InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Ripple in Still Waters ❯ The First Ripple ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A Ripple in Still Waters

Summary: Having lost his arm in an accident when he was younger, famous novelist Sesshomaru Taishou, now researching his next book in Ireland, receive more than he bargained for in the form of a mysterious woman. M/F, AU, Beware of Magic.

Rating: R for language, violence, adult content and outrageous ideas by two less-than-normal women with a penchant for torturing unsuspecting cartoon characters.

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Cold. He was so cold. It wasn’t a chill he associated with a damp and foggy morning, no was it the biting cold of winter. This ache was a freezing, numbing, bone-deep ache that permeated his very being.

He was floating in a sea of darkness, occasional images flashing through his minds eye; a warehouse, many people gathered inside. The lighting was dim and so was the atmosphere. Eerie golden eyes – so much like his own – which peered up at him from a face far too small to hold them.

“Aniki? What’s going on?” a tremulous little voice asked.

“Nothing ‘Yasha. Go home. And…stay there, okay?” Answered a voice he recognized as his own.
He saw the street, dank, dark, half of the lights shot out by gangsters and druggies and drunks. The other half barely functioning. The fog was rolling in, settling low on the ground, creating a haze over the entire situation. Next to him a man – no, a boy – pulled a scarred leather jacket a little tighter around his frame. “Man, I don’t like this.” He muttered, his bright blue eyes casting about.

“Fuck that.” Came a harsh voice from off to their left. His vision swung around to reveal an angry-looking boy, about the age of seventeen, though his eyes revealed him to be much older than he looked. Angry, bitter eyes, Sesshomaru thought vaguely, from somewhere in his daze. “They killed Mark. We kill them.”

From his detached point of view, Sesshomaru recognized his own bloodlust coursing through his veins at the thought. He felt his thumbs slide across his fingertips and something in his subconscious realized that he was feeling for claws that weren’t there, and wondered at the gesture.
Why would he have claws?

For a while, there was darkness. He floated in the sea of inky blackness, wondering what had happened. Where was he? He was supposed to be somewhere, with someone, so why couldn’t he get there?

A loud bang! startled him and he was abruptly thrust into another vision.

The bang had been from the rival gang, the sound of a round from a crappy-ass handgun. Without thought, he returned fire. It was the way it was; if you didn’t kill, you were killed. Suddenly there was a sharp pain in his arm, followed by numbness as his vision went red, then black.

“You arrogant, cocksure son-of-a-bitch!”

The voice was screeching at him, it’s high-pitched tone grating his ear drums and making him desperately wish for another hit of…something, anything to make it stop. It hurt.

“Ma’am?” A deeper, more soothing voice floated to him. “Ma’am you’re going to have to leave.”

“Leave? You can’t make me leave! I’m his mother! I gave birth to his sorry ass! I fed and clothed this little prick for years!”

…Ah, now he remembered why he wanted a hit of something.

He floated to consciousness lazily, as best he could. Forcing his eyes open, the first thing he saw was his baby brother sitting forlornly on a chair across the room.

“Hey ‘Yash,” He tried to get out, though the noise that passed his lips was nothing like what he wanted to say. What came out instead was more of a strangled moan, a pathetic whimpering that refused to form any coherent syllables.

Inuyasha looked over nonetheless, and when he saw his brother’s amber eyes slit open, he hopped off his chair and ran over. Sesshomaru ignored him for a second as a wave of pain rocked over him. Everything hurt. Especially his leg… but, strangely, he couldn’t feel his left arm.

“Aniki!” He breathed. “Aniki, we thought you weren’t going to wake up!”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He tried to ask, but once more was prevented from doing so by his own vocal chords.

He had failed to realize however, that when Inuyasha had run over, all other noise in the room had stopped. Silence had reigned for those few, precious seconds and was abruptly killed by the explosion of expletives that originated from the foot of the hospital bed.

“You little fuck! You arrogant little bastard, what the fuck were you doing? You drug-snorting, pistol-popping little asshole, I oughta beat you from here to next week with a fucking baseball bat.”

“Ma’am, you have to leave.” The baritone voice resonated once more, this time with a trace of anger coloring the soothing tone. “I need to look at him.”

Sesshomaru reached out and grasped his little brother’s hand as tight as he could, trying to convey with actions what he couldn’t with words: Leave my brother here.

“Don’t worry Aniki; I won’t let them take me away.” He little brother whispered fervently to him.

‘Kid, you won’t have much of a choice,’ Sesshomaru thought wryly, glaring at the doctor who approached his bed. Even in his own half-aware haze he knew his mother was doped up, cocaine being her drug of choice, and he was equally sure that sending his little brother out there wasn’t to his benefit.

His mother was standing outside of the closed door, and Sesshomaru could hear her muttered curses through the wooden door as the doctor bent over him and checked his vitals, adjusting the drip of the IV he was attached too and smiling reassuringly at Inuyasha before turning to Sesshomaru.

“Do you remember what happened young man?” The doctor asked, turning to him and speaking kindly.

“I…was shot.” Sesshomaru answered hesitatingly, the words slurred and barely discernable in his narcotics-induced haze. At the doctor’s nod, he continued. “In my arm. And I think…in my leg..?”

“Too true, young man.” The doctor said. “You were in a street gang shoot-out.” He cast him an askance look and opened his mouth to continue, but Inuyasha, still sitting on his right, piped up.

“He told me to go home and stay there.” He added helpfully.

“Very wise of him.” The doctor responded. Turning back to Sesshomaru, he continued. “You were shot in your left arm. The bullet…” He paused before continuing. “The bullet was a hollow-tip bullet.” His face was grim as he continued. “Highly illegal, but what concerns me more is what they did to you.”

Sesshomaru said nothing, but a sinking feeling in his stomach warned him that whatever is was, it was bad.

“One was shot into your left arm,” The doctor further explained, and Sesshomaru sensed he was stalling.

“What?” He ground out, just wanting to hear what the man had to say.

“It… We had to remove your arm.” The doctor said quietly.

Sesshomaru’s mind went blank.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Inuy asha stepped off of the plane and stretched, arching his back and feeling the vertebra pop as he did so. Rolling his shoulders, he looked around. Tralee seemed to be your average airport, people scurrying to and fro, mother’s herding children along, business-types carrying briefcases and yelling into cell phones, even a group of collage students convening off in a corner. The loudspeaker was blaring announcements and boarding times, employees were looking harassed and tourists were gawking.

Across the way, a saucy collage-age brunette gave him the eye. Inuyasha grinned. Knowing full well what she was seeing: a five-foot-eleven, one hundred and seventy pound male with silvery-white hair and odd amber-hued eyes. His hair, coming to just below his shoulder was kept in a low tail, a tribute to the old-world renaissance style. He wore a plain black tee-shirt, with comfortably broken-in jeans faded to white at the stress points and a good pair of comfortable running shoes. A warm leather coat and a messenger’s backpack topped off the look. Inuyasha knew he was handsome, and he kept himself in good condition, usually running about three miles a day every other day, lifting weights and taking kenpo on the side. However, his outstanding physical condition wasn’t for looks, it was for his job. He knew that if the curvaceous little brunette knew that he currently had a nine millimeter handgun, and five-inch knife and a pair of handcuffs on him, she would probably not be eyeing him like she was.

Then again, maybe she would: some women got turned on by that stuff.

Shrugging, Inuyasha slung the backpack over his shoulder and walked off towards the luggage terminal, ignoring the brunette’s sexy little pout, the only thing on his mind getting his luggage and rental car and getting the hell out of there. He still had a two-and-a-half hour drive up to Galway Bay, and then he needed to locate his B&B.

The luggage carousel started chugging just as hic cell rang. Not bothering to check the ID screen, he flipped up the screen and hit ‘talk.’

“Yeah?”

“Taishou, we need a status report.” His boss, John McClellan said without preamble.

“I’m in Tralee. I’m going to grab my stuff and head on up to Galway.”

“Is that where he’s headed?”

“No, all reports say he’s headed to the Aran Isles.” Inuyasha said, knowing immediately what would follow. He wasn’t disappointed.

“Well then why the hell won’t you be there?” His supervisor snapped.

“Pull up your Irish map McClellan, I will be.” He snapped back. “The Aran Isles are in the Galway Bay, almost into the Atlantic Ocean. I’m going to hold over in Galway City tonight and catch the ferry on the morning.”

“Don’t jack off Inuyasha, we need this guy caught.” The tone warned him that his supervisor was done jacking around.

Inuyasha bristled. “You think I don’t know that?” He bit out. “I haven’t been tailing this guy across the U.S. and Canada for the fun of it.”

“Look, we can’t talk about it now, but we’ll talk later. Just call me when you get settled in for the night.” McClellan said, suddenly sounding very old and tired.

“How about I call you tomorrow? I’ll call at nine am, your time? We have an eight hour time difference, so it’ll be five pm here and that will have given me time to check up on him.” Inuyasha temporized.

He heard a small, world-weary sigh drift through the phone. “Where are you again?” His supervisor asked tiredly.

“Is this a secure line?”

“Yes.”

“Then we’ll talk tomorrow. Go home and get some sleep old man.” Inuyasha huffed, then shut the phone with a satisfied click, effectively ending the conversation. He pulled his luggage off the carousel and walked up to the rental counter.

“Taishou?” He asked the bored-looking man sitting there.

The man roused long enough to confirm his order, then gave the key to a more awake-looking man, who led him outside.

“Is this your first trip to Killarney?” The man asked brightly as he led him through a corridor.

“Umm, yeah.” Inuyasha muttered, preoccupied with his earlier conversation.

“And where do ya be headin’?” The boy continued gaily.

“Up Towards Galway.” Inuyasha replied, studying the midsized car he was currently standing in front of him: A 2003 Honda Civic coupe, manual transmission with air conditioner, power steering and anti-lock brakes. A low-key, dark blue exterior and a black interior. The windows weren’t tinted, but that was to be expected.

Putting his bags down and not taking the key from the man he walked around the car, looking for any loose or protruding wires or parts, or any smells. Dropping to the ground in what appeared to be a push-up position, he proceed to check the underside of the car, looking, again, for anything loose protruding or out-of-the-ordinary.

Satisfied that the outside of the car was safe, at least from the outside, he opened the passenger-side door and scanned the inside of the car before examining the gas and brake pedals, the steering wheel, column and gear shift before going to the driver’s side door and doing the same. Finally he popped the hood and checked the engine, fluid levels, belts and brakes, again, looking for any unusual sights or smells before finally declaring himself satisfied with the car.

“Thanks man.” He said to the boy, who was looking more than a little perplexed.

“Whatcha been doin’?” The boy asked, his eyes wide as saucers in his face.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. “I was inspecting the car.” He said. ‘For bombs, cut brake lines and other explosives.’ He added mentally. If the boy didn’t recognize the inspection for what it was, then it made Inuyasha’s job that much easier.

Warily the boy helped him put his bags in the trunk and he signed the final release forms. Waving merrily, Inuyasha was on his way. Once out of the airport, he pulled off to the side of the road and plugged his GPS system into the dash. Programming it, he set his course for Galway City.

‘Northeast through Limerick, northwest up to Ennis then hang a right and straight on till Morning.” He chuckled to himself, popping in a CD before pulling back onto the road and heading off.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Trees. They were the first thing he noticed, the sheer abundance of leafy green trees which hung shimmering and silver-edged, in the moonlight. Water, deepest blue except for the tiniest waves which were crested in luminescent silvery-white lapped gently at the shoreline. A breeze whispered through the leaves on the bushes and fireflies and faeries danced and played on the warm night air.

‘Silly faeries.’ He thought, snorting in amusement.

On a more conscious level, he realized the utter absurdity of that thought. There was no such thing as faeries, and certainly not in his dreams!

Tension hung in the air, but oddly enough, it wasn’t the kind where one would be anticipating something unpleasant. The tension was of the sweetest kind, heightening his senses, making every turn and shift in the air currents blatantly sensual against his skin as his blood thrummed in a steady cadence through his veins. Absently, he ran his thumbs over the tips of his claws.
The gentle lapping at the shore by the waves increased slightly in intensity, denoting the movement of something shifting in their depths. Turning, Sesshomaru smiled.

She was beautiful, he thought, both in his dream and on a more conscious level. Ebony locks fell in gentle curls down her back, bringing into prominence pale ivory skin and eyes colored deepest sapphire fringed in thick black lashes. Pink lips shaped like a cupid’s bow were smiling gently.
Her form was draped with a fabric that seemed to be made out of the water itself, shifting and shimmering with her movements, draped lovingly over her lush figure; the swell of her breasts and hips, the shadows and hollows of her stomach. Her arms were left completely bare and the bottom of the dress was slit, as much for comfort of movement as for show.

The waters seemed to part as she moved towards him, her eyes casting over him, admiring his loose white silks and the sash of goldenrod and navy fabric that belted them together. His armor and swords had already been removed and were laying on the edge of the clearing, gleaming inconspicuously in the moonlight.

He was safe here.

Reaching out his hand, he let her finger slide into his palm as he drew her towards him and pressed his lips against hers, molding her to his frame as she wound her arms around his neck and through his hair in a fierce grasp. The kiss was nothing less than bliss, a sweet meeting of flesh on flesh as lips parted and his tongue flicked out to taste her. She moaned slightly in his arms and pulled him closer trailing her lips over his and across his cheeks to his temple as he bent his head to taste the sweetness of her jaw line, relishing the taste of salt and the sense of impossibly vast waters that was left tingling on his skin.

They parted, breathing shallowly and she smiled, sapphire eyes lighting up as she leaned back ad grasped his hand, leading him towards the water. Beneath the opaque surface crested by foamy white waves, something gleamed, beckoned.

He woke.

Shooting straight up in bed, Sesshomaru sat there, lungs heaving and stomach roiling as he struggled to control his reactions to the vixen in his dreams. Finally he swung his legs out of bed and straightened his silk pajama bottoms before striding out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen, intent on finding a drink.

He didn’t bother to turn on any lights as he opened the cupboard and pulled out a glass, turning on the tap and filling it before taking a long swallow. The dreams had haunted him as long as he could remember, from the time he was a child still living in the ghetto of Chicago. A woman who emerged from the sea, always. The setting varied, but the sea was always involved. Sometime they were in a underwater grotto where phosphorus and gems encrusted in the ceiling sparkled like a million stars. Sometimes they were on the shore, in the sand, in the forest, near the ocean.

He always looked the same. Fully grown he looked much as he did in the dream save for slightly longer hair, which was odd because he first remembered the dreams at the age of five. He was always dressed in white silks with the same sash and black boots. His armor – heavy-looking and dangerously spiked – gleamed on the edge of his vision along with two swords which he somehow knew belonged to him.

Rinsing his cup and setting it in the sink, Sesshomaru turned and looked towards the clock on the microwave. Six in the morning. Turning back to the sink, he stared out of the window above in and into the grey-shrouded mists that blanketed the island in the early morning.

Dark. Mysterious. The mists of the Aran Isles held a thousand secrets, a million untold tales. Hate and joy, love and lust, death and life, infinite helplessness and indescribable power. It was all here, he could feel it. It hummed along his skin, thrummed through his veins, lit him up in a way nothing had done since he realized that the world was not the way the fairy tales had promised. The good guy didn’t always win, love doesn’t always conquer all and if you reached for the moon, you didn’t land among the stars.

This was the perfect place for his book. A madman searching for a jewel, like his brother had said when they talked last. A jewel of infinite worth, obtained at an impossible price, which may or may not have existed anywhere but in the mind of a mental patient.

He would make it so he decided. He just needed to figure out how.