InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Ever After ❯ The King of Beasts ( Chapter 6 )

AN: I began writing this before Sesshomaru magically regenerated that missing limb. So, consider this a divergence from the original plot line after the end of the Meidou arc. He didn't have two arms in the previous chapters, and I intend to keep with that.

 

Also...holy crap, I'm updating this? Yes, it's been a while (er, a year, almost), but I had never intended to end it at the previous chapter...there's still a bit more to tell in this story, but I can't assure you that I will update with any kind of regularity. The mood just struck me, suddenly, to continue on with this, so we'll see if it gets done, eh?

 

The King of Beasts

 

Rin sat, stiff backed, before the low writing table in the main room of the house that Sesshomaru had restored all those years ago, when she had first become pregnant with his son. It was once a summer cottage in his father's estate; nestled in the heart of a deep forest and touched by the magic known to his people. No human, besides her, had walked the tall, stone stair that led to the modest pavilion. The house itself was not overly large, just big enough for her to see to it on her own, with assistance from Jaken and the elderly fox, Nana, of course. Before Sesshomaru settled here with her, his feet knew no home, and he was content with that, she knew. However, he had come to realize the strain it put upon her in her pregnancy, and after Zatoichi was born, it seemed like wisdom to remain until they could all travel. And travel they did, eventually, until she became pregnant again. Now, with two children at her feet, Rin hoped that they might remain here in a more permanent manner.

 

Her lamp was already beginning to burn low, though she didn't wish to cease her writing just yet. She was almost finished with the arduous task of translating Sesshomaru's scrawling characters into something that resembled a formal letter. Once this was Jaken's job, but her handwriting was far neater than the imp's; and soon after she became Sesshomaru's wife, she took up the position happily, proud to be given such an honored obligation. Now, though, as her flame flickered and her daughter began to stir, Rin actually considered giving this task back to her old caretaker.

 

Rin laid her brush down on its stand and bent to scoop up her tiny daughter from the basket she had set next to the table. Zatoichi was asleep in his room, no doubt dreaming of chasing through the vast forest on some merry hunt with his father. Sesshomaru and Jaken were out for the night, circling through the surrounding acres of wood, looking for something only they knew. The house creaked quietly as Rin positioned the newborn girl at her breast and relaxed her posture to nurse. Rin smiled softly at her daughter as she suckled contently, thinking the soft thoughts of those new to the world.

 

"Jun, Jun, Jun," Rin cooed softly. The girl flicked her fuzzy, pointed ears - set right where ears should be - and cracked open a lazy golden eye, watching her mother through droopy lids. Rin could feel the steady, thumping rhythm of Jun's tail against her outer thigh. Her face was all Rin, save her white hair, the crescent moon on her brow, and a stripe on each cheek, but her complexion was darker than Sesshomaru's, her eyes rounder and the gold of her irises more burnished than her father's.

 

While Rin had worried over Jun's birth, it was a more maternal worry than the outright dread she felt when she was pregnant with Zatoichi. One healthy child, obviously, set her mind at considerable ease. It helped that Jun did not suffer the harrowing rush into the world her brother had. There was nothing untoward about the birth, and Rin managed easily with Nana's help. Kagome arrive a few days later upon Sesshomaru's summons, along with a scowling Inuyasha, but her sister-in-law found everything as it should be. After a single night shared with their in-laws, Rin and Sesshomaru were left in peace to enjoy the new addition to the family.

 

Rin glanced idly at the last few lines that she had to copy, scrutinizing several characters that could very well be any number of words from the look of them.

 

"We have to teach your father to write neater," she cooed at Jun, as the girl's eyes drooped closed and her head lulled in sleep. "One hand or no," she said, leaning in to kiss her daughter's brow, "he shouldn't be so sloppy about it."

 

If this letter had any other destination than what it was given, she would have stamped Sesshomaru's copy, sealed it and sent it on it's way. How such a silent man could ramble on so in writing was beyond her. However, this summons was marked for her Lord's honored mother, and Rin would not see Sesshomaru's messy characters arrive at that illustrious castle in the sky. It did occur to her that her mother-in-law might already be well aware of her son's poor handwriting, but there was no reason, in Rin's mind, that she should neglect her duty as his wife; to see that the affairs of the household run smoothly, however small that household may be. She had not seen the Lady of the West since she had been revived from hell as a child, and she didn't want Sesshomaru's mother thinking on her as some lazy human whelp that took advantage of her son's good graces.

 

By the time she had finished, seen the missive off to its tanuki carrier, and retired to bed, the sky was already lightening. Rin pulled the drapes over the screen and the covers over her head. In a weary part of her brain, she hoped that Zatoichi would sleep in today; she prayed for it with all her heart. Jun was quiet, her task was done, and all Rin wanted was a few hours of unconsciousness before she had to start her day.

 

000000000000

 

He could feel the sun rising, could feel the world turning from night to day. Zatoichi woke with the dawn, stretching his back and shaking the covers from his shoulders, he nosed open his door and padded down the short hall to his parent's room, following his mother's scent. Working his white head to widen the crack in the door, he peered in to find his mother fast asleep, his new sister's basket placed near the head of the futon, in case she should require attention. Zatoichi wormed through the door and padded over to his sister. She was asleep as well.

 

If Zatoichi could scowl properly, he would have. Here was the start of a beautiful day, already he could smell the crisp autumn air, the world was alive and buzzing around them, and all these two could do was sleep the day away. Looking at his mother, the dark circles etched beneath her eyes, Zatoichi's plan to wake them up was suddenly shattered.

 

'How late was she up writing father's letter?' he wondered. She began the project when he went to bed, and from the looks of it, she had been at it all night. Zatoichi may have looked like a dog, but he was a very perceptive boy. Retreating from his parent's room, he endeavored to secure his own breakfast that morning, and let his mother sleep.

 

Once outside, Zatoichi did a visual once-over of his surroundings. The pavilion, with his mothers carefully arranged flowerbeds and clean swept stone was a familiar sight. The thick tree line just beyond the low wall was promising. All sorts of things had a tendency to hide in the underbrush. Zatoichi trotted over to the wall, his nails clicking across the white stone, and leapt over the barrier with one, clean bound.

 

'Quiet feet,' he reminded himself of an earlier lesson, and his paws were properly silent on the forest floor, thick with weeds and rotting leaves. Much of the smaller foliage had shed for the autumn, which was fortunate, as it lessened the sound when his thick coat brushed along an errant branch. Focusing his many senses, he found the faint scent of a hare on the air, less than a mile upwind.

 

Grinning to himself, he started off into the morning with pleasant thoughts of raw, squirming rabbit clenched between his jaws.

 

0000000000

 

Sesshomaru was bored.

 

He had scoured the forest, Jaken hot on his heels, for the entire evening only to come up with nothing. No scavenging yokai, no challenging young upstart, just the normal inhabitants of the wood going about their normal yokai routine that was almost as mundane as a normal human routine; except that they could leap to the top of the tree to pluck up their firewood, which, he supposed, was marginally more exciting than gathering it from the forest floor. The old fox-woman Rin kept company with even asked him in for tea when he passed by her burrow. Worse than that, he actually considered taking her up on the offer!

 

Bored was, perhaps, the wrong word. Restless was more appropriate to his current condition. Without a doubt, the inhabitants of this forest were ideally content with him here as their protector. They had even seen to the care of his home while he and Rin traveled, and he had no qualms with residing here with his hanyou children and human wife, to whom they showed only adoration or, at the least, a respectful difference. Perhaps, after his mother visited, he would send Rin to his brother's so he could complete a thorough inspection of his greater territory. Maybe he could conquer more lands, while he was at it. He felt like some mild to intense bloodshed was in order to still the itch in his claws.

 

Glancing back at Jaken, as the morning sun warmed color into the world, he realized his old retainer was losing speed. He may as well return home. There was, unfortunately and fortunately, definitely nothing untoward here for him to deal with, and Rin was, no doubt, most likely bogged down with preparations for his mother's arrival.

 

Why his mother even intended to come was beyond him, but after receiving her letter - which duly scolded him for not mentioning his wedding or her grandchildren, and basically invited herself over - he decided that her visiting could not possibly be as bad as he assumed it would. She did, after all, save Rin's life, and there was a time when he was very small that he actually remembered her being a somewhat warm and caring matriarch. He was not looking forward to the upcoming tongue-lashing he was going to receive from her, but if she was that upset about not being told, then she must, in some unfathomable way, be content with his decision.

 

He really didn't want to think too hard on the whole thing. Females confused him, be they wives or mothers (he thanked every star in the heavens he didn't have some insipid sister to deal with), and as much as he loved Rin, he was beginning to believe that all her little inconsistencies had less to due with her humanity and more to do with her confounding gender.

 

"Jaken," Sesshomaru said, rousing the imp from a light doze as he leaned against the staff of skulls.

 

"Ah," Jaken drawled, half asleep on his feet, "yes, mi'lord?"

 

"We are returning home."

 

"Yes mi'lord!" Jaken sighed, almost dreamily. He could hear his futon calling him, and after decades of traveling and sleeping on forest floors, it was nice to have a futon in a comfortable little room to return to.

 

0000000000

 

The unsuspecting creature was square in his sights. Ghosting through the reedy grasses, Zatoichi kept a steady sight on the hare as he prowled, slowly, silently through the field. Every step appeared as though he were moving through viscous mud.

 

'Control,' he chanted, mindful of his father's words. Control everything, every muscle, and the bend of each blade of grass. If it is within your power, his father's voice echoed in his mind, then you should have mastery over it.

 

The hare ceased his chewing, suddenly alert, and Zatoichi froze mid step, like a white statue. If he were to strike now, he knew that the creature had no means of escape, but this was as much an exercise in stealth as it was a hunt for breakfast. He watched as the rabbit's jaws began to move again, he could hear the grinding of molars against vegetation, the soft howl of the wind whistling in his ears, the distant sound of human children.

 

Wait...

 

'Human children,' he wondered idly, 'what are they doing this deep in father's forest?' Zatoichi picked his head up above the grass line, startling his prey, which escaped without his notice. The only human children he had ever met were in his uncle's village, and they mostly kept their distance from him, wary of the giant white dog that haunted Inuyasha's hut from time to time. These children were probably from the nearby village, but that was at least a dozen miles away from here, and they should not have been able to make it through the magical barriers that his father set.

 

Curious, Zatoichi set out to intercept them. Breakfast could wait.

 

0000000000

 

Mizuki huddled close to her younger brother and sister. They whimpered quietly into her ruined, coarse kimono. All three were bound painfully by their hands and feet, and were caked with the grime of travel. Her younger brother, Hichiro, sported a particularly large lump on his forehead; a warning from the men that abducted them that silence was preferred. The bandits that took them were large, gnarled looking characters, three in all. The meanest and roughest was their leader, who the other two only referred to as "Boss." The others, Hiro and Yaru, looked like brothers. They were dressed in old, worn armor. Mizuki was still quite young, only six winters old, but she was relatively sure they were deserters turned outlaw. The lot of them stormed into their parents small hut, situated out of the village because they were farmers, killed the adults, her mother father and grandmother, raided what little stores they had and took off with her and her two siblings not four nights ago.

 

She was scared and hungry and tired and terrified by what they had planed for her and her bother and sister. From what she could gather, they were set to be sold into what seemed to be an unsavory line of work. Mizuki really didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to contemplate what her life would be like now, or the lives of her siblings. She concentrated on enjoying what little time left she had with them, in all likeliness, she would never see them once they reached their destination.

 

'At least we've stopped for a bit,' she thought, wriggling her blistered feet, which were beginning to prickle. They had been tirelessly marched through the woods for the past four days; their captors most likely hoping to slip capture themselves.

 

Her sister, Saya, was starting to slip into sleep, and Hichiro looked like he would soon follow. Mizuki was tired herself, but she was interested in the huddle that the men had formed a few feet away. They were arguing about something in hushed tones. Mizuki caught the odd word here and there: "mononoke," "cursed," and none of these snippets of conversation put her mind at ease. Didn't her grandmother say the King of Beasts haunted this forest? What if they all found their end at the jaws of some vicious demon?

 

'Better that than what these three have planed for us,' she decided. Mizuki closed her eyes and sent a silent prayer to the Kami. 'Please,' she begged, 'let us meet our end here, not at some terrible place. Then, at least, these men will get what they deserve.'

 

It would seem the Kami had listened.

 

There was a terrible braying, a sound between a howl and a roar; and Mizuki looked through the labyrinth of trees to see a large, white dog bounding towards them with its lips curled back in a snarl. Zatoichi didn't know much about humans, but he knew bandits when he saw them. His father had struck down enough in their travels for him to recognize the stench of old, cheap sake, sweat and cruelty. These men had obviously captured the children, and he would not have bandits tote their live cargo through his father's protectorate. They had no right.

 

The men had pulled their weapons, poor excuses for swords, and readied for his attack, but they were not prepared for his speed. They were especially not prepared for his poison. Zatoichi called his acid saliva and claws to life. Dodging the first, ill planned swing at his head, he twisted and bit down on the man's ribcage. His poison was not as virile as his father's, but it burned through human flesh well enough. The man's torso bubbled around the bite, and Zatoichi twisted and pulled, bringing half of the bandit's ribs and lungs with him.

 

One down, two left, this would be easier than he thought.

 

Boss and Hiro retreated a few stepped, unnerved by their companion's swift and brutal death. It was Hiro who regained himself first, intent in avenging his brother. With a guttural curse he charged Zatoichi, who leaped clear over his head, turning midair to raze his burning claws down the man's back. Through armor and flesh they tore, exposing the spine. Hiro fell forward, screaming in hot agony, and Zatoichi immediately pounced on his head, landing a killing blow on the neck. Unfortunately, he did not pay heed to the Boss, who dove forward and buried his sword deep in the boy's thigh. Boss pulled back on his blade, ready to deliver another strike, but the ill kept sword snapped in Zatoichi's tightened muscle. The dog turned, enraged, and lunged for his throat, and that was that.

 

Mizuki, Saya and Hichiro were shaking in their bonds. Throughout the whole gory battle, they didn't make a sound. Now the dog was looking square at them, a length of metal protruding from his leg. Mizuki closed her eyes and buried her head in her sister's hair, preparing for the worse.

 

"Don't look," she warned her siblings.

 

Zatoichi observed the frightened children. 'I suppose they aren't accustomed to such things,' he surmised, surveying his work. Keeping his head and ears down, he wagged his tail, attempting to put forth a friendly greeting, a sound between a whine and a happy yip. That only seemed to make the children shake harder.

 

Deciding actions were probably better than words, of which he had none, he limped towards the eldest girl and pulled at her bound ankles. Mizuki looked up from her sister's head to find the white dog gnawing at the rope. Soon her feet were free, and her hands soon followed. Mizuki sat dumbfounded as he limped around the terrified huddle and repeated the action for her brother and sister. Then, the dog lifted his head, nudged his nose under her chin and gently licked her cheek.

 

Mizuki looked at the scene of the bandits, their blood soaked into the forest floor. The dog was covered in blood too, most of it not his own. The blade still stuck out of his thigh. Mizuki wasn't sure what the dog wanted, but when she looked into his soft, golden eyes, she knew he didn't mean to hurt them.

 

"Thank you," Mizuki breathed, and dared to reach out and trace the purple crescent on his forehead. "Are you the King of Beasts?" she asked him, awed. The dog emitted a breathy bark that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

 

"Can you get us home?" Saya piped up, helping Hichiro to his feet. The dog considered them for a moment, tilting his head to the side. Glancing at his leg, and then back at them, he leaned forward and tugged gently on Mizuki's kimono.

 

"What is it?" the girl wondered out loud. The dog huffed, limped a few steps away and looked back at them.

 

Mizuki's brows furrowed. "Do you want us to follow you?" The dog barked, a loud but not threatening sound, and wagged his tail. Mizuki met the unsure gaze of her siblings and shrugged.

 

The dog made to continue on, and Mizuki grabbed Saya's hand. The three walked foreword hand in hand, a strange follow-the-leader.

 

"Hey," Mizuki shouted to the dog, which was already a good pace ahead of them, despite his injury, "wait for us!"