Truth in Blood

Was not planning this, but Sesshy was pouting that I made him look so bad.. so he kindda took over this..

To those who are reviewing fasty, thank you so much you are a great motivator..,.. will take time to thank you after Nano!!! Love you all so much

Read, review and enjoy!

Chapter 22 : The detour

Inuyasha felt his throat dry out, his hand went to pet the Kitsune on his shoulder, more for his own benefit rather then to comfort Shippo. He had no idea what to do and he hated that feeling. He wanted to run, run and hide, never look back. But he could not, would no, he could feel the Demon Lord's anger and as long as that wrath was aimed at him and not Shippo he was ready to face it. He straightened his spine, he was so tense that he felt wound up tight and very brittle. Though he stood tall, shoulders squared, the puppy ears that had perked up under the assurances given by the Seraph Lord, went flat again.

Sesshoumaru approached the Hanyou slightly to his right side. Shippo immediately scampered to Inuyasha's far left shoulder, after what had just happened he was unsure about what the Demon Lord's intentions were. Deliberately, ever move slow and calculated, Sesshoumaru leaned down and pressed his lips to the point where Kouga had kissed his Hanyou. The open mouthed kiss was a far cry from the Seraph Lord's fond, caste kiss. Inuyasha forced himself to be still, the Demon Lord's scent filled his sensitive nose, and the uncomfortable feeling from last night returned in force.

His left hand held on to Shippo, and he let his right dangle loosely to the side.

Sesshoumaru drew the Hanyou, into his arms, his greater height and size dwarfing the young Hanyou, the Demon Lord ignored the Kitsune as he leaned in and swallowed one puppy ear and then the other in his warm mouth. Even with Shippo there the heavy poison of lust and heat leaked into Inuyasha's blood and he shuddered in reaction.

Pleased by the Hanyou's reaction the Demon Lord calmed somewhat, he trailed small kisses down the right side of Inuyasha's face. Till he came to the claim mark he had made on the Hanyou, the mark was still raw and new. He nuzzled it, feeling the Hanyou respond despite the presence of the Kitsune on his shoulder, pleased the Demon Lord greatly, and he lost the last of the rage. “Mine, Inuyasha, you are mine.” The Lord said, in a tone that booked no resistance. “You little Kitsune has my permission to sit on your left shoulder, he is not to sit on your right shoulder and block my access to your mark.” Sesshoumaru's tongue made long strokes from Inuyasha's jaw to the collar bone, making sure he touched the mark with each stroke.

“What do you intend to do to us?” Inuyasha asked.

“What are you doing to my Inu Nii-chan,” Shippo asked at exactly the same time.

The Demon Lord lifted his head in amusement, that was cute. He decided to respond to the Kit first.

“I am cuddling your big brother, he is very cuddly after all. He cuddles you all the time, yes? Well I am cuddling him.” the Demon Lord said.

Shippo his head leaning at an awkward angle off Inuyasha's shoulder to look at the Demon Lord nodded, tentatively.

“Little Kitsune, you understand what I said? You are to sit on Inuyasha's left shoulder, not his right?” Sesshoumaru repeated.

“Yes, but I sit on nu Nii-chan's left shoulder most of the the time anyway, he needs his right shoulder free in case we are attacked. So I'd sit on the left shoulder anyway.” Shippo said uncertain that he wanted the Lord thinking that they were being totally obedient.

The Demon Lord just nodded, he did not care what reason they gave to obey, the only part that mattered was that they did obey.

“As to what I intend, the two of you, both, are returning the the Lands of the West with me. There are many things to do, gather your belongings together we will leave now.” Sesshoumaru instructed, his arm firmly around Inuyasha's waist, he indicated to the Kit to get their belongings. Shippo quickly scampered off to get their belongings together.

Inuyasha waited, he knew the Demon Lord had been angry with him, he was only relieved the Demon Lord was not going to do anything too strange on front of Shippo.

As soon as the Kitsune was out of sight, the Demon Lord ran his hands possessively down Inuyasha's body, one arm yanked the Hanyou close, the other lazily going to rub at Inuyasha's butt. The clothing on the Hanyou were rough, of poor quality, and Sesshoumaru could not wait to clothe the Hanyou in dress much more benefiting his position. Inuyasha did not fight, he stood stiff and uncertain in the Demon Lord's arms. The Demon Lord's hand moved confidently and possessively on Inuyasha's butt, and the Hanyou felt a deep sense of shame as his body caught fire at the possessive touch. Why, why him, why the hell did his body react like this. Inuyasha bowed his head a little so that his bangs covered his eyes.

“What is it you want from me? Damn you why are you doing this to me?” Inuyasha burst out unable to keep every bloody thing locked away.

'I am claiming you my precious one. I want what his my right to claim, what should always have been mine.' Sesshoumaru answered.

“So is that the law of the Demon Lands, street kids, or is it just bastard Hanyou, are basically slaves to you fucking Demon Lords? That is not fair, I have been careful to keep out of Demon Lands, are you not satisfied with the Hanyou slaves in your own land? Fine, what ever. I'll do it, I'll be your fucking slave, with any luck.. you will get intrigued by another Slave fast and leave me the hell alone.” Inuyasha said his heart felt shredded and torn, to have fought so long, survived so much, and to have it all stripped from him, the Hanyou wanted to howl.

The Demon Lord watched the Hanyou with a little confusion. Why did the Hanyou imagine himself to be a slave? He was claimed, not a slave.

The Demon Lord raised the Hanyou's face to him, exploring the face. Finally he saw the stress, and deep pain in the huge golden eyes. Sesshoumaru was just about to correct the misconception of the handsome Hanyou when Shippo came bounding out.

“Inu Nii-chan, Inu Nii-chan, you have forgotten to take the stuff in the cupboard,” The kit yelled put cheerfully, as a happy and healthy child he bounced back from the fear rather fast.

Inuyasha and the demon Lord moved apart, the arm around Inuyasha's waist ensuring that Inuyasha could not move too far away.

“Its okay Shippo, I do not think that there is a place for the stuff in the cupboard where we go. They are just... its okay we will leave it for others to use.” Inuyasha said, he would leave them behind, his precious books and things. They had fed his dreams and inspired him to hope for more, there was a reason you kept slaves uneducated, books gave too much false hopes. Inuyasha would leave his behind.

Shippo with his not so small pack, bounded to his big brother, who very easily in a practiced and normal move, got the over burdened Kitsune and his pack securely on his shoulder.

“We are ready to leave now, My Lord.” Inuyasha said his voice neutral, and very calm.

Sesshoumaru had a lot of questions, there were things that needed to be clarified, but he would much rather have the discussion back in the place. He wanted the Hanyou and the Kitsune, in a much safer environment. So he nodded and summoned the cloud. He could not fly as fast as the Seraph, and the amount of energy expanded in flight by both Demons and Seraph, made flight a poor means of travel over long distances, especially during emergencies. It did little good to fly to a location as fast as one could, only to end up collapsed and unable to even more a step for a week or so.

His arm anchoring the Hanyou securely in place, the three took off for them demon Lands. They were moving fast no doubt, but Inuyasha running at top speed would have been much faster. The cloud however allowed for safer travel, and the two young Hanyou and Kitsune were entranced. They had never flown before and they were throughly enjoying it, in spite of the situation.

It took Inuyasha 2 minutes to relax, then both he and the kit were plastered right at the edge of the cloud, looking down and pointing to the amazing views below. Sesshoumaru was surprised to say the least. It seemed the Hanyou had been stiff and fearful next to him and then suddenly was relaxed and enjoying himself. The huge golden eyes seemed to sparkle with pleasure and energy as Inuyasha excitedly took in the sights. The Hanyou it seemed was indeed very young, Sesshoumaru wondered at the Hanyou's past, for him to be so enthralled by such a simple pleasure, made the Demon Lord wonder at what kind of past the Hanyou had. He was a little peeved that he did not know, he should know, he should know everything important about his claimed one, it was his right! Anyone watching the Demon Lord would have sworn, but never out loud that a rather sulky pout formed on the usually stoic and indifferent Lord's full lips. Just for a second or two but the pout was definitely there.

Shippo laughed and Inuyasha smiled in response, pointing to the Hunter's village below them. Without them asking Sesshoumaru lowered the cloud so that the villages could see that the two were safe. The cloud moved just above the trees, and the Hanyou and Kitsune waved to the villages below, who shouted in joy, and relief, obviously they wished the two well. Shippo shouted and cheered to the villagers, Inuyasha just simpled and waved, his eyes sparkled. Sesshoumaru saw the look and suddenly felt very proud of himself, he had by his actions brought a sparkle to his precious claimed one's eyes, that was good, very good.

The cloud ascended once more, and Sesshoumaru found himself making the cloud take a slight detour, to show the two young ones the best sights in the area. The two under the indulgent eyes of the Demon Lord, enjoyed the flight and after four hours, fell asleep on the cloud.

Even on the cloud it would take a day to reach the palace, and Sesshoumaru decided that there was no great rush, as the sun set, he lowered the cloud, near a small cave with a stream running next to it.

The smell of cooking meat awakened Shippo and Inuyasha from their extremely restful sleep. The Lord had set up camp and made a fire, a boar was roasting on the fire. Green and gold eyes stared in utter amazement at the Demon Lord standing immaculate next to the fire. They exchanged a glance, how the hell did the Lord manage that without getting even a hair out of place.

“Treaty.” Sesshoumaru said flatly correctly reading the incredulous look between the two. “ I have a treaty with the dirt, I do not wage war on it and it does not stick to me.”

The stupefied faces of the two young ones was quite satisfying, it was always a good idea to keep people guessing.

“Go wash up before dinner, it seems you two could do with a similar treaty.”

Wordless Shippo and Inuyasha went to the stream, they really were not sure of the Demon Lord had been joking or not.

--tbc--