I couldn't... I tried... I...”

 

He gave her a nod, one that he doubted she saw, before she slumped forward, lifeless around his arm. She had been the reason for all of this, and now... Now she was dead... by his own hands no less, and yet given the circumstances, it didn't make him feel one bit better.

 

Pushing her off of him, he let her corpse fall to the ground as he scanned for Naraku, only seeing that he had obviously disappeared... The coward! He was gone! He was gone, and now he couldn't receive any kind of revenge except for the kind that now felt more empty than anything else.

 

Knowing he couldn't just leave her lying there, he grabbed the body of Lycani, flinging it over his shoulder as he swiftly ran from the castle... absolutely determined to get Inuyasha to safety before it became two corpses in his arms instead of one. He would return Lycani's corpse to her father later, but for now he only hoped beyond reason that he wouldn't have to take Inuyasha's back to his.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

As soon as he was far enough away from Naraku's estate to know that he hadn't been followed, Sesshomaru placed Lycani to the side, taking much more care in lying Inuyasha down to the ground, ripping the rags Naraku had placed him in away to see just how much damage had been done.

 

There were four holes running through Inuyasha's chest and torso, not including the stab wound that had been recently inflicted on him through his shoulder. The stagnant smell of infection filled his nose as he could see that the wounds that had yet to be treated were starting to rot.

 

Grabbing the rags, he tried to sop up as much of the excess blood as he possibly could, before leaning down and letting his tongue taste the bitter coppery substance as he licked at the wounds, hoping beyond anything that the healing powers in his saliva would be enough to close them.

 

Even with Inuyasha's youkai half, he could only lose so much blood without being able to regenerate it, and he knew that he was coming dangerously close to his limit. Inu youkai were born with one major flaw; once they became seriously injured those wounds never seemed to heal without the healing power in their saliva. Since Inuyasha hadn't been conscious there was no way he could possibly lick his own wounds... So Sesshomaru would have to do it for him.

 

His tongue slid up his mate's skin, already knowing every contour to travel as his appendage cooled at the touch. He tried not to think about the fact that the first time he had touched his lover in days was when he was dying on the ground.

 

The more Sesshomaru's tongue passed over that cold skin, the less blood came seeping out. He knew the wounds were beginning to close, and yet he had no idea if it was enough to save Inuyasha from his dark fate.

 

Practically cleaning Inuyasha's skin till it sparkled, Sesshomaru leaned down towards the body underneath him, careful not to place any of his body weight on the barely rising chest. He nuzzled his face against the adorable dogs ears that he had always loved to play with, breathing in the scent that had succeeded to bring him endless comfort.

 

“I'm sorry... I'm so sorry I let this happen to you, but please don't leave me... I never want you to leave my side again,” Sesshomaru whispered. His tongue snaked out, softly licking his lover's cheek, letting his lips meet where his tongue left off, placing a gentle kiss on the hanyou's cheek as he once more picked him up, heading with great haste towards the western lands.

 

,,,,,,,,,,,

 

Miroku sat in the glorious palace of the West, tapping his foot impatiently, his hand bound firmly with his girlfriend's who looked just as worried as he felt. Kagome was on the other side of the room, curled up with Kouga as all four of them sat in wait for Sesshomaru to return with word about their friend.

 

He had been gone almost an entire day, and normally that wouldn't be grounds to worry because it took quite some time to get to the north, but Sesshomaru could travel there in just a few hours time, so the fact that he had already been gone so long was enough to make anyone worry.

 

Inutaishou was also still gone, still resolving a matter in the northern lands that had drawn his attention away. No doubt a clever scheme of Naraku's for whatever sinister purpose he had cooked up. All the young monk knew was that the longer time went by without word, the more worried he grew for his headstrong friend that always seemed to find himself in the deepest of trouble.

 

“Do you think something's happened?” Kagome asked quietly, burrowing her face into Kouga's arms as he wrapped her closer to him. “This shouldn't have taken so long! Someone should have been back by now!”

 

“It'll be fine,” Miroku said comfortably, and yet inside he knew that it wouldn't. Inuyasha had had too many close calls before... He had been too lucky. He couldn't help but think that this might be the one fatal time that his luck finally ran out. “Inuyasha always does stuff like this, and we worry for no reason... I'm sure this time it'll be the same,” he spoke empty words that he had absolutely no faith in.

 

Sango gave him a sad smile, patting his thigh as she leaned into him, and once more they all fell into a quiet depression, just waiting for the pin to drop. That pin came in the form of the doors slamming open and a whirlwind of trouble rushing in.

 

Miroku watched with wide, unseeing eyes as Sesshomaru came through the door, covered head to foot in blood and carrying two bodies in his arms. He heard a scream from somewhere in the room, and he knew it must be coming from Kagome, but he couldn't even look her way and attempt to comfort her.

 

No, he could do nothing but stare at Inuyasha's mangled form as he took in Sesshomaru's tear stained eyes and how he was practically shaking. He first placed Lycani down, and to Miroku's horror he saw that no life seemed to be in her.

 

“What happened!?” Miroku heard Kagome scream, running up to the youkai who growled her off Inuyasha whenever she got too close.

 

“Kagome, stay away from him!” the monk found himself saying, grabbing his friend's arms and pulling her back from the obviously half insane youkai. He had seen Sesshomaru angered, but this wasn't like that at all... It was almost as if he was to the point of breaking down, and the fresh tears pouring unnoticed down his face, washing away the stained blood, only helped confirm this fact.

 

“Sesshomaru, what happened?” Miroku tried to say calmly. However, when he finally, truly took in the battered condition Inuyasha was in he couldn't help but be anything but horrified himself.

 

Sesshomaru didn't answer him, and instead clutched Inuyasha even harder as he looked down at the hanyou with glassy eyes. He reached out, stroking at Inuyasha's blood stained hair, nuzzling into his neck. Miroku didn't think his friend was dead, but then again by the looks of him he very well could be.

 

“Help him,” were the two words quietly uttered, and Miroku had to strain his ears even to hear the soft spoken request coming from Sesshomaru's mouth. “I couldn't... help him.” He squeezed the body tighter. “Everyone dies, and I can't help them... I need him to live... I need him to be with me.”

 

Miroku stood in shock as the coldest youkai he had ever met broke down in front of him, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Kouga heading towards the strange acting lord.

 

The wolf prince reached out tentatively, feeling Inuyasha's pulse and seeming to give a sigh of relief when he obviously found one. “He's alive,” the ookami announced, and as he did Miroku noticed how both Kagome and Sango began to cry in relief. “Sesshomaru, we have to take him to the infirmary. We can get him help there.”

 

Even though Sesshomaru seemed to be completely gone, Miroku still saw him nod, and Kouga motioned towards Kagome, who ran ahead to immediately inform the healers. They would take Inuyasha back there, and they would save his life... they had to!

 

They whole lot of them headed through the halls silently, the looming presence of the whole situation finally sinking in for all of them, and with little notice, Miroku felt his cheeks began to grow moist as well.

 

How could something like this happen? How could such terrible things have transpired when just a few months ago they had been so happy? More importantly, just what would Miroku do if his very best friend left him here all alone? He wouldn't let that happen. He would not let Inuyasha die! He had to save him... If not for Inuyasha's sake, then for his own!

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

 

 

A.N- Wait, what is this this? It couldn't possibly be…no I think it is! It's an update! I bet you probably thought you'd never seen the day! But I was moving, and I'm sorry for the delay! Do you still love me?

 

Oh and I feel it's my duty as an author to explain to you part of my inner mind workings of this story…one of the reasons why it took Sesshomaru so long tell Inuyasha he loves him, is because Naraku has always called Sess love in a cruel manner…and so yeah, he's kinda freaked out by it.

 

And I'm sorry for writing the most depressing chapter ever…it was soooo hard to do! I almost cried!

 

Anyways! Please review, I feel very self-conscious about this chapter! Yay!