InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Youkai Forest ❯ 1 ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 1

As Sesshomaru sat upon the boulder, eyes searching for danger; his face an expressionless mask, he thought about the past year when he had first met Rin to when Naraku had kidnapped her. "That bastard hanyou is still out there and this Sesshomaru will make sure he dies! I will have my revenge on him for daring to take what's mine!" Lifting his hand, he absently ran his fingers through the silky hairs of his tail on his shoulder. "But, every time that hanyou Naraku manages to elude me. He has too many tricks up his sleeve and he is too cowardly to face me in person.....maybe this Sesshomaru should join Inu-Yasha's group and help them since they seem to meet up with that bastard quite often." He frowned, "No.....This Sesshomaru will not lower himself as of yet to join with my lowly brother."

Sighing, Sesshomaru turned his gaze skyward, closed his eyes and listened to Rins laughter as it rang through the forest. Suddenly, the laughter ceased abruptly; the wind that had been blowing away from him, shifted. Taking a deep breath, Sesshomaru detected the overpowering scent of fear and a metallic smell that could only be blood. "Rin!" he whispered, surging to his feet. The Western Lord didn't hesitate a second, using his great speed, he ran towards the scent. Bursting through the underbrush, he glanced around the clearing. Immediately, he spotted Jaken's corpse lying in a pool of blood; apparently Jaken had been speared through the chest by a very large object. His staff was still in his hand and a look of shock was frozen on his face. "This Sesshomaru needs to know what has happened and what it was that has taken my Rin. I have no choice but to do this even though he doesn't deserve it," he said, reaching a hand towards Tensiaga's hilt. In one swift motion, he drew the sword and slashed it through the toads body, reviving him. "Jaken, what happened here that you have managed to not only lose Rin, but get killed in the process?" Sesshomaru growled, his icy tone of voice sending chills down the toads spine.

"Aaaaa!" Jaken squawked. "L-lord Sesshomaru! I-I-we were looking for food like you had ordered and then Rin started her usual teasing and....."

"Jaken!" Sesshomaru growled, quietly.

The toad demon froze before blurting out, "I-it was horrible!" Jaken quaked under his masters chilling glare. "I--I tried to save her, but the creature was too fast. It came out of nowhere and attacked us. I used the staff of heads to fend it off, but it was resistant to fire and grabbed Rin before it killed me." Jaken knew he was dead and that he was living on borrowed time. "I-I've never seen the like of it b-before, my Lord."

Sesshomaru frowned, his thoughts hidden behind an expressionless face. "I will let you live for now, toad. This Sesshomaru has more important matters to deal with at the moment." He turned away, lifted his nose into the air and sniffed. He detected a faint scent of something foreign and demonic. "Grrrrrrr," he growled loudly, unable to suppress his reaction to the scent as his instincts warred with an unknown emotion. This scent was something he had never smelled before and it intermingled with Rin's scent. Sesshomaru knew that he needed to get to Rin and quickly. Sesshomaru also knew that he was the one at fault for letting her go off on her own. He had ignored the warnings of his father to stay out of this forest, but he had brushed them off as mere fairytails meant to frighten a pup into behaving. So he had made the decision to cut through the forest to shorten the distance he had to travel. Now, he wasn't so sure that they were fairytails. Unconsciously, his youkai began to rise and he whispered menacingly, "No one takes what is mine....and Rin_ is_ mine!"

Jaken shuddered in fear and began backing away from his master. He noticed his masters eyes turning red and gulped. Quickly, he backed away as he heard his master cracking his knuckles in preparation of the on coming fight. Jaken didn't want to be in his masters way or Lord Sesshomaru might just take a swipe at him with his poison claws. "I have seen Lord Sesshomaru react this way only once. And, that was when Naraku kidnapped Rin. He's way beyond angry now.......he's furious!"

Drawing Tokijin from its sheath, Sesshomaru took off into the forest, hot on the trail of Rin's scent. "Rin's scent has changed, she's unconscious," he growled, picking up the pace to a dead run. He had been running for over two hours when suddenly, the trail ended at the base of a monstrous white tree. Sniffing the air, Sesshomaru snarled as his anger rose to unprecedented heights. He glanced around and saw nothing that would indicate where she had gone. Circling the clearing he continuously scented the air for her, but could not detect the faintest whiff of his Rin's scent! The trail stopped right here, but she was no where in sight. Deciding that he should try listening for anything unusual that might give him a hint as to what direction she was in, Sesshomaru paused, quieted his breathing and listened.

*babump*

"What was that?" he thought, cocking his head to the right while trying to pickup the sound again.

*babump.....babump*

There it was again. "It sounds like a.....heart beating?" Now thoroughly confused, the youkai lord furrowed his brow in puzzlement. "Where is it coming from? I'm the only thing here, so what is causing it?" Slowly, Sesshomaru's eyes were drawn towards the tree. He stared hard at it before moving closer. As he neared the tree, the sound seemed to get louder.

*babump*

He took a step closer.

*babump*

And another step.

*babump*

Standing at the base of the tree, the lord of the Western Lands frowned, "This Sesshomaru has never seen a tree like this before. Yet, it seems to be alive if my ears are not deceiving me......the heart beat seems to be coming from..." he lifted his eyes towards the treetops while keeping his gaze on the trunk. "There!" Quickly, he gathered himself and jumped to the nearest branch. Landing lightly, he noticed a strange shadowy shape embedded inside the tree. "The shape seems oddly familiar. It looks like a small child......"

Eyes widening, Sesshomaru whispered her name in recognition, "Rin!"

Taking a step closer he reached out his hand and placed it upon the bark of the tree; directly over her form. It felt warm to the touch and he could feel the beating of her heart. Suddenly, he heard Rins voice in his mind, but it echoed and intertwined with thousands of other voices, "Sesshomaru-sama......Rin is in a dark place, it's warm and quiet here. Rin feels funny...something is wrong. Rin is getting very tired. Rin is scared. Sesshomaru-sama......please come save Rin."

With a loud cry, Sesshomaru yanked his hand back and lifted Tokijin in preparation to free her. Something in his chest wrenched and twisted; he ignored it, but paused as a thought ran through his mind, "No. I cannot get her out with the sword. I might accidentally hurt her." He sheathed the sword and then raised his arm, cracking his knuckles in preparation while muttering, "I should use my acid attack to melt her out of the tree."

Swiftly, he slashed his claws across the bark, melting it. The tree shuddered and shook wildly while an ear piercing screeching noise echoed throughout the forest. It was difficult to maintain his balance as the strange tree bucked and swayed; its limbs thrashed wildly in pain. Eyes never once leaving the motions of the wildly swinging limbs, Sesshomaru reached inside the dark cavity and retrieved his ward. Shielding her with his tail, he dodged several spear-like limbs intent on impaling him. One managed to draw blood from his shoulder; from that wound and intense pain erupted. It felt like his whole shoulder was being melted away. The only thing that made it worse was that it wasn't healing at all and he could feel a strange poison spreading throughout his body. "Arrrrrg!" he cried out, before he could control his reaction. Coming to a swift decision he growled, "I cannot risk her life in a battle against this creature," before jumping down and dashing away towards the clearing where he had left Jaken.

Suddenly, a rustling noise came from behind him. Sesshomaru glanced over his shoulder, he could see multiple root like limbs, each tipped with a deadly point pursuing him through the forest. "Fuck!" he cursed, his eyes widened in surprise before turning his attention back to where he was going. Sesshomaru ran faster, while dodging each strike that tried to end his life.

*********************

Jaken sat in the grass deep in thought. He had been waiting for Lord Sesshomaru for a while and now the sun was beginning to set. The strange noise from before had unnerved him to the point that he was extremely jumpy and skittish. The slightest rustle of a leaf set him off. Suddenly, he heard several rustling noises all around him, rising to his feet, he positioned the staff of heads in front of him in a defensive stance and waited. "W-who's there? Show yourself or this lowly Jaken will be forced to use his staff!" he squawked, nervously.

Suddenly, there came another rustling noise and the faint sound of running footsteps that grew louder with each minute that passed. Between one second and the next, a white blur entered the clearing, but it did not pause in its flight. One moment, Jaken had been standing and the next, he found himself scooped up by a clawed hand. Glancing upwards, Jaken recognized the striped wrist of his master." L-lord Sesshomaru.....forgive this lowly Jaken for asking, but why are you running?"

"Hn..." Sesshomaru grunted as he deftly dodged another of those deadly spiked limbs that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere.

Jaken squeaked in surprise as another limb barely missed impaling him again, "Never mind! This Jaken understands now! Please keep running and please don't drop meeeeeee!!!"

Sesshomaru grunted as he dodged yet another limb, he could see the end of the forest up ahead. He could feel his body slowing down as the poison made its way through his body. His vision began to narrow, and breathing became difficult. For one brief moment, he caught the scent of his brother and his companions, then it vanished as his ability to detect scents disappeared.

Sesshomaru could feel the darkness of unconsciousness creeping in from the effects of the poison and loss of blood. One thought rang through his mind as he crossed out of the Youkai Forest and into a clearing of the normal forest, "I must protect Rin." He stumbled a few times, but continued on instinct, to run. Up ahead he could make out a flash of red and headed towards it with no thought as to any possible danger he would encounter.

*********************************************

I'd like to thank the people who've reviewed. You know who you are. So thanks for the encouragement!