CHAPTER 4 Strength of the Soul Sesshoumaru rolled his observant eyes upwards�to the sides�down below� The reflective, obsidian wall stared back at him, no matter where he turned. The top could not be seen, nor could the ends. His eyes fixed once on a slight opening at its base before them�a passageway, blacker than the slate itself. He'd never seen such a deliberate rock formation in all his years of living. "We have to go through it, don't we�" Her voice was a whisper�filled with dread. Reflex insisted that he meet her remark with disdain, but even Sesshoumaru couldn't deny the sense of foreboding he got from the tunnel. He met her worried eyes and nodded. Sango pursed her lips, and shifted weight from one leg to the other. She glanced back at the passageway, and visibly shuddered. Her hand reached back absently to feel her boomerang, and she inhaled deeply, blowing her breath out in a long whistle. "Well," she said, cracking her knuckles and straightening her spine, "let's do it." He studied her a moment longer. No protesting. No pissing her pants. The exterminator was braver than most humans or demons he came across. It both relieved and intrigued him. Then there was the whole matter of her soul� Despite the recent loss of her people, and her brother - Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed at Naraku's vindictive use of the boy's zombie - Sango had somehow not only kept her sanity in tact, but had come out of it with an augmented spiritual capacity. She was a puzzle. The young woman seemed to have no awareness of her own strength, which frustrated him. If he could learn how she had coped differently from their similar pasts, then perhaps it would give him some insight as to why he was� Sesshoumaru silently berated himself. No. It can't be that. It's NOT that� He had deliberately foregone any attachment�emotional dependency�since that cataclysmic upheaval in his life decades ago� There were no holes in his psychological fortress. There couldn't be. My soul is fortified� I've made sure of it� Two incredibly large chestnut eyes loomed in his consciousness suddenly, begging to differ. He winced. Rin� "Sesshoumaru? Is there something--" "It's nothing," he answered sharply, striding over to the passageway before his own thoughts could betray him. He peered into the tunnel before entering, noticing that it was barely taller than he. A faint whistling of the clashing winds could be heard echoing from the other side. And there was no light to speak of. Readying his other senses, he entered. The blackness swallowed him almost immediately, but his feet instinctively found the path. He could hear Sango behind him...as could every realm beast within a stone's throw of the tunnel, he thought with growing aggravation. Bump. "Gah..." Scrape. "Nggh..." Thump, swoosh, crash. "Dammit!" He turned angrily to see her black silhouette against the dimming light of the entrance. She was on the floor. "Idiot. You're going to alert every-" "I can't see!" she hissed. "Use your other senses." "What other senses? You're the hound demon, not me!" He frowned. All that spiritual augmentation, and she still depended so heavily on her eyes? With a frustrated sigh, he grabbed her hand as she stood and tugged her behind him. Sango made a small noise of surprise at the physical contact, but followed silently after that, with her own warm fingers curling tightly around his. He made his way through the darkness, more than a little distracted by her touch. It wasn't that she was invading his personal space, or the unprecedented fact that he was allowing himself prolonged physical contact with a human without killing them� Rather, it was the sensation of ease - of camaraderie? - between them now that he'd begrudgingly divulged some of his past. Amongst other impressions he didn't care to identify, it struck him as odd. That which he thought would make their interactions more strained, had in fact only made him more comfortable around her. A human. A youkai exterminator, no less. Now that he was guiding her, her strides seemed to match his own. So much so that were it not for her actual physical presence, radiating scent warmth and familiarity like it did, he wouldn't have even known she was there. Her feet were that quiet. Sesshoumaru's shoulder scuffed along the inner wall as he turned around a bend, and he snapped out of his musings to squint at a dim light up ahead. A slight squeeze on his hand let him know she'd seen it to. "The end? Already?" she whispered behind him. He wasn't sure, so he said nothing. As they tread onward, he felt her apprehension as much as his own through her pulsing fingertips. When the tunnel spit them it, it was into a large cave, illuminated in that murky luminescent glow that blanketed most of the realm. Not the end, but a short intermission. His eyes fell on the far wall, where a new tunnel started. "Sesshoumaru." "Hn." "I can see." What? He turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. Her face was still serious, but her eyes were crinkled with amusement. His brow drew tight in the center in question. The corner of her mouth lifted in a knowing smirk. "You can let go of my hand, now." With a mental start, he realized that he had indeed been clutching firmly to her fingers. He abruptly let go, and faced the far end again. Foolish. It wasn't in his nature to be so unaware of his own actions. Cursed realm� Sango moved quietly in front of him, again making no sound. His eyes fell on her legs, which, thanks to her attire were outlined and delineated in vivid detail. She wasn't wispy and delicate like the demon females of other clans, he noticed. And she wasn't mal-proportioned like a good deal of human women that spent more time sitting than walking� Her thighs and calves were lithe, but muscular. Effeminately sturdy. Aesthetically impressive. They should have weighted down her padded feet enough to make some noise when she walked. But then again, she was a hunter�trained in stealth. Sesshoumaru imagined she was an anomaly amongst her people. He certainly hadn't come across any human with such- "-hopefully the half�way�" His gaze darted to her face. She'd been talking? Sango blinked at him, mid-speech. "�point..." He looked at her. She looked at him. Her expression froze, but her cheeks darkened with a visible flush. Sesshoumaru frowned. Hn�? She snorted and clapped a hand to her mouth. Alarmed, he first thought she was struggling with an unseen ghoul, but her following sniggering, and averted eyes suggested something much more trivial. "You're laughing�" he said, nonplussed. At that, she gave up trying to hold it in, and threw her head back with mirth. She filled up the cave up with cheery, lilting hee-haws as her eyes disappeared in a broad, white smile. He might have found the sound pleasant, had her lack of composure not been so grossly inadequate for their perilous circumstance. "There is nothing funny about our situation, Sango." "Sorry sorry," she waved her hand in a placating gesture, her shoulders still trembling with chuckles. "It's just that�for some reason the look on your face just now," giggle, wheeze, hiccup, "it reminded me of Houshi-sama�" The monk�? Sesshoumaru frowned. He didn't like where this was going. She took a deep breath, and composed herself somewhat, but random giggles still escaped in between words. "And you see�he's a lecherous bastard, hitting on every woman who crosses his path. The result is that it gave me a very brief," snort, snicker, chuckle, "but outrageous visual of you, with all that quiet dignity of yours, groping stupidly at an assortment of females, begging them to...to..." she cluthed at her belly and doubled over with hearty guffaws. Sesshoumaru felt the blood rush to his face. He hadn't been ogling her... No. Of course not. How dare she conjure up such a ridiculous image, embarrassing him like that. He almost felt violated. "You would do well to regain your composure, human," he said heatedly. "This is not the place for such nonsense." She nodded, not intimidated in the least. Straightening, the exterminator inhaled deeply, forcing the grin off her face. But for all her efforts, her eyes were still glistening with humor�and at his expense, no less. He tried to project his irritation, but there was something else clouding it. The effect her smile had on him, besides evoking anger, was�strange� No one had ever found him�funny before� Yes, he decided, not wholly comfortable with the new sensation. A strange effect, indeed. She wiped the moisture from her eyes and blew out her breath in a 'hooo boy'. When they made eye contact again, the foolish thing damn near lost the hold she'd gained. Sesshoumaru shook his head in perplexed annoyance. The huntress was normally so serious�so somber from her recent losses. How could she be given to such spontaneous joviality? Damn, he thought with growing alarm. Don't tell me she's losing her mind� "I think I'm losing my mind," she said in a raspy voice, combing her thick bangs back from her forehead. "You're not alone in that deduction." She laughed at him again, but this time it was much more deliberate. The exterminator cocked her head towards the tunnel at the far end of the cave, her raven-black ponytail wagging about her shoulder blades in a playful fashion. "Then we'd better get-" her eyes widened dramatically. "BEHIND YOU!" * * * Sango unhitched her blade as an elongated, ethereal ghoul emerged from the hard ground behind the dog demon. Instead of radiating blue, it emanated crimson in sickening bloody waves. She knew her weapons didn't work on the ghost-like creatures, but reflex demanded that she wield them. Readying himself, Sesshoumaru leapt forward, half-spinning and slicing his sword through the thing. It screamed and dissipated. The move would have been progressive, had he not landed directly on top of another that had just barely begun to seep up below him. "Another--!" Her cry caught in her throat as something strangled her from behind. It made her drop her blade, and all too familiar tentacles curled around her torso and slammed her into a humanoid wall. Straining, she turned her head enough to see that it had no face, only an excess of limbs�which were squeezing her tightly. "Sango!" Distracted by her capture, Sesshoumaru looked up, and quickly regretted it. A ghoul was latched onto his face instantly, its tail waving desperately to keep its hold. A couple more popped out of the ground, swarming around him like a pack of hungry carnivores. "Get away from him!" she screamed, barely aware of the tightening grip around her neck and ribs from behind. Sesshoumaru doubled over, his great white mane shivering about his shoulders. He clutched at his face as his mind was raped, oblivious to the other attackers. Sango nearly went crazy with panic. Why are they going after him and not me!? For some reason it reminded her of how ravenous wolves sought out the young and afflicted to prey on. "Nnngh�!" The damn thing behind her was trying to crush her. She squirmed, gaining some leverage, but unable to get free. The creature dislodged from Sesshoumaru's face, and�disappeared? No. It was still there�absorbed, maybe. With his fangs flashing off the light of his sword, the dog demon searched for the thing, taking out its ghoulish comrades in the process. "Where is it!?" he hissed, his wary eyes scanning the cave. Sango squinted, then blinked. She blinked again. What was that, glowing red against him? "Ah!" she cried, elbowing the thing behind her, "Your pelt, Sesshoumaru! It's in your pelt!" The demon's eyes widened in morbid anticipation. The blood and aggression seemed to drain from his face as he stared sickly down at the fur wrapped over his right shoulder. He seemed more than just worried. The youkai looked outright terrified. Sango freed an arm only to have it yanked back yet again. "Don't just look at it, idiot! Discard the thing!" she screamed from her confinement. It was too late. The pelt uncurled, showing an angry, toothy muzzle. A face. A dog face. A muffled sound escaped Sesshoumaru's lips as it snapped at him, and he took a step back�as though he could possibly escape the thing when it was still attached to him. It struck him, clamping down voraciously on his left arm. Razor sharp teeth ripped through cloth and skin, causing rivulets of blood to pour out from the mangled limb. Sesshoumaru growled his pain and tried to dislodge the animated pelt with his free hand, but it tugged, and gnawed at his left bicep until it tore right off his shoulder. "Sess�Sesshoumaru!" Sango screamed. He fell to his knees as the dog pelt disentangled itself from his body to hover menacingly over him. The thing spat the severed limb at the ground, its eyes glowing a ferocious red� "TRAITOR!" it barked suddenly, in thunderous dual tones. "The arm of a lesser being mars your heritage. If you hadn't defied my dying wish by sparing the half-breed bastard, then you'd still be whole!" "He...he was a child..." Sesshoumaru stammered, clutching at his mangled bicep. "SILENCE!" Instead of standing and fighting, Sesshoumaru scooted away like a maimed bird, his expression creasing in an anguished grimace. Sango gaped. Where was his confidence? His practiced mask of indifference? What significance did the pelt have, to draw so much emotion out in his face? The being behind the huntress tried to crush her again, but only succeeded in squishing the wind from her lungs. She flexed and strained against it until she could breathe again. In the midst of her efforts, she wondered how it was that she hadn't been subdued yet. Was the tentacled humanoid really that weak? The pelt loomed in the distance, filling out and growing until it was a radiating female version of Sesshoumaru's own demon form. Tendrils of fur danced about it like angry flames, and its eyes glowed red. "How dare you, boy," it roared, spittle frothing at its canine tongue. "My own son, mocking his tribe with such a disgraceful life!" Sango choked. It's his MOTHER's pelt!? He's been wearing his mother's pelt this whole time!? "You...you're wrong!" he stammered at the hound from his undignified spot on the floor. "Every waking breath has been spent to honor your name�" "LIAR!" Sango stomped on her captor's toes, and lunged forward, pulling against her restraints. "Fool! Don't listen to it! It's not her!" He winced at her words, and looked over in her direction. Sango locked stares with him, trying to transfer as much inner strength as she could through her eyes. A brief expression of clarity lit his face, and he turned back to the ghoul-possessed pelt of his mother, and stood on trembling legs. With his shoulder stump dripping blood like a sieve, Sesshoumaru held Tensaiga firmly in his right hand. He was trying to be brave. She could see it. Sango said a silent prayer for him as she absently fought her restraints. The dog reared on its hind legs and howled, berating him further. "Ha! Honoring our name, indeed! Is that what you call loving a human brat? The same species as the creature that your adulterous father spilt seed in, no less!?" Rin�? Sango watched in muted horror as it swooped down and swatted the sword out of Sesshoumaru's hand with one colossal paw, and proceeded to violently dismantle him. "You have no place wearing our sacred armor," its maw bit down, snapping off his chest plate and shoulder spikes, "or the tribe's insignia's," sharp claws tore through cloth and skin, disrobing him until all that remained was the shredded bottom half of his once-ornate attire. Before he could retaliate, a colossal paw smashed his bloodied form to the ground. He grunted with the impact, more vulnerable now than ever. Sango could barely make out his reddened face through the massive, curled toenails. His mouth moved over an inarticulate denial. "Don't you dare deny it, pup! I've seen the secrets of your heart. I know why you're here!" It leaned its weight on his pinned body, and Sesshoumaru cried out in pain. "Bitch! Leave him alone!" Sango screamed in rising panic. But her words had all the effect of feather darts. She redoubled her efforts to escape her confinements. The dog's head bent down until it was huffing venomously in Sesshoumaru's face. "You mock our legacy, treacherous little runt! Your affections for the human child are so strong that you sought to prolong her short life by changing the girl into one of us!" Mid-struggle, Sango's jaw dropped. Is that why he wanted to change her into a demon!? Bits of rationale fluttered across her awareness, suggesting that it was indeed possible for little Rin to get through Sesshoumaru's emotional barriers. After all, she was too young to even know they were there. And he - a youkai lord�a sentient being - having gone on for so long without love, to suddenly receive it, unconditionally� It made sense, his secret loyalty to her� His devotion. Attachment. It was like giving a mutton to a starving man. His heart had secretly been longing for such affection this whole time, and now that he had it, he didn't want to lose it. Even if he had to risk his own life to try and prolong hers. "There is no shame in your desires, Sesshoumaru!" Sango cried. But he was beyond hearing. The giant paw was grounding him into the soil, and the huntress could see the blood pouring out of the orifices of his grimacing face. "I disown you, you traitorous cur! May your solitude continue in Hell!" the dog roared, its breath ruffling what was visible of his hair. Then it flipped him up and caught his limp body in its maw, shaking him jerkily like some demented, living chew toy. "Sesshoumaru!" Sango screamed, and with a strength born of desperation, she broke the stalemate between she and her humanoid captor, tearing through its rubbery appendages. As though in a last ditch effort, the realm threw a red ghoul at her. It materialized quickly and assaulted her mind. She lost control of her awareness briefly as it ran its course. When she was able to focus again, the eyes of her little brother focused back. Kohaku� He started to cry and run towards her, no doubt with the goal of undermining her resolve. Her strength. But there was a hiccup in its plan. Unlike Sesshoumaru, Sango had already faced her soul's biggest cavity. The attack on her psyche had no effect whatsoever. She was inoculated. As she sidestepped the ghoul mimicking as her brother, it suddenly became clear. The realm beasts of this cave weren't that weak. She was that strong. And now that she knew it, their attackers' seconds were numbered. A white-hot concentration of energy focussed in her palms, and the cave was abruptly filled with scourging ki blasts and wailing screams. What happened next was a blur, but suffice it to say� �Sango won. * * * Just a few�more�steps� The barrier washed over them, and Sango fell to her knees. The severed limb and ripped dog pelt were tossed absently to the side, and the bloodied load slung heavily over her shoulder was eased with exhausted arms onto the grassy slope. He moaned inarticulately, his closed eyelids twitching as the pain seared his awareness anew. "The�p-pelt..." "Hush," she whispered through a rapidly constricting throat. Sango touched a light finger to his swollen lips. "The pelt, Tensaiga, your arm�it's all here. Rest, Sesshoumaru." The words seemed to relax him - barely. His brow was still knotted in the center, and his pale, tormented face was stretched down in a frown so deep, his lower fangs could be seen. Sango took a good look at him. The youkai looked bad. Really bad. Bare to the waist, and shredded to the thighs, his body was covered in deep lacerations, oozing punctures, and gashes the size of her fist. His torso was swollen from internal bleeding and broken ribs - his legs useless and heavy from a spinal injury. He was coated in swirling reds of his own blood�blood he had spilled all over her during their trek through the remainder of the tunnel. Her hair was matted with it, and her clothes drenched in it. It was a miracle he still lived after losing so much. For the first time since they arrived, Sango felt physically and emotionally drained. Something inside her made the connection to her despair at the dog demon's broken state. It pained her to see him like this, disheartening on a number of different levels�some she could readily admit to herself, and others she couldn't. But one concern rang out above the rest. Why isn't your demon magic working, Sesshoumaru? she thought in rising desperation as she realized his wounds were getting worse, not better. Why isn't your body healing itself like mine did? Lying down next to him, she studied his face with worry. Time. Maybe I just need to give it time. You'll pull through it. Your brother always does� They were comforting words. Pity they were so hard to believe.
Chapter 5 >>>
Chap. 1
Chap. 2
Chap. 3
Chap. 4
Chap. 5
Chap. 6
Chap. 7
Chap. 8
Chap. 9
