Outlaw Star Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction / Threads Of Fate Fan Fiction / Threads Of Fate Fan Fiction / Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Night's Wind ❯ Chapter Six: The Elf Knight ( Chapter 6 )

Many, many thanks to Max* the bishie deliverer. She helped do a good bit of any scene involving Ebon/Inuyasha-sama. See if you can tell us apart from where we role-played! Also, this goes deep into the chi (life force) factor, and I act like I know jack shit about whether or not an aura is an extension of the soul or the source of magical ability, and whether it matters- and whether one can magically shred an aura. I don't, of course. But PLEASE, review. I need it. Badly. I'm getting bored…

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Chapter Six: The Arrival of the Storm

Part C: The Elf Knight

intro

Slowly, Tatewaki Kuno now begins the long and arduous task of losing his mind. The clotted blood that stains his face itches so horribly that he scratches roughly at his cheeks. But instead of flakes of blood falling from his fingernails, Kuno sees reddish black beetles clinging to his fingers and crawling on his hands.

He screams and scrapes his hands desperately against the stone wall to which he is bound. His screams fill the cavern and even one of the Demons holding him captive shudders.

1

The hall, despite the glowing orbs interspersed at random intervals, remained dark, but perhaps it was just as well, as it led to Seiji's holding cell.

Inuyasha strode down the hall, his steps sure, his face dark and his red cloak swished as he moved.

"Who is this stupid kid, anyway?" Inuyasha grumbled, glaring at Seiji.

Seiji looked at the half-Demon, whose brother had trained Seiji in the art of tracking, whose brother's lackey had thwacked him with his staff too many times to count- he looked at Inuyasha, who had himself once picked Seiji up and told him to stop crying, the wimp.

Seiji hesitated; Sesshomaru, upon returning to the side of good, had sworn to refrain from attacking Inuyasha. While not exactly the quintessence of brotherly love, their relationship had definitely improved.

"He is one of Sesshomaru's lackeys- or trainees, whichever you prefer."

Inuyasha stopped short. "Sesshoumaru trained him? Come on! Sesshomaru swore he wouldn't train anyone else!"

"I believe someone controlled Sesshomaru, or tricked him into swearing he would train the boy."

"Trick Sesshomaru? He's too calm to trick!"

"That is what I believe occurred. Perhaps we shall receive answers after we question the boy?"

Inuyasha glared, but nodded and ceased his grumbling.

2

The doorway at the end of the hall had no actual door, but it didn't need one; the ward was quite enough.

The ward, a golden Pentagram with the symbol of Korin embedded into the center, lay just inside the door, and Inuyasha stopped there.

Seiji acknowledged Inuyasha's decision to remain behind with a solemn nod of his head, and stepped beyond the ward.

Seiji clenched his fists, unclenched them, clenched them again. How he hated the darkness of the cell, the damp smell, the way the dust made his nose itch.

"Fated One!"

The boy's voice, though soft, dripped venom and hatred, an obvious attempt to fluster him, did not slow his approach.

The boy slammed into the far wall, scraping his back on one of the hidden studs, and he cried out in pain.

Seiji threw one arm out, the expression on his face darkly determined and a glowing orb of energy enveloped Ebon, crackling and fizzing.

Ebon cried out again, but Seiji showed no mercy.

An hour later, Ebon bled from multiple wounds, all inflicted by Seiji's odd version of a *Judas' cradle.

"Talk." The tone of Seiji's voice spoke of the boy's imminent danger, and Ebon swallowed.

At Ebon's silence, Seiji threw him to floor and stepped, deliberately, onto the boy's stomach. "Tell me. WHO TRAINED YOU?"

"Sesshoumaru-sama." Ebon wiped blood from his mouth.

"WHEN?"

"Three years ago…he…"

"Do you know how the Greeks treated their prisoners of war?"

"Yes." Ebon whispered.

"I'll do worse. Not the same thing, but worse. This will be painfully magical, boy. Do you know what it feels like to have your aura shredded?"

"No."

"You'll soon know. Then I shall cripple your ability to sense your own mind. You'll go mad- I'll have no need of physical torture, boy, for you shall do it all yourself."

"Oh please..." The boy's false bravado was nauseating.

"Your aura will heal, but it will be excruciating. I sometimes allow Nasuti to feed off the pain, and make it worse," here Seiji paused, cocking his head to one side. "Would you like that?"

"Oh please, Fated One, you will do nothing. As for that Nasuti bitch of yours, she wouldn't lift a finger against me or my master!"

"Think you so?" And with that, he dug deep into the boy's soul, wrenching his mental claws through what he found.

"Y...you....dared," the boy gasped, his eyes wide with the pain that was growing behind his head. The arrogance was dropped as he doubled over.

Seiji laughed, cruelly. "Soon, boy, you shall know worse." And with that, he withdrew, rather like a fierce drill burrowing out of something-- with great pain for the boy.

The screech that erupted from the boy was inhumane but able to be distinguished as one word, "Master," said with a voice that died quickly, hurling the ravaged soul into darkness.

DAMN! Lost him. But I'll soon have him back… Seiji thought.

The Fated One looked up around the cell, disgust revealed on his semi-youthful features as he gazed at the unconscious captive at his feet. Reaching out with his senses, he felt the boy's aura, barely there, and flinching to his touch. He was trained by Sesshoumaru? Impossible, he never trains them to be that weak.

At least, never before. But Obsidian's no fool. Maybe having a weak soldier has some sort of military tactic?

"SEIJI!" Inuyasha sounded worried.

Seiji's aura wavered at the inu-youkai's cry- as did his sensitive ears. A corner of his mouth quirked up as he made his way toward the portal leading to freedom. The dust and decay of the cell was slowly but surely peeling away at his sanity. His nose itched and he felt like he was going to sneeze.

"Seiji, what happened?"

He can be so demanding, Seiji thought after Inuyasha's voice bruised his ears.

Violet eyes took in the golden orbs before him as he blinked, the pain dismissing itself as he replied coolly, "Had to take care of some business."

"I don't get it. The bastard just collapsed." Inuyasha's puzzled gaze infuriated him.

The Daemon smirked, "Well, if my aura were being shredded by the top Daemon in all the worlds, I'd probably collapse too. Mortals, can't live with them, can't live without them." He shrugged and started walking, not waiting for the Hanyou to follow, but knowing that he would anyway. There were times when he loved the dark, but after the assault on his sensitive ears, he wanted to anything but stay there.

"Seiji, what do you mean, 'can't live without them?' I could do without plenty of mortals!" Inuyasha said as he caught up.

An ice-filled glare was placed on the Hanyou's face as Seiji stopped right before the entrance to the tunnel that they were currently in. "You know precisely what I mean."

"Tell me anyway!" The inu-youkai whined.

A pair of honey-blonde eyebrows raised at this, wrinkles marring the perfectly smooth forehead. Seiji set his jaw before looking at the hanyou again, a smirk appearing on his own face at his companion's countenance. "Why?"

"Because I wanna know!"

"Some youkai never change."

"Just tell me!"

"Have you ever been married before?"

"No."

"Then you have no need to know nor the intelligence the grasp the situation. Drop it, please." The polite tone was no cover for the demand inserted into his statement. The Fated One meant it.

Inuyasha remained silent for the rest of the trip to his world.

3

Upon arrival, the hanyou turned to Seiji, his face bearing the usual devil-may-care grin. "Well, all I can say is to be careful, Seiji. That kid is not the normal brain-washed innocent that he may come off as."

Seiji dropped his eyelids to half-mast. "Do I look stupid to you, inu-baka?"

"No, but I'd hate to lose the Fated One so early in the game."

And game, Seiji noted, was an apt, if somewhat ironic, description. Obsidian was playing games with him, toying and wasting his time, dropping valuable little hints here and there.

"Sometimes, Inuyasha," Seiji spoke disarmingly, "there are times you amaze me with your enlightenments, but other times..."

"HEY! What exactly did that mean?!"

Seiji smirked at the expression on his face. Seiji's mouth contorted into a small facsimile to a smile as he continued his light-hearted banter. "You open your mouth and remove all doubts of you still being the baka little brother of Sesshoumaru-sensei."

"WAS THAT AN INSULT?!"

"If you're stupid enough to assume that I'd insult you, then I guess it was."

Inuyasha growled but dropped the subject.

"INUYASHA! WHERE THE HELL- who are you?" The human girl asked.

The hanyou's once angry face dissolved into one of jealousy as the addressed calmly smiled at their new companion and spoke soothingly. "Date Seiji, and you might be," he left the bait open as he politely bowed. Which of course caused the inu-youkai to fume.

"Higurashi Kagome . Where did you come from?" She smiled politely.

"It would take too long to explain so I won't burden you with the dull information. All that I know is that I need to be returning." At this, a sharp wave of pain coursed through his head as his blood ran sluggish. It was time to feed, again. That was fast. I shouldn't have expended myself on the boy.

With that, Seiji teleported back to his world, leaving Kagome and Inuyasha alone.

"He seems a rather odd guy," said Kagome.

"You learn to like him." Inuyasha replied absently.

***

As Seiji reemerged back into his domain, he noted his vision getting blurred as a small form invaded his path. He looked up to see the loving jade-green eyes of his mate staring back in wide-eyed wonder.

"Why so wide-eyed?" he asked tiredly.

"You look like hell."

"Frozen over?" He replied, smiling in spite of himself.

"Well, Iceberg-san, the cold can be very stimulating," she returned his smile with a coy one of her own as two slender arms found their way around her husband's waist.

"Not now, Na-ko- I must feed." He said, pushing her arms away.

He strode out of the room to hunt, to feed, to relax.