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The Forest That Bore His Name	By : Raithea Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 17700 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
~~Chapter Nine~~
Fates Revealed
Pain
That was all Inuyasha could focus on as he felt fangs pierce the back of his neck; those jaws clamping down over his spine to hold him in place. Inuyasha tried to get out of the hold, tried to tug his hands out of that manacle like grip or rip himself out from between the bastard’s teeth. But that maw simply closed tighter and a growl vibrated up into his skull. So all he got for his troubles was more vertigo and a short black out when all his tugging had tightened the skin over his windpipe.
And then that pain began to spread, and even more terrifying was the icy numbness that seeped in after. As if the pain was blazing a trail inside his body for whatever the hell was following. And Inuyasha could do nothing to stop it. Sesshomaru was in complete control.
Inuyasha felt panic start to seize him. He couldn’t just sit here and let this shit happen. But nothing he’d tried had worked he felt completely out of control, like he always felt when he got sick, that his body wasn’t listening anymore and there wasn’t a fucking thing he could do about it.
And then it was over, Sesshomaru was sliding his fangs from beneath Inuyasha’s skin and released his hold on Inuyasha, who immediately fell to his hands and knees. All Inuyasha could do was crouch there and pant, whatever Sesshomaru had done to him was still going on, that numbing pain still advancing within his body. It was so slow and yet so persistent, as inevitable as the tide. But even as it proceeded with its slow invasion, Inuyasha leaned back on his calves, his claws digging deeper into the ground before him. He concentrated on his claws sinking into the soil. It was the best thing he could do to ground himself, ‘cause everything else seemed ready to pitch ass over heels.
Dig and flex, dig and flex. Inuyasha thought - over and over again. A stone. He flicked out from beneath his claws. The ground did another sneaky list.
Breathe dammit. He took a deeper breath, focusing on his chest expanding and he felt the assault speed up in that brief moment.
He looked up at Sesshomaru, his glare accusatory even as his vision swam for a second before he could focus on that pompous face.
“What in fuck’in hells did you do?” he demanded in a rasp whisper, his hand reaching up to the scruff of his neck; which now pulsed with each beat of his heart.
“I insured that you will not be leaving this pack’s land without my knowledge.” Sesshomaru informed him, as though this was nothing,
Pack’s land?! And then it clicked
“A goddamn pack claim!” Inuyasha yelled, surging up from the ground You fucking sono—“ but before Inuyasha could utter another sound his breathe froze inside his chest as pain exploded. He collapsed to the ground; clutching at his chest, screaming, as he felt a hellfire burn and twist his flesh.
Oh gods.
~~~~~
Sesshomaru had expected some difficulties when he found Inuyasha stuck up in that tree. He had known that his options were down to one in two; either the half-breed would choose to return or Seeshomaru would give him no choice but to return. He’d expected Inuyasha’s refusal, he’d expected him to be stubborn, he’d even suspected that the hanyou would try and fight him; though he couldn’t help be a little surprised at Inuyasha’s fierceness given his behavior not forty-eight hours ago.
But what Sesshomaru had never expected was that moments after the pack claim had been administered, seconds after Inuyasha had started shouting profanities once again; that Inuyasha would collapse with a scream of pure agony, a scream which was quickly shattered by rasping coughs as if the hanyou was suffocating under some unseen force.
What was going on?
Without thought, he was next to the brash teenager, bending over his prone form. He had to pry Inuaysha’s finger out of his shirt, untangling the digits from the holes they had made in his rain jacket. Once the hanyou’s hand was out of the way, he popped open the coat. And stopped.
There, encasing the half-breed’s torso, was one of his father’s heirlooms, the fire rat haori. He couldn’t believe Inuyasha had managed to hold onto it this entire time. But he couldn’t focus on that right now. Inuyasha still couldn’t seem to breathe properly, his claws now scratching at the ground beneath them, apparently blind to Seeshomaru's presence. Sesshomaru parted the folds of the haori and stared in shock at the sight before him. The Shikon no Tama was on Inuyasha’s chest, glowing malevolently through the hole in had burned in Inuyasha’s shirt.
What was Inuyasha doing with the shikon no tama?! Had the miko given it to him? Why? What possible good could have come from it? In one clean slice the shirt was parted and revealed exactly what had caused Inuyasha’s pain.
The shikon no tama was trying to fuse with him. Thin tendrils of translucent stone were already bleeding out from where the stone had bonded to Inuyasha. No visible separation between skin and stone. And suddenly he knew if he didn’t act that accursed jewel wouldn’t stop until it was irrevocably tied with Inuyasha. Sesshomaru reached out, intending to rip the malignant tumor from Inuyasha. But the moment his hand neared the stone it threw off sparks of power, lancing numbness up his arm and briefly engulfing his hand in a magical fire, which was extinguished the moment he took his claws away.
Sesshomaru tried to think even as he had to hold down the hanyou from clawing at his own skin. Had the miko tried to paw off her responsibility or was this a play she had made to ensure this Sesshomaru’s cooperation. He felt his temper spike. This Sesshomaru would be manipulated be no one. He would not dance to her tune, but as Lord of these lands he would get the answers he wanted.
Not wasting any more time fruitlessly trying to get the jewel to let go, he extended his youki until his pelt emerged around his shoulder. It slithered around the hanyou’s body, holding his arms at his sides, ignoring the attempted cursing that Inuyasha tried to force out between those bone-wracking coughs. The pain now seemingly starting to come in ebbs and flows, pulsing through the body he now placed on his shoulder, wary of both the boy’s back and chest. As soon as Inuyasha was secure he gathered his energy around him and was off; a fast moving ball of light that made its way straight to the Anzen no Chi shrine.
Within minutes his feet touched town on the flagstones of the main courtyard, and luckily for him the miko appeared seconds later, summoned by Inuyasha. As soon as she saw him she ran out to meet him; her face a mirror of both shock and relief at the picture he must have made.
“Sesshomaru what…” she asked, her eyes roving over him, stopping on Inuyasha’s behind, “--what happened?”
“That is what I would like to know,” Sesshomaru said, his voice cold.
She looked confused, his eyebrows knitting as she tried to decipher his words, “What do you m—“ and then the shikon gave a small pulse of power, forcing a gasp of pain through Inuyasha’s coughs and dawning comprehension on the miko’s face. “Oh,” was all she could say, her hand going to her mouth as her eyes widened.
“Yes,” he said, “Oh.”
She dropped her hand, “This way,” was all she said, turning towards the main sanctuary of the temple and walking promptly away from them. Sesshomaru followed; glad that no explanation would be needed. As soon he entered the inner sanctum, the shoji closed around them closed, a brief flash of power sealing the room. He set Inuyasha down on the floor, unwrapping his pelt from around Inuyasha’s now trembling body. Sesshomaru looked up at the miko from across Inuyasha’s exposed torso, where the shikon still marched on in its terrible work. There was no surprise on her face at the sight of what the stone was doing.
She knew!
“Why have you allowed this to happen? What are you plotting?” He demanded, standing up to use his height to its full advantage.
The miko remained calm, “I’m not plotting anything Sesshomaru. This is simply what has to be.”
Red crept into his vision, “So you would shirk your responsibility onto one who can barely stand, let alone defend himself from such an attack.”
The young woman shook he head, “I’m not shirking anything Sesshomaru, I…”
“Liar,” He declared, startlingly her with his ferocity, “How can you still claim to guard that accursed jewel when it is before you at this very moment trying to merge with him.”
Inuyasha groaned, drawing their attention, his coughs subsiding enough that he opened his eyes and managed to croak out, “I’m right here, d-don’t argue like I’m some f-re-kin doormat.” Sesshomaru watched as the miko smiled down at Inuyahsa, bending down and taking his hand before giving it a reassuring squeeze. Inuyasha focused in on her, though Sesshomaru could see it was difficult for him “S-so ugh what the f-fuck is goin’ on.”
Her smile faded as she stood straight once more to address Sesshomaru, “I would never abandon my duty.” Sesshomaru couldn’t help the growl that escaped, but it was stopped short when she reached for the hem of her shirt and began drawing it over her head. What the…?
Then he saw what she was trying to show him. It was the Shikon no Tama, staring out at him from the center of her chest, partially obscured by her bra. Strands of stone fractured out from a solid core, with no discernable edge between the skin and jewel, and all the while following the body’s contours.
“I am and always will be the Guardian of the Shikon no Tama,” She looked down at Inuyasha a quiet smile on her lips, her eyes sad, “And so are you.”
~~~~
He couldn’t have heard right. There was no way he’d just heard right. Cripes, he must be seriously messed up to have heard what he thought he had heard. He was still having one hell of a time simply trying to keep the girl in focus, his own thoughts escaping his efforts to stay on one track. The nausea that had been swimming in the background was now rising up. He turned over onto his side, closing his eyes once more, feeling the tatami press into his face. Gods, he wished the world would stop spinning, even when he closed his eyes, he could feel it lurching just beyond his eyelids.
“I think we should bring him to the bathroom. He looks like he’s going to be sick.” That was Kagome talking again. Would they stop speaking over him! Not that he was up for much chit chat, he just wanted to sleep - maybe when he woke up he wouldn’t feel so crappy.
“Very well I…What is that?” Inuyasha immediately knew that Sesshomaru was referring to him, or more specifically, what was going on with his back. That painful numbness from before had been spreading this entire time and now seemed to be zeroing in on his scars; he felt a moist glob of something start to slip down his back.
“We need to move him now,” That was Kagome again and there was a new urgency in her voice.
A moment of silence, “Agreed, but you will answer my questions, as well.”
“Of course, now move!”
Inuyasha heard cloth shuffling before he felt that fur from before wrap around him again, vertigo tilted behind his eyelids and then he was on Sesshomaru’s shoulder.
They walked in silence, the loudest thing he could hear was his own damn breathing, broken once when Kagome spoke to somebody, telling them to call off the search for his sorry ass. Soon enough he was being set back down on a bathroom floor, the tiles cool beneath him. He opened his eyes -the land didn’t tilt as badly this time - and saw just to his right was the toilet.
As if the sight of it was the trigger, the bile rose up in his throat. He quickly grabbed at the bowl, retching. After the first wave, the shaking worsened, but the nausea had calmed slightly. Someone was holding his hair back from his face, Kagome by the sound of things. Then she was coaxing him back, telling him they needed to get his top off. Inuyasha wondered where Sesshomaru was at this point. He’d probably left the moment he could to get away from him.
But then Sesshomauru spoke up, “I shall speak with you again, once this has been taken care.”
Kagome was gone from Inuyasha’s side so fast he nearly collapsed sideways to the floor. “Oh no you don’t! You want your answers; you’re going to stay and help.”
Sesshomaru snorted, “And why is this responsibility mine? I was able to retrieve him, while you only remained here and coordinated a fruitless search.”
“You know damn well this is your responsibility Sesshomaru, for a whole bunch of reasons.” Kagome tone got lower, “Not least of which is that I can feel your youki is at work.”
Inuyasha clutched the bowl and looked back. Sesshomaru was turned away from him and Inuyasha could just see the miko standing in front of him, blocking his way out the door. Damn suicidal thing to do in his opinion.
But Inuyasha was having trouble focusing on what they were saying. Hell he couldn’t seem to hold a thought in his head for more than a few seconds. The toilet feels so cool on my face. The tiles don’t line up. He picked at a spot on the floor. There’s rust on the cabinet hinge.
Their yelling just makes it worse.
“Do not dare attempt to shift blame for this fiasco onto me. What I did to ensure he remain within these borders is insignificant compared to what that jewel is attempting to do.”
“The jewel isn’t doing this!” she shouted, then lowered her voice when Inuyasha groaned. “Or at least not all of it. He shouldn’t be reacting like this at all.”
“Then you do not know the cause of his current sickness.” Sesshomaru’s voice sounded slightly surprised and there something else as well – disappointment, concern maybe? Well it certainly couldn’t be for him. Another fit of coughing triggered more vomiting and blessedly the end to the argument behind him.
Kagome was beside him again; her voice gentler than he’d yet heard it. “Here Inuyasha let me help you get your shirt off. Sesshomaru, hold back his hair.”
Inuyasha felt one pair of hands start to work on his layers. Getting rid the tattered coat, his hoari and his punctured t-shirt, as another pair of hands gathered up his hair and kept it from his back. There was a soft hiss at the sight of it
He could guess it must be pretty awful, the smell was bad enough – acrid and stinging to his nose. The taste was no better –he was vomiting up the same stuff that was coming off his back. He shuddered as he felt another glob ooze down his back; but a few moments later of warm stream of water began to cleanse his back. He sighed at the sensation, leaning his head against the porcelain as the hands his hair began to stroke his scalp.
It was almost like his body was purging itself. But how? If the Shikon no tama had been able to do that, it would have done it the moment Kagome had handed it over. And he’d never heard of a pack claim doing anything like this either.
And he just felt so aweful. The pain was bad enough but he also just felt nearly jittery from exhaustion; bruised and battered like he’d been in some sort of fight.
Inuyasha’s eyes widened as his thoughts briefly cleared. That was what’s wrong. He wasn’t in a fight; his body was the freakin’ battlefield for one.
Inuyasha jumped as he felt Kagome’s hand brush the back of his neck. “Sesshomaru, what’s this?”
“It is a pack claim.”
“A pack claim,” she repeated dumbly.” I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“I would be surprised if you had. It isn’t very common nowadays, but it is an ancient magic among the canine youkai.”
“A fight,” Inuyasha interrupted, trying to hold onto the thought. He’d needed to say it before it got lost in the jumble.
“I…I don’t understand.” Kagome said hesitantly. “What fight?”
Inuyasha opened his mouth to reply but he felt the bile rise up and knew if he tried it he’d just be sick again. Instead, he raised a shaky hand to tap his nose, then the Shikon no tama, his back and finally at Sesshomaru.
Sesshomaru leaned closer to him and Inuyasha heard him take a soft inhale, before he leaned back. “I believe Inuyasha is right. So much magic, and so much energy is within his body that those energies are fighting it out.”
“But why now? Why not when I first gave Inuyasha the Shikon no Tama?”
"The pus coming off his back reeks of Naraku. It appears as though his shouki is being expunged."
"But its coming from the wounds that were filled with his shouki so wouldn't that make sense?"
"He's also vomiting it up. When I administrated the pack claim, it was almost immediately afterwards that the Shikon no tama began to react. I suspect that my youki is trying to drive out Naraku's poison. It is one of the possibilities I envisioned when I placed the mark."
"Alright," said Kagome after a few minutes of silence. "That explains why I can feel you youki, but Inuyasha's youki doesn't feel right. It feels unsettled somehow." Inuyasha begin sick once more stopped the conversation and it was some minutes before his stomach settled down again. He was so exhausted that he didn't even notice that he was now leaning as much against Sesshomaru, as the damn toilet bowl, while those claws remained a steady rhythm in his hair.
Finally Kagome spoke up again. “Sesshomaru what happened at Naraku’s.”
“No!” Inuyasha shouted, jerking back and glaring at Sesshomaru, or at least trying to. He better dare not tell.
Sesshomaru regarded him for a moment then said, “I will say only what is necessary Inuyasha – the branding ceremony – nothing more.” Inuyasha eyes shifted slightly, and he could focus briefly as he peered into Sesshomaru’s.
“Fine,” he croaked at last, his gaze drifting once more and he slumped forward against the toilet bowl.
The combing, which had stopped when he shouted resumed, almost like Sesshomaru could think of nothing better. It wouldn't surprise Inuyasha if Sesshomaru had never been this close to a sick person in all his life. It'd certainly been a rare enough thing for him to be sick, someone like Sesshomaru probably had no clue what it was like.
“From what I saw when I arrived Naraku had only recently completed this branding ceremony, but that is not all he’d done. Apparently, he also pulled out Inuyasha’s tail.”
“His tail?” she asked, “But I figured that’s his sign of maturity, wouldn’t that be out already.”
Sesshomaru gave a short shake of his head. “For Inuyoukai the tail does not appear until we are fully mature, when we are comfortable in our adult bodies. For humans I believe this happens around the end of their second decade or the beginning of their third.”
“You mean, like late teens early twenties?”
“Correct, though our sexual maturation begins far before that.” Inuyasha stiffened at those words – that was dangerous territory.
“So what does pulling out the tail do?”
“There are several scenarios that I can see. The first is that it stops him from maturing any further physically.”
“It does? But I thought such signs were just that. Like body hair or boobs.”
Inuaysha gave an aborted snort of laughter. Apparently even half dead people still found the word boobs funny.
Sesshomaru looked between the two of them, clearly not understanding the joke but ignored their strangeness. “For the inuyoukai and many others this is not the case. Their mark of maturity comes about when they are mature, yes, but it is also linked to their magic. If our internal magic always ran the same we would never mature past infant. So when the mark begins to appear our own magic starts to change from controlled growth to healing.”
“Okay I mostly understood that bit already, but he looks to be 16 or 17; wouldn’t the tail have been coming out soon anyway?”
“I would say it would have been two or three more decades before it emerged. For someone like Naraku - appearing older than Inuyasha would continue to give him authority over him. I also hypothesize that he chose to administer the full brand at the same time he ripped out Inuyasha’s tail so that he could entwine his own energies with Inuyasha’s.”
Inuyasha saw the blood run from Kagome’s face, “What?”
“He would have wanted to have total control of Inuyasha’s youki. The best time to accomplish this is when the youki is changing.”
“But why, he already had control. What the hell was he up to?”
“He had control of Inuyasha’s life not his magic, his youki. In its basic form the branding would have granted claim, a mere symbol. In the more advanced form that Naraku appeared to be using he put part of himself into the brand. It would allow him to track Inuyasha wherever he went as well....”
“What?!” Inuyasha croaked, pulling himself up from the bowl, his eyes darting frantically. Naraku knew where he was? Could track him? He had to get out of here!
He started to struggle to his feet.
“Inuyasha stop!” Kagome cried, jumping up to try and keep him down.
“No, I can’t stay.Naraku…Naraku could be here …I need distance…” His thoughts were starting to fray again, but one managed to stay in the fore. He needed to move, to go and that was what he focused on.
Suddenly Sesshomaru was in front of him, blocking the door, his hands on Inuyasha’s upper arms. “Inuyasha,” he said and that voice commanded his focus, seemed to fill up his brain with the need to pay attention. “Naraku will not find you here. The Brand is being cleansed.”
Inuyasha clung on to Sesshomaru’s arms to keep himself standing, “How?”
Sesshomaru’s eyes flickered down to the Shikon no Tama. It was not a painful as before, apparently satisfied with it foothold it seemed to be going much slower. Instead of the inferno he’d first experienced it was now the kind of pain that made him want to gnaw his own arm off from the frustrating agony it had become.
“The pack claim. As long as you are on these lands that should supersede any other mark."
Inuyasha sneered. “You ..did that to keep…here,” he gasped and his knees started to buckle under him again. Sesshomaru lowered the two of them back down. It was pathetic, he’d barely been standing a minute and he was panting, but the other two said nothing of it.
"Naraku's poison is being driven out and with it the Brand will be cut off." Sesshomaru's eyes looked passed him, seeking confirmation from somewhere, as he tried to process what they were saying. They'd said something before, about the shouki, about a fight.
Or had he said it? He couldn't remember. He just couldn’t think!
Then two hands cupped his face and he found himself staring straight into Kagome’s grey eyes. Slowly she leaned forward and placed her forehead against his. He tried to jerk back out of her grasp.
What if he was sick again?
But Kagome held firm, making a soft shushing noise, “Just a few moments Inuyasha.”
Inuyasha could feel energy come from her, similar to what he'd felt when they first met, only this time it was much softer; a soothing wash of power that made him close his eyes, his muscles loosening, as he sunk into the sensation.
The three of them sat there on the cold tiles. Sesshomaru still holding onto his arms, while Kagome was off to his right side. Inuyasha opened his eyes to glance at Sesshomaru, who he was still clinging to, but the sight of the tangle of arms was too much for his stomach.
Sesshomaru and Kagome both seemed to know what was coming and had him back over the toilet bowl to vomit of more of the black sludge.
- 8
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The Forest That Bore His Name