InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Feni's Snippets ❯ Forged ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: Don't own…don't sue. Tormenting them purely for my own sadistic pleasure. All characters and most situations owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan Publishing, and VIZ is in the dog-pile somewhere, too.

 

A/N: This ficlet from the `Time Lapse' universe is in honour of the fabulous Forthright, who absolutely floored me with the most incredible Xmas gift earlier this week. She commissioned the very talented KrisCynical to create a portrait of Fenik in all his bob-cat-eared bishie glory. Copy and paste this link into your browser (take out all the spaces and replace the bracketed words with the appropriate punctuation) to check out the sword-inu on Kris' Deviant Art profile.

 

http (colon) (double slash)www (dot) deviantart (dot) com (slash) deviation (slash) 44394234 (slash)

 

This incident is set one hundred years after the Final Battle; Inuyasha has been forced to live at the fortress due to Sesshomaru's ability to keep his youkai in check, since Kagome is out of reach on the other side of time.

 

The Phoenix Blade: Forged

 

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“Keh! Why does it always stink like he's using dragon guts to forge something?” Inuyasha pressed his sleeve firmly over his nose, his eyes watering in the foetid atmosphere billowing out of the over-heated cavern. He cast a sideways glance at his imperturbable brother. “You must be ready to pass out; how do you stand the stench?”

 

Sesshomaru shot him a sly look. “Decades of practise.”

 

“Asshole. If I didn't like Rin so much, I'd kick your skinny youkai butt into the middle of the next century…”

 

“Focus on our purpose for visiting this disgusting locale, brother.”

 

The hanyou grimaced. “So we can be put in our places by a girl not born for another four hundred years. Let's see if the old geezer is up for this.” He brushed past and strode into the forge, his shoulders very stiff and his ears very flat.

 

Sesshomaru surreptitiously took a long breath of only slightly-fresher air before following suit. Inside, eyes stinging in the thick smoke, he came up behind Inuyasha and positioned himself so that their sleeves were almost touching, presenting a united front as they waited for the elderly demon smith to acknowledge their presence.

 

It took Totosai a while to finish pounding the merry hell out of a particularly long, wicked-looking blade, but he finally raised bulbous eyes to examine the two inu-youkai standing silently in the swirling murk of his forge. “Well, well, well… if it isn't the Inu no Taisho's brats.” He stroked his beard with filthy fingers, assessing the way the two brothers were favouring him with matching gimlet-eyed stares, and arched an eyebrow. “Hmmm… let me guess what might have brought you two all the way out here? How did you break the Tetsusaiga this time?”

 

As Inuyasha gnashed his fangs, the jagged stripes on his cheeks darkening and widening, Sesshomaru dropped a warning hand on his brother's shoulder. The contact was enough to stop the transformation; the taiyoukai watched Totosai's eyes widen and then narrow in a calculating manner. Clearing his throat, and hoping it didn't sound too much like gagging, Sesshomaru spoke. “We know that you have been experimenting with forging a single weapon out of two different source materials; have you been successful?”

 

The demon smith remained silent for a long moment, his eyes keen and his fingers never ceasing their stroking of his beard, which was steadily becoming even filthier from the caress. “I have achieved a level of perfection, yes.”

 

“We have a commission for you.”

 

Totosai's broad smirk was just the tiniest bit unnerving as he picked up a nasty-looking set of tongs. Loudly snapping them open and shut a few times, he beckoned the two brothers closer. Inuyasha flinched, but Sesshomaru firmly urged him forward with a hand planted in the middle of his back.

 

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The demon bull placidly cropping grass several leagues away from the volcanic mountain flapped his ears at the outraged bellow echoing over the landscape. A few minutes later, he was nearly blown over by the abrupt arrival of two demons in his vicinity.

 

“Shit! I think the old bastard enjoyed that just a little too much, dammit!” Inuyasha gripped his smarting jaw and plopped down beneath a tree, cursing luridly under his breath. Sesshomaru remained standing, thoughtfully running his tongue over the tip of the new incisor already poking up in the gap between his teeth, while staring back at the opening of the forge as dark smoke began to billow outward.

 

“I am more curious as to why he wanted several drops of blood from each of us as well as our fangs.”

 

“So Fenik can kick our asses, obviously.”

 

“Speak for yourself, brother; your mate's weapon never `kicked my ass'.”

 

The hanyou smirked for the first time since leaving the fortress on this highly necessary, although heart-wrenching errand. “That's right… Kagome did a decent job of that all by herself…”

 

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“You two whelps better appreciate this; most difficult forging I've ever done! A technical nightmare!” Totosai sat with his hands shoved in his grungy sleeves, his lip jutting out in a formidable pout as he watched the two brothers warily handle the gleaming blade. “It's my right to mark such a triumph…”

 

“Once the quest is over, you may do so. The sword was heavily damaged in the final battle, so I imagine you will be seeing it again for repairs.” Sesshomaru smoothed the smith's ruffled feathers while keeping an eye on Inuyasha, who was running his fingertips over the katana with an odd, dark expression. He blinked when the hanyou suddenly dealt the weapon a ringing slap.

 

“That's to remind you not to get too cocky, Fenikkusuken… and I still think that's a lame-ass name!”

 

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