Dark Horizons

CHAPTER SEVEN: SWORDMAKER AND THE RULING RINGS

“Totosai, what the hell are you doing here?” Inuyasha growled.

The mass-suicide of the animals had left the hanyou deeply shaken and his temper flared. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had rushed back to the campsite to find the swordmaker ensconced by the fire, eating noodles and fish, while his three-eyed cow companion chomped on the sweet grass a few feet away. None seemed aware of the animal suicide not a hundred yards away. Inuyasha felt grateful for that at least.

Totosai gave a little yell at Inuyasha’s growl, but then harrumphed when he realized it was the young demon who spoke to him thus, “Give an old man a heart attack, will you, pup?”

Totosai’s anger evaporated, replaced with shocked glee, when he realized that Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had arrived at camp together, were holding hands and he could swear, although he knew few would believe him unless they saw it too, that Sesshoumaru’s eyes glowed with love for a moment when Inuyasha raised his brother’s hand to his lips and gave it a quick kiss before releasing it and storming towards Totosai.

“Every time you show up, old man, something terrible happens. So I repeat: what the hell are you doing here?” Inuyasha loomed over the swordmaker, hand on the Tetsusaiga’s hilt, even though both of them knew he’d never draw it on Totosai or any other innocent person.

“My swords called me,” Totosai explained, gesturing to the Tetsusaiga and the Tenseiga. “And now I know why.” His eyes flicked from Inuyasha to Sesshoumaru and he gave a suggestive wink.

Inuyasha blushed, but he snarled, “So help me, old man, you leer at Sesshoumaru again and I’ll poke your eyes out with the Tetsusaiga.”

Totosai snorted with laughter, “So you are joined then? Finally, you’ve realized it. I wondered how long it would take.”

Sesshoumaru coolly said, “Demons cannot join until they reach maturity. Inuyasha just reached his.”

Totosai sniffed and waved away Sesshoumaru’s comment, “The formal joining may not occur until the demons reach majority, but they normally all ready know they love each other before then. You two were so stubborn about the whole thing. Your father was devastated by your jealousy, Sesshoumaru, and your hard-headedness, Inuyasha. That’s why he had me make the Tetsusaiga and the Tenseiga extra special. So that you wouldn’t kill each other before you realized your true feelings.”

Miroku interposed into the conversation, “There was a pulse of power when they last fought, Totosai, and then … pain and they said they were joined. Did the swords join them?”

The ridiculous hope in the monk’s eyes scalded Inuyasha. Had he not already explained that this was no spell he was under, that the feelings for Sesshoumaru had always been there only buried and forgotten? ‘But I’m still afraid of the answer. Not that I doubt my own feelings, but … could Sesshoumaru really love me without being coerced into it by an outside force?’

The swordmaker snorted again, “Of course not, monk! The gods determine who is to be joined. The only thing the swords did were to allow Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru to see clearly and fully what they meant to one another all at once instead of in dribs and drabs.”

“But why couldn’t their knowledge of their joining just develop over time? Why did they need to know all at once?” Sango questioned from her place by Miroku’s side.

“Not a clue!” The old man chortled triumphantly.

The groans that greeted this statement disgruntled the old swordmaker, but it also jogged his memory.

“Your father said that when the swords did activate that I was to find you two and give you … oh, where is it?” Totosai began patting down his voluminous robes, lifting up the edges and practically flashing everyone. The sight of his scrawny chicken legs caused Shippou to look away in horror.

“What old man? What did he give you for us?” Inuyasha growled and clenched his claws into fists. A gentling hand on his shoulder from Sesshoumaru calmed him.

“Aha! Here is it,” Totosai took out a small carved wooden box and presented it to Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru studied the intricate woodwork on the box: leaves and flowers run through with swords. He set it down on the ground so that he had his hand free to flip the box open.

“I can open it, Sesshoumaru,” Inuyasha volunteered gently unsure how his brother would react to his notice of the youkai’s disability.

But Sesshoumaru’s voice was warm and steady, “No, Inuyasha, and I want you to stand back away from it when I do open it. There might be … spells of some sort on it.”

“It certainly does give off an aura of power,” Miroku said as he unconsciously crept closer. “But it doesn’t feel evil.”

“It smells warm … like honeysuckle,” Inuyasha noted after taking in deep draught of the box’s scent. “That smell certainly didn’t rub off on it from Totosai over there. Unless he has someone to heat his bath water for him he’s lucky to be clean twice of year.”

Totosai had the sense to look contrite as he remembered how he tricked Inuyasha, however innocently, into heating bath water for him while Inuyasha thought he was being trained to become stronger to wield the Tetsusaiga.
Once he was satisfied that Inuyasha and Rin were far enough away to avoid any spell blast from the box, Sesshoumaru flipped the lid open. Nothing happened. He picked up the box and tilted it on its side so that the firelight illuminated the contents inside.

“Rings?” Inuyasha said, appearing suddenly at Sesshoumaru’s side. He was not going to let Sesshoumaru face any spell alone not matter what his older brother thought.

Sesshoumaru chuckled and turned to his little brother, his lips curling into a beatific smile, “Inuyasha, if you needed proof that our Father approved of our joining, this is it.”

The youkai held out his hand to Inuyasha to show him the two rings cradled in his palm. They looked almost delicate. The bands were highly carved; only the thinnest strands of silver remained to support the single blood red gems in the center of each.

“What is the significance of the rings?” Sango asked as she peered over Inuyasha’s shoulder at the beautiful jewelry.

Kagome stood still beside her, her eyes fixed on the delicate jewelry, her face paler than normal and lips pressed together in a thin tight line. She knew what rings meant: marriage and permanency. Even if Inuyasha were to wake up from this fantasy of loving Sesshoumaru, if he were married in some way to the demon, Inuyasha would remain with his brother, because of the strength of that promise alone.

Jaken gasped, drawing all attention to him, “They are the ruling rings of Lord Sesshoumaru and Lord Inuyasha’s house!”

Sesshoumaru’s golden eyes were shining as he tried to impart the full significance of their Father’s gift to the young hanyou. “They are worn only by the rulers of our house, Inuyasha. I believed there was only one, the one that Father wore, but I see that there must have been joined demons in our house before us as these rings are of identical make and age. Now Father has passed both rings down to us. Acknowledging our joining … approving of it.”

Inuyasha ran his fingertips over the rings in Sesshoumaru’s hand. They felt warm whether from Sesshoumaru’s body heat or if they emanated warmth on their own he didn’t know.

“So by giving us these he wants us to … rule together?”

“Yes, little brother.”

Inuyasha shuddered, his golden eyes going bleak and he shook his head violently. “No! You are the Lord of the Western Lands, Sesshoumaru. Not me. You alone!”

Sesshoumaru’s hopeful expression faltered. ‘What is causing my brother such distress? He obviously does not understand how wonderful this is. Or does he simply not wish to rule with me?’ Sesshoumaru felt cold at the thought. He felt as if his heart were in his throat, stopping him from saying a word.

When Sesshoumaru did not speak, Inuyasha filled in the blank with his worst fears even though his older brother’s body language did not support his conclusions. ‘Sesshoumaru is angry that he has to share something that should be his alone with a hanyou no less. Just like the Tetsusaiga, Father is taking away what should be Sesshoumaru’s and giving it to me. He will hate me again. No no no no!’ Inuyasha felt helpless and hopeless in the tide of his despair and did the only thing he felt he could: he turned and began to run. Seeing the beautiful hanyou fleeing off into the darkness ripped Sesshoumaru out his paralysis. He leapt after his younger brother, shoving the rings into an inner pocket in his robes.

“Inuyasha! Stop, it is too dangerous to go off!”

The hanyou had not gotten far before Sesshoumaru’s words proved prophetic. There was a rush of wind and the sound of thousands of beating wings.

“Inuyasha, get down!” But Sesshoumaru’s words were too late.

A flock of nighthawks rushed low through the night air towards Inuyasha. The tiny delicate bird bodies hit the hanyou and caused him to stumble. The sharp beaks ripped the fair skin of his cheeks and forehead. Many of the little birds became hopelessly entangled in Inuyasha’s long hair, pulling the hanyou down to his knees as they continued to try and fly even with broken wings and backs. Inuyasha screamed, but feathers filled his mouth and he was blinded as blood ran down the wounds in his forehead into his eyes.

“Sesshoumaru, help me!”

Even though Inuyasha’s cry for help was swallowed by the fluttering of wings, Sesshoumaru was already moving. He used Tokijin to clear a path through the flock so that he stood between the birds and his beloved brother. He used his sword like a scythe to keep the birds away, his sword arm moved in a blur and the birds were sliced clean through, piling at his feet. Inuyasha keened low behind him, but he could not turn and comfort the hanyou without risking more harm to them both. ‘How many of them are there? Surely the end of them is near? Unless they are doubling back and will continue to swarm over us?’ Sesshoumaru’s thoughts stilled as the air became suddenly clear before him. He could hear the rushing of wings, but it was fainter. It was but a momentary respite. He knew that the birds could be swooping their way towards them again.

Sesshoumaru whipped around to see Inuyasha still dazed on the ground covered with feathers and blood. Still some birds struggle weakly in his hair as their hearts continue to beat. With a growl, Sesshoumaru rips them off the hanyou, crushing the warm bodies in his claw, trying not to pull his brother’s hair in the process. He wanted the birds away from his brother. They were unclean. Their madness should not be allowed to touch his brother.

“Inuyasha, precious one, you must get up. We must get to the woods. It will be harder for them to attack us that way.”

“The … others. Kagome and—”

Sesshoumaru fought down the familiar jealousy at even the mention of the miko’s name. “They must fend for themselves right now, little brother. I sense that we may be the ones in greatest danger. The others are safer away from us,” Sesshoumaru said softly as he helped the hanyou to his feet.

He cast a quick glance over at the campfire in the far distance. He saw none of their companions. ‘Hopefully, they have used whatever sense the gods have given them to hide. Although the monk’s wind tunnel would not be unwelcome at this moment.’ But Sesshoumaru quelled that thought. He would not want the monk to take in whatever essence animated the birds. ‘It would taint him. Better he take in a million demons than one of those blasted birds.’

The rushing of wings began to get louder and cut of Sesshoumaru’s thoughts. “Come, little brother, we must hurry!”

The two demons leapt towards the line of trees a half-mile in the distance. ‘Too far,’ Inuyasha thought, ‘the safety of the trees is too far. They will reach us before then.’ Inuyasha drew the Tetsusaiga, felt his heart swell as it transformed, and stopped to face the wall of birds that was almost upon them.

“Inuyasha, what are you doing?” Sesshoumaru cried as he realized his brother had ceased running for the safety of the trees.

“We will not make it to the trees in time, Sesshoumaru. I will kill them with the Tetsusaiga’s Wind Scar.”

Sesshoumaru saw how close the flock was and knew his brother was right. Sesshoumaru drew Tokijin and watched as the sword blazed redly, hungry for death, while Inuyasha called upon the Tetsusaiga’s magic generating the Wind Scar. The lines of power from the Wind Scar rushed forwards and decimated three-quarters of the wall of birds that approached them, feathered bodies disintegrating in the blast. Tokijin took care of the rest, absorbing the birds’ deaths like a vampire as its magic struck out and crushed the fragile creatures then pulled their life force back to it. The clearing before them was finally empty and quiet. Just the brothers and their swords remained like flickers of flame in a sea of darkness.

Inuyasha’s sword arm dropped. He used the now untransformed Tetsusaiga as a cane to prop himself up. Then Sesshoumaru was suddenly at his side and the hanyou gratefully leaned against his brother instead, taking in deep droughts of his brother’s scent. Never had he felt so exhausted, so decimated, not even after facing hordes of Naraku’s demons then the half-demon himself had he felt so drained. ‘But they were only birds! Thousands of them, true, but still … they seemed so strange … so awful.’

“Inuyasha, how are your injuries?”

“They will be all right soon,” Inuyasha answered softly, without the strength to speak louder. Inuyasha felt the dual itch of his wounds healing and of the feathers as they stuck to the dried blood on his face.

“This is one of those rare times I regret not having both arms. I would carry you if I could,” Sesshoumaru murmured into the hanyou’s hair.

Inuyasha growled, “I am not so weak yet, Sesshoumaru, that I need you to coddle me. I just have to catch my breath a moment.”

‘Gods, I cannot show how much I need him. My weakness threatens us both. He deserves better than me. And damn you, Father, for saddling Sesshoumaru’s life with yet more of my failings by trying to take away the full rule of the Western Lands from him.’

Inuyasha struggled to stand upright on his own, but his legs shook. Sesshoumaru felt his brother’s distress and sensed the hanyou’s desire not to be seen as weak. He grabbed Inuyasha and pressed the hanyou to him, just as his little brother was about to fall back against him so that it seemed that Sesshoumaru was the cause of their closeness, not the need of Inuyasha’s betraying body. Inuyasha held himself in his brother’s embrace stiffly, not allowing his body to droop against his brother’s as it wanted to do so desperately.

“Do you not understand, little brother, that it pleases me to try and care for you even though you do not need it?” Sesshoumaru said.

“Truly?” Inuyasha asked, but still he would not let himself lean more into Sesshoumaru’s embrace. ‘He would take my weakness and make it seem like his own. Inuyasha felt a stab of happiness. This is love. This is what I’ve been missing. This is … everything.’

“Yes. It helps me forget all those times when you were small and needed me and I was not there. I do not doubt your strength, Inuyasha. It is what saved us tonight. I ask only that you humor me sometimes, precious one, and let my strength bear us both.” Sesshoumaru tightened his hold on his brother to underscore that point.

“If it pleases you, Sesshoumaru, I will do it,” Inuyasha murmured against his brother’s chest, his lips flicking lightly over the skin causing Sesshoumaru to shiver with a different kind of need.

Inuyasha let his full weight rest against his brother and wished, too, that Sesshoumaru had both arms, if only so that he could experience being encircled by both of them just once. ‘Selfish, idiotic thoughts,’ Inuyasha snarled internally at himself. ‘If you would wish for him whole, wish for it for his sake, not yours!’ But the child inside of him, the one that first saw his brother in a blizzard of cherry blossoms, still longed for that full touch.

Sesshoumaru’s own thoughts were less chaotic. Ever since the joining, he had felt a sense of fullness, of peace, of pure contentment. The calmness he showed on the outside finally reflected his true feelings. The warmth of the hanyou in his arms was like a tonic, dispelling even the wrongness of the animals’ behaviors that night. ‘With Inuyasha beside me, I need nothing else.’

The brothers stood there for several moments in each other’s arms, before Sesshoumaru felt the need to ask the question that was haunting him.

“Inuyasha, why did you run tonight? Don’t you wish to rule with me?”

“I didn’t want you to hate me.”

“What?” Sesshoumaru was honestly shocked. “Why would I hate you, little brother?”

“It’s like the Tetsusaiga. That should have been yours, but Father gave it to me. The sole rule of the Western Lands should be yours and Father is once again trying to take something from you and give it to me. And I won’t do it. I won’t take anything more from you, Sesshoumaru.”

Sesshoumaru shook with suppressed bitter laughter. ‘Of course he would think I would be angry with him again for one of our father’s acts. I have shown him little else in his life but a spoiled youkai that wanted the one thing his father didn’t give him.’

Sesshoumaru drew Inuyasha out from his chest so that he could look the hanyou in the eye, “We are joined, Inuyasha. That means there is no yours or mine, there is only ours.”

“But—”

“No buts. If our house did not already have two ruling rings, I would have had another commissioned for you. I want you by my side, Inuyasha, in all things. So is that your only objection?”

“Yes, of course!”

“So you would not mind sharing the rule over the Western Lands with me?”

Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow at him, leaned forward and pressed his lips against his older brother’s in a sweet chaste kiss, “Sesshoumaru, I could think of nothing better to do than that.”

“Neither can I, precious one,” Sesshoumaru husked out and Inuyasha pressed their bodies closer together at his tone.

The shouts of their companions roused them from their moment. Kagome was leading the pack as they raced across the field towards the brothers. Her bow was drawn and an arrow was gripped tightly in her other hand. Inuyasha took a deep breath and tried to remove himself from his brother’s hold. Sesshoumaru clutched him closer.

“You will not leave my embrace, Inuyasha, simply because the priestess comes near,” Sesshoumaru growled.

“Please, Sesshoumaru, seeing me like this will make her think my injuries worse than they are and she will worry unnecessarily. Believe me, a worried Kagome is almost as bad as an angry Kagome,” Inuyasha said as lightly as he could, sensing the jealousy and possessiveness in Sesshoumaru’s tensed muscles. Internally, Inuyasha added: ‘And it hurts her to see me intimate with Sesshoumaru. The least I can give her is to be discreet and not flaunt the joining in front of her.’

Sesshoumaru’s golden eyes bored into Inuyasha and Inuyasha wondered if the joining allowed his brother to read his thoughts if only a little. His brother’s words did nothing to dispel that thought.

Sesshoumaru’s voice was low and cool, “Catering to Kagome’s feelings of dismay about our joining by hiding our physical contact does not help either of you. She must accept that you are forever beyond her reach and place her attentions elsewhere. I know it is painful, but it must occur.”

“You’re right, Sesshoumaru. It’s only … I cannot face her hurt right now. So much has happened today already.”

The hanyou bit his lower lip and worried it between his teeth. The sight made Sesshoumaru sigh, half with desire and half with frustration at his little brother’s need to please his friends.

“I will give you a respite in this for now, little brother. But I will not do so again. My patience with the miko runs thin as it is.”

Inuyasha nodded as Sesshoumaru released him from the embrace. The hanyou though discovered the loss of his brother’s touch even more painful than the thought of facing Kagome’s hurt and he found himself reaching up to pull Sesshoumaru’s full lips down to his own for a brief kiss. There was a ghost of a smile on Sesshoumaru’s lips as the kiss ended and the hanyou stepped away. Even as Inuyasha saw Kagome out of the corner of his eye coming closer, he could not draw his eyes away from his brother. His gaze on his brother was only broken when Kagome spoke.

“Inuyasha! Are you all right?” Kagome cried as she skidded to a stop in front of the brothers. She immediately dropped her bow and arrow to the ground to cradle Inuyasha’s blood crusted face in her hands. “Oh, you’re injured!”

“The wounds are healed all ready, Kagome. Only the mess from them is left,” Inuyasha told her, giving her a lop-sided grin, even as his insides burned with the need to be back in Sesshoumaru’s arms. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. The birds … they didn’t hurt us at all. They just attacked you and Sesshoumaru,” she answered.

Jaken bounded up at that moment, his beak open in a perpetual cry for his lord, “My Lord Sesshoumaru, are you injured?”

The toad demon frisked about Sesshoumaru’s feet, trying to see every bit of his lord at once to determine if there were any wounds that needed magic healing. Sesshoumaru did not respond to his servant. His golden eyes focused on the miko as she petted Inuyasha’s face and hair. ‘As if he is hers to touch. As if he is hers at all. He is a dog demon lord and she treats him like a puppy to be petted.’ Sesshoumaru’s hand clenched into a fist as Kagome dropped to her knees, rummaging in her pack for something to wipe away the dried blood on Inuyasha’s face. She got up with a soft white cloth and a bottle of water. She drenched the cloth and began cleaning Inuyasha’s face.

Their other companions also joined the group in the middle of the field. Sesshoumaru saw with satisfaction that the demon slayer had taken Rin along with Shippou on Kirara’s back. She met his gaze and nodded, acknowledging his silent thanks for her taking care of the little girl. Rin smiled at Sesshoumaru gamely once she saw that he was all right.

“Where is that old bastard, Totosai?” Inuyasha growled.

“He ran away,” Kagome said and giggled. “You would think that a man who made weapons for a living wouldn’t be so afraid of everything.”

“He makes weapons because he is afraid of everything,” Inuyasha joked.

Kagome suddenly gave a low cry.

“What is it, Kagome?” Inuyasha asked.

She pointed silently to his chest. Something twitched inside Inuyasha’s robe. The hanyou reached down to find what it was. His hand closed upon the hot frail body of one of the nighthawks that had become caught in his fire rat robes. He brought the bird out into the night air, looking at the tiny creature. The flickering of the bird’s heart vibrated through Inuyasha’s palm as the bird twisted its head from side to side, looking at its captors.

“Oh! Inuyasha, you shouldn’t touch it. The bird must be ill for it to have acted like it did,” Kagome cried.

“It does not seem ill,” Inuyasha said softly as he studied it.

“What are you going to do with it?” Kagome asked him.

“It is only one so letting it go shouldn’t be a problem,” Inuyasha said and opened his hand to release the bird.

Immediately, the little thing flew up towards Inuyasha’s face to peck him. With a snarl, Sesshoumaru snatched the bird from the air and snapped its neck. The sound was dreadfully loud in the stillness of the evening air. Sesshoumaru let the little body drop from his hand. Everyone looked ill even though they all knew that Sesshoumaru’s action was necessary. Kagome began to shake, her eyes fixed on the tiny bird. The miko that had faced hordes of demons without one shiver of fear or regret was undone by the bird’s death.

“Kagome,” Inuyasha breathed as he grasped her arms tenderly and drew her against him, “Kagome, it’s all right. Don’t look at it. Just … don’t look.” Inuyasha found that comforting Kagome was the only thing stopping him from breaking down as well. The bird’s reaction to him was frightening in a way he had never been aware of before.

“Why is this happening, Inuyasha? It’s … not right. Something is so … wrong … tonight. Ever since … ever since you joined with Sesshoumaru, things have been wrong.”

She wept on his shoulder even as he stiffened against her. ‘How can she say that? Yet don’t I believe it, too? No, that can’t be!’

Inuyasha’s voice was suddenly rough and raw, shaking a little, “Do you hate the thought of me being with Sesshoumaru so much that you would … would think we are to blame for these creatures’ madness?”

Inuyasha’s arms were suddenly at his sides instead of around her. The miko raised her head from Inuyasha’s chest, confused and still teary.

“No … Inuyasha, I didn’t mean … no, of course, you aren’t to blame.”

Inuyasha saw the worried looks that passed between Shippou, Miroku and Sango though.

“What do you have to say? Obviously, you are all thinking something that you haven’t mentioned to me. Spit it out!”

Inuyasha was trembling as he confronted his friends. Sesshoumaru drew up behind him, and the heat of his body felt so comforting against Inuyasha’s back.

It was Shippou’s high voice that surprisingly answered, “It’s just a legend, Inuyasha. I’m sure its not true … at least that it has nothing to do with you two. It’s just that things have been sort of scary since … well, since you know, you and Sesshoumaru joined. The darkness and the birds and all that.”

‘Not to mention the animals they don’t know about flying off the cliff to their deaths.’ Inuyasha stopped that thought process before it continued down a road he didn’t want to travel.

Jaken sniffed dismissively, “Oh, so the little fox demon who didn’t even know that joined demons are always blood relations is the expert on legends about them?”

“Not an expert! Just something my father told me about … about joined demons and something coming from the Outer Dark because of them. And that … that animals react to the something coming in strange ways. That’s all I know.”

“That legend was but an excuse to slaughter joined demons. Made up by those jealous of the power it gave them,” Jaken argued. “It is simply not true.”

“And yet, clearly something is happening here,” Miroku piped up and Inuyasha wanted to wipe that smug look of the monk’s face. “Whether or not Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru are the joined demons mentioned in the legend or not or even if the legend is true or not, their joining is having an … effect.”

“I admitted as much to you at camp, monk,” Sesshoumaru answered smoothly.

Inuyasha gasped, “Sesshoumaru, you don’t think that we’re causing this, do you?”

The killing of the birds had disturbed the hanyou more than he could account. It was like nature itself was rearing up against them.

Sesshoumaru kissed the top of Inuyasha’s head, holding his lips there for a moment, to ground the hanyou. He smiled against Inuyasha’s hair as the miko grimaced at the kiss. “I believe that whatever is watching us may be causing the strange behavior of the animals and the darkness. But we, ourselves, are not the cause, Inuyasha.”

“There seems little difference between those two positions,” Miroku observed dryly.

“There is quite a bit of difference if you had the mind to see it!” Jaken said to the monk, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Please, let’s not argue about this here … or at all,” Sango said wearily as she continued to hold Rin tight against her chest. “I don’t think its safe to be out in the open like this.”

“The demon slayer is right. We need to find some kind of shelter for the night,” Sesshoumaru agreed, grateful to Sango yet again that night. He could see the negative effect this conversation was having on Inuyasha as the half-demon was practically spitting with rage and fear.

“Kaede’s village is nearby. She would put us up for the night and it’s on the way to the Western Lands,” Shippou offered, belatedly worrying about what the old priestess would think of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. “Perhaps we shouldn’t bring more trouble to her, though.”

“No, that’s a perfect idea,” Kagome said and hooked her arm through one of Inuyasha’s to draw him away from Sesshoumaru and towards the village. ‘Maybe seeing Kaede will remind Inuyasha of who he really loves … Kikyou and me.’ Kagome held onto that thought as if it were a talisman.

<<>>

Kagura watched the group walk off towards the older priestess’ village with a frown. The two incidents of animals dying had left her with a feeling of doom. It was proof that Naraku’s supposition that an Ancient was making its way from the Outer Dark was correct and that the brothers were its focus. ‘Naraku could truly get possession of another Shikon jewel. And all the world will suffer if he does.’ She knew she had to report her observations to him, but her heart quailed at the thought. But duty ruled the wind sorceress and she took out a feather from her hair and used it as a vessel to transport her back to the castle.

Kagura arrived to find Kikyou standing in front of Naraku. Her bow was on her back, but her expression was enough to kill all the same as she looked down at the half-demon. For his part, Naraku was smirking.

“You’d best have a good reason for summoning me here, Naraku. Or has your human heart demanded the sight of me?” Kikyou asked, her small white hands tightening into fists even as her voice showed only disdain.

“It is your heart that is the purpose of this visit, Lady Kikyou,” Naraku smoothly replied.

“What do you mean?” Kikyou’s dark eyes flashed warningly.

“I found out some news today that will interest and affect you greatly, dear priestess.”

“And what pray tell is this information?”

“That Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru are joined,” Naraku answered simply then laughed.

The priestess stood there, frozen. Many emotions flashed across her eyes in seconds: disbelief, shock, pain, and rage.

“You lie, Naraku,” she spit out.

“I’m afraid not. Kagura herself saw the joining among other things … them kissing and fondling each other by a spring, isn’t that right, Kagura?”

Naraku had not even glanced the wind sorceress’ way since she entered the room, but he had obviously noticed her in her half-hidden position by the door.

“Yes, my lord. And I have other things to report once you through without your … guest.”

“Let her hear them as well, Kagura. I think these things would interest a priestess, especially one as devoted as Kikyou to the humans of this world.”

Kikyou was shaking as she listened to the exchange between master and servant. Her mind couldn’t accept the idea of Inuyasha with Kagome, her reincarnated self, but with his half-brother her mind shut down. ‘Inuyasha is mine. All mine. Not Kagome’s. And certainly not that bastard Sesshoumaru’s!’

“Animals have begun to behave … strangely,” Kagura began and related all she had seen to Naraku and the miko. All were silent after she finished her tale. Kikyou was quite possibly paler than normal even though her body made up of clay and ask shouldn’t allow such a thing.

“What is the meaning … the meaning of all this?” Kikyou asked.

“It means an Ancient is making its way here, Lady Kikyou. It means another Shikon jewel will be on Earth.”

The priestess stared at Naraku, his grin never wavering under her gaze. “Do you know where they are now, Kagura?” The priestess’ voice was oddly quiet and controlled.

The wind sorceress looked to Naraku to see if she could answer and he nodded almost imperceptibly.

“Yes. They are going to your Lady Kikyou’s old village.”

“Kagura, why do you not take the priestess there? I think she has a hankering to see her old village, don’t you, Lady Kikyou?” Naraku purred.

Kikyou turned to the wind sorceress and with pale lips said simply, “Take me home.”

<<>>

Inuyasha had tried to stay invisible as Kaede greeted the group at her door in the middle of the light with less surprise and more grace than almost anyone he knew. With a little nod she had agreed to house and feed them like always no matter what trouble they brought with them. Only a slightly raised eyebrow at the sight of Sesshoumaru, Rin and Jaken showed any indication that she found this visit any different from any other.

Inuyasha had sought to escape everyone by going to take a bath. They were eating and resting by a fire in one of the houses in the village. Even after Kagome’s attempt at cleaning, he still could smell his blood and the birds’ blood on him. He desperately needed to feel clean and be on his own. But as he hurried towards the bathhouse, he nearly ran into Kaede.

“Sorry, old woman,” Inuyasha said and tried to edge around her. ‘Please don’t make conversation, just let me pass, just let me go.’ But it was not to be.

“Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru … he is your half-brother, is he not?” Kaede’s voice was like a needle that sent shocks to his brain.

“Yes … ah, I have to go—”

The old woman’s one eye narrowed as she studied the hanyou critically, “Something more he is to ye as well.”

‘I shouldn’t be ashamed of this. I am a demon and being joined is a great honor. And I love Sesshoumaru. What do I care what an old woman thinks? What Kikyou’s sister thinks of me?’ But he did. Because in a way Kaede was another link to Kikyou, who had been the first one that Inuyasha had ever opened up to after his brother’s rejection. His joining would sever the link that had given his life meaning for so long.

Kaede sighed suddenly, “Joined. Ye are joined. My poor sister. Poor Kagome. Neither had a chance.”

Inuyasha felt as if he had been slapped. He had not known that he was to be joined to Sesshoumaru. He had not led on either girl … at least not knowingly.

“I did not know! Not until today. I didn’t … mislead Kikyou or Kagome. I loved them both, old woman!”

“But that love must seem a faint thing compared to what ye feel about Sesshoumaru, isn’t that true, child?”

Inuyasha’s throat felt like it was closing up as if he were allergic to the air itself. Kaede reached and patted his shoulder gently.

“I wasn’t blaming ye, child. I was just stating the way things are and … being sad for those two girls. Since ye are joined to him at least I know that ye will be happy. Such relationships are said to be full of bliss and wonder. I am glad for ye, Inuyasha. Forgive an old woman her mourning for what could never be.”

Then she walked on past him, sliding open the door to the house where the others were. Inuyasha practically ran to the bathhouse.

Inuyasha stripped out of his robes and pants. The bath water was already pleasantly warm for him, Kaede having started the fire to heat the water some time earlier. Naked, he slid into the water, sighing as it covered him. He dunked his head fully under and stayed there, letting the dried blood loosen from his hair and skin and dissolve in the warm water. He broke the surface and rubbed his face to clean the rest of the blood off and wipe the water from his eyes. When his sight cleared the vision he saw in front of him made Inuyasha think that he must still be under the water, drinking in the liquid and drowning. Through the steam from the water’s surface he saw Sesshoumaru, completely bare, no armor, no robes or pants. Just long alabaster limbs, defined sleek muscles and soft white fur surrounding his penis, partially erect, between two velvety muscled thighs.

“May I join you, Inuyasha?”

Sesshoumaru’s voice was like dark honey and Inuyasha found his eyes fluttering shut, wanting to flow with that voice alone, but the view of his older brother’s nakedness, the air redolent with the smell of musk, kept his eyes open. His mouth seemed unable to work so he merely nodded to indicate that Sesshoumaru should join him in the bath.

With his characteristic grace, Sesshoumaru lowered himself into the steaming water opposite the hanyou and leaned his head back against the side of the stone tub. Inuyasha couldn’t help but keep looking at his brother’s bare chest, muscled stomach, and of course, his engorged sex. It was pinker than the rest of his body, flushed with blood and Inuyasha felt heat rise both in his face and in his own sex. Since Sesshoumaru was not looking at him, Inuyasha felt free to devour his older brother with his eyes and touch himself while he did.

Inuyasha wondered if the skin of Sesshoumaru’s cock would be silky like the rest of him, perhaps even softer since it wasn’t exposed to the elements as much as the rest of him. ‘And it better not have been touched that often by others. Too much to hope for that it hasn’t been touched before, but still … he’s mine! No one else’s.’ Inuyasha’s possessive thoughts shocked him a little. The hanyou grasped his own sex, a low moan at the back of his throat and used his hands and the slickness of the water to stroke himself to painful hardness. ‘I want him. But this is Kikyou’s village. Kikyou’s sister is not fifty feet away. And Kagome … But I want him!’

Inuyasha’s eyes fixed on his brother’s dusty pink nipples and he began to salivate. He imagined sucking on them, nipping them, tasting his brother’s skin while Sesshoumaru writhed underneath him in pleasure. Inuyasha had to clasp his sex tightly at the root to stop himself from coming just at that thought alone. But his mind had other ideas and continued the fantasy. While he was nibbling on his brother’s chest, their cocks would be rubbing against each other, the heat and hardness of his brother’s sex would be running against his own sex and his thighs and stomach like a brand. Inuyasha moaned and grasped his dick with both hands, aching for release, but unable to complete the act.

“I can smell your arousal, little brother, and the small sounds of need you are making,” Sesshoumaru said, his head still leaning back, eyes closed.

Inuyasha flushed and ripped his hand away from his penis, suddenly feeling wrong for touching himself while viewing his brother’s naked body. Sesshoumaru raised his head up and fixed Inuyasha with a golden stare.

“Don’t stop, precious one. Touch yourself. Tell me what you are thinking while you do,” Sesshoumaru instructed and Inuyasha whimpered.

“I’m so close, Sesshoumaru, if I touch myself I’ll come.”

“We can’t have that … not yet anyway,” Sesshoumaru said and suddenly he was across the bath and his own hand was gripping the base of Inuyasha’s erect sex, stopping him from coming. “Tell me what you were thinking of that caused this.” When he said this, Sesshoumaru tugged gently on Inuyasha’s cock. The hanyou nearly screamed in pleasure, but only a slight keen came out.

“You, I was thinking of you. Looking at you. Your stomach, your thighs, your cock. I wondered if your cock was … soft,” Inuyasha babbled and blushed again at the things he was saying out loud.

“Oh, it isn’t soft, Inuyasha, not soft at all now,” Sesshoumaru purred and pressed his erect sex against his brother’s thighs. “Tell me more. What other thoughts ran through that lovely mind of yours?”

“I wanted to suck your…”

“My what? My lips? My neck? My cock?”

“Yes, those! But also your … nipples. I want to taste them, touch them, make them hard, too. Please!”

Inuyasha gasped out as Sesshoumaru pulled again on his sex. The older demon shivered, his own erection growing harder. He could feel it leaking pre-come into the warm water. He imagined that his come was already making its way inside his little brother’s body, claiming it in advance. ‘How will I stop myself from thrusting into that virgin passage and planting my seed deep inside him before we get home?’ There were other ways to feel pleasure other than the sex act itself, quite satisfying ways, and he would show and practice on Inuyasha and Inuyasha on him every single one.

“What will you give me for the privilege of sucking my nipples, Inuyasha?”

“Ah … anything, anything! Please, let me! I’ll do anything!” Inuyasha’s whole body was trembling, even as his cock became purpled with blood.

“Then I will have to think of something extra special while I grant you your wish, little brother.”

As soon as permission was given, Inuyasha’s sweet pink mouth was fastened onto Sesshoumaru’s right nipple. The hanyou’s teeth grazed the sensitive flesh and his tongue swept over the bitten skin.

“How do I taste, Inuyasha?”

“Sweet and citrus like oranges and honey,” Inuyasha mumbled as he continued to taste his older brother’s skin. Inuyasha moved over to the left nipple with his sharp white teeth and Sesshoumaru gasped as air hit the sensitized flesh of the right.

“Could you make a meal out of me, Inuyasha?”

“Yes!” The hanyou whimpered and licked and sucked the pink nub in his mouth, while his hands roamed over his brother’s back.

“I think I could do the same of you,” Sesshoumaru breathed.

Before Inuyasha knew what was happening, Sesshoumaru was lifting him up out of the tub and onto the rim of the bath so that his cock was out of the water. Sesshoumaru deep throated his little brother’s penis. Inuyasha keened, driven insane by having his sex surrounded by warmth and suction. The hanyou came hard and hot. He felt himself spilling his seed, so much of it, into Sesshoumaru’s throat. He collapsed over the youkai, trembling with spent desire. Sesshoumaru licked and kissed his brother’s spent member before helping the hanyou slide back down into the tub. Inuyasha was almost boneless in his arms. Sesshoumaru’s own member was still painfully erect and he had decided how he was going to rectify that situation and have Inuyasha “pay” for the privilege of sucking his nipples.

“Inuyasha, I wish to collect on your debt to me.”

The hanyou raised his head from where it was resting on his brother’s shoulder. “What do you want me to do?”

“Turn around so that your stomach is resting against the wall of the bath,” Sesshoumaru ordered and Inuyasha complied.

“What now?” Inuyasha asked from his kneeling position, already feeling a growing tingling in his groin from where his still sensitive sex was brushing against the smooth stone of the bath’s side and the sound of his brother’s voice.

Instead of speaking, Sesshoumaru lined up his cock between Inuyasha’s firm butt cheeks, creating a channel where his dick could slide smoothly with just the right amount of friction and so he would hit the sweet pink hole of Inuyasha’s ass. With the first stroke, Inuyasha moaned. Just that touch against his opening and his sex was almost aching hard again. Sesshoumaru held him in place by wrapping his arm around the hanyou’s slim waist. Inuyasha could feel his brother’s breath on his neck. The breathing became more ragged with each stroke and Sesshoumaru began to chant Inuyasha’s name.

“Oh … brother, little brother … look what you’ve done to me … look how you make me feel, sweet one … beautiful one!”

“Yes, Sesshoumaru, yours! I’m yours! Please … please, come!”

“I am going to! It will mark you, Inuyasha, even the water won’t be able to wash my scent from you. It will penetrate down to your very bones!”

“Yes! Mark me! I want everyone to know that I am yours!”

Sesshoumaru thrust one last time and he came explosively over Inuyasha’s ass and back. The hanyou followed with his second release seconds later. Sesshoumaru brought Inuyasha’s once again boneless body against his chest.

“I am yours, Sesshoumaru,” Inuyasha said softly from his position on Sesshoumaru’s chest.

“Yes, and I am yours, precious one.”

Sesshoumaru was just letting his eyes close when they heard Kaede’s shocked voice from outside the bathhouse.

“Kikyou? Dear sister, what brings you here?”

The priestess’ cool voice cut through the air, “To get Inuyasha? Where is he?”

Kaede’s voice betrayed only a slight nervousness, “He is bathing, dear sister, in no state for you to visit him right now.”

Kikyou’s voice was like the winter winds off the frost peaks, “He is mine, Kaede. I may and will see him whenever I wish.”

Inuyasha gasped as the door to the bathhouse slammed open and Kikyou stood in the doorway, taking in the scene of the two brothers in the tub together. Her eyes blazed.

“Inuyasha, come to me … now,” she commanded and he shivered.