InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Little Bits ❯ Taiyoukai, I ( Chapter 33 )

Is this death?

Sesshomaru felt only surprise, when the massive, spike-tipped tentacles shattered his armor and drove through his chest. It did not hurt, unlike the injuries his father's fang had inflicted. That only made sense. Only the strength and power of the Inu no Taisho could inflict pain on the inheritor of that blood. That a mere hanyo had swung the fang was infuriating, but it was the power of the father's blood which counted.

But, this wasn't supposed to happen, was his reflection as the tentacles of Magatsuhi's borrowed body pulled his pierced form towards the crushing maw. He was the Inu no Taisho's pureblooded son; the only youkai with the potential to surpass him. A patchwork body animated by the malevolent spirit of the Shikon no Tama, able to destroy him? Impossible!

Darkness closed in on him. Distantly, he felt his body being further pierced and clawed and burned. He felt his youketsu shuddering under the greedy pulling of Magatsuhi's physical form. His senses were blank--he could not see, he could not smell, he could not hear.

Except for Magatsuhi's laughter, filled with malevolence, and wicked gloating. Weak dog, jeered the voice in his mind. Thought you had the strength to defeat me? Fool! Where is your pride, your strength now? Your youki is mine, your powers are mine! This body will absorb you, and you cannot stop it! You thought you could depend on your father's fang to destroy me? Fool and twice fool!

His father's fang. Bemused, Sesshomaru reflected on his pursuit of Tessaiga. His father's sword, that could kill a hundred youkai in a single stroke. He had pursued the sword, had boiled over with fury and injured pride when the sword rebuffed him and accepted his despised half-brother. He had paid the price for that anger. Eventually, curiosity, and then compassion, had led to learning to use the Tensaiga he had once despised. Then, further insult: even the power he had tamed in Tensaiga had not been meant for him. Uncaring for his brother's fate, he had stepped into Naraku's trap, using the mirror fragment to pull Tessaiga's attacks into Tensaiga, intending to prove the hanyo's worthlessness.

Proven wrong once more, he acted to prevent Naraku from stealing the life that only he had the right to take, forcing the attack he no longer cared about into Tessaiga, accepting that the hanyo and the hanyo's sword would save them both.

He had thought Tensaiga destroyed. When it fell to the earth, restored to its original state, he had ignored it. He had eventually accepted it back from Rin's hands, but it was only a tool, nothing more. It was his father's fang, still, yet …

Fool?

Why had he ever thought that he needed his father's fang, to surpass his father?

Perhaps he was a fool.

No.

Had been, perhaps.

Now?

No.

He knew that the bipedal form he preferred was shattered and riven. He knew the youki normally available to that form had been sucked into the creature that had eaten him. For most youkai, it would be the end. But, looking to himself, he realized that the core of his essence was yet untouched.

And, then, he understood.

He had never needed his father's fangs, either of them. He was not meant to rely on anyone else's strength. He stood on his own.

But not alone. Pure, selfish desire could not draw out his ultimate power. But, the need of others; his compassion, could.

Rin.

Kagura.

The boy Kohaku.

Even his half-brother, and the hanyo's human companions.

He dove into the pure-white core. The ice and steel and fire that was Sesshomaru.

He called on his power, and it responded. He recalled his body, denying the monster its meal. Senses returned. He was surrounded by coruscating power that slashed outward, shattering the thing that had attempted to hold him and destroy him. He rose from what Magatsuhi had intended to be his grave, light boiling about him. Dark claws formed overhead. Rin cried a warning, and he noted Toutousai's presence, and knew what that meant.

The claws moved.

With a single sweep of his left arm, he shattered the claws, filling them with the destructive power that blazed from the newly-formed blade.

His sword. He did not need Toutousai to tell him what it was, though he did not stop the smith from explaining to the others. He did not need Totosai to tell him what he had done.

Taiyoukai, I.

Author's Note: This piece was originally posted to the "Inuyasha Themes" community on LiveJournal, for the theme "Blood." It was originally posted on August 25, 2009. It won first place in the contest.