Brother My Brother

“Master Sesshomaru! Master Sesshomaru!”

    

Jaken was making his way through the dense forest of trees as fast as
his short legs could carry him. This
is horrible! Master Sesshomaru will surely see to my immediate demise!
Despite this chilling thought, Jaken continued his race against time,
desperately calling for his master to appear before him. He had run for
many minutes before he tripped on a stray tree root and went tumbling
down a hill and landed in a fast moving river. Jaken struggled to the
surface of the water, coughing and sputtering as the river qly
ly
washed him downstream. He was not a very good swimmer, and the rushing
water tossed him every which way until he felt something grab him and
lift him out of the river. He coughed and gasped for air before being
dropped to the ground. He looked up to find Sesshomaru standing over
him, a rather displeased look on his face.

    

“Jaken,” he said in a cold tone. “Where is Rin? Did I not instruct you
to watch after her while I was away?”

    

Jaken sputtered for a moment, then bowed at Sesshomaru’s feet in a
submissive manner. “Master Sesshomaru, please forgive me! The girl
wandered off on her own and I was unable to find her! I searched and
searched, but all I found was that wind sorceress, Kagura. You remember
her, don’t you, Master Sesshomaru? She had an evil glint in her eye, so
I ran back to find you as soon as I could.”

    

“You left Rin.” A statement, not a question.

    

Jaken gulped. “I’m sorry, Master Sesshomaru! I didn’t know what else to
do! Surely I would have been killed had I stayed there!” He looked up,
but Sesshomaru was no longer standing before him. Jaken turned, looking
frantically for the demon, but to no avail.< &nb     

As soon as Sesshomaru had heard that Rin was in potential danger, he
left in her pursuit. He would allow no harm to come to her. He sped
through the forest at a high speed until he picked up Rin’s scent,
along with Kagura’s. Sesshomaru growled low in his throat as he came to
a complete and abrupt stop just ten feet from the pair.

    

“Oh, Lord Sesshomaru,” Kagura smiled at his arrival. “We’ve been
expecting you.” She held Rin harshly by the arm and the young girl
cried in fear and in pain. Sesshomaru’s blood ran cold.

    

“Unhand her if you wish to keep your life,” he growled.

    

Kagura’s smile widened. “Draw your sword, Lord Sesshomaru.”

    

Sesshomaru’s hand went to the hilt of the Tokijin. “Do you wish to die
so much?” he inquired.

    

“Lord Sesshomaru…” Rin whimpered. Kagura tightened her grip on her arm
and she squealed in pain.

    

“This girl is waiting for you to save her,” Kagura said. “Why do you
make her wait so long? Draw your sword and we will have a battle.”

    

Sesshomaru pulled the Tokijin half out of its sheath, his eyes never
leaving the red glowing orbs of Kagura’s. He was suspicious of her
intentions, nervous that she may hurt Rin, and curious as to what she
was planning. These conflicting emotions hindered him from taking any
further action.

    

“I’m afraid, Lord Sesshomaru,” Rin whispered. The statement made his
blood boil with rage at the wind sorceress. Rin was a fearless girl.
How dare Kagura frighten her in this manner? He pulled the Tokijin the
rest of the way out, only to have it ripped from his hand by an unseen
force and sent spinning to the right.

    

“What…?” Sesshomaru snarled, following the Tokijin’s path with his
eyes. The sword was caught by a hand belonging to a figure some thirty
feet away.

    

“Really Lord Sesshomaru,” the figure said. “Do not act so surprised.
The swoas cas created from a part of me. Why would I not be able to
control it myself?”

    

“Naraku.” Why had he not been able to sense him approaching?

    

Naraku stepped forward, examining the Tokijin in his hand. “You have
done well taking care of this sword,” he said. “It is a formidable
weapon.” He looked up at his female incarnation. “Kagura, kill the
girl.”

    

Sesshomaru’s eyes turned blood red upon the command, and he charged
relentlessly at the wind sorceress. Naraku came at him then with the
Tokijin in hand. Sesshomaru was just barely able to avoid being cut
through with it as he jumped to the side. Kagura laughed wickedly and
tossed her feather into the air, then jumped on it with Rin in hand,
and flew off. Sesshomaru made to follow, but Naraku charged at him
again.

    

“In order to save the girl, you must first defeat me,” Naraku
proclaimed, pointing the sharp blade of Tokijin in his direction.
“Should you fail to do that in time, the girl will surely be killed.”

    

Sesshomaru growled. “You have signed your very life over to me then.”
He attacked at top speed, venom dripping from his claws. He brought his
arm back and slashed through the air where Naraku had been mere seconds
before. When his claws came in contact with nothing, he stumbled
slightly, taken unaware of Naraku’s speed. It had been some time since
he had had an opponent with powers and skill that rivaled his own. He
quickly turned around, but not quickly enough to prevent the Tokijin
from breaking into his armor, shattering it into pieces that fell to
the ground.

    

“You are much too slow, Lord Sesshomaru,” Naraku stated, holding the
sword horizontally with both hands. Blood began dripping from the
fingers that held the blade. “The girl’s future is not in good hands at
all.”

    

Sesshomaru growled and charged again, this time drawing out his Whip of
Light and lashed out at him with it, but Naraku blocked the whip with
the sword and went on the offensive. Sesshomaru dodged quickly enough
to avoid being run through with his own sword, but the very edge of the
blade scraped against the flesh of his abdomen.

    

“You might as well surrender now Lord Sesshomaru,” Naraku sneered. “You
cannot possibly defeat me. You  may as well accept the fact that
the girl, and yourself, are doomed.”

    

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes and growled threateningly. “You will not
defeat me,” he snarled. “I will destroy you, Tokijin or no.” He lashed
out with his Whip of Light again, but the whip crashed to the ground,
etching long fissures into the hard surface of the earth. Naraku
avoided the lashes and leapt up faster than Sesshomaru was able to
follow and ran him through the torso right up to the hilt of the
Tokijin. Sesshomaru gasped in surprise and pain and froze, shocked.

    

“You--” was all Sesshomaru could manage before Naraku pulled thord ord
out, then drove it into a different area of his abdomen, all the way up
to the hilt. Sesshomaru gasped again, the pain overwhelming his body.
Naraku stabbed through him again and once more before the injured demon
fell to his knees, his blood staining the ground beneath him. Naraku
laughed triumphantly, then drove the sword into Sesshomaru’s back,usinusing him to shout out in pain before sinking the rest of the way to
the ground.

    

“That was all too easy,” Naraku stated, pulling the Tokijin out again.
“Once you lost your cool exterior, you were taken down with no effort.”
He drove the sword into Sesshomaru’s ribs, then pulled it out again.
The demon’s blood spurted in all directions. “Now Kagura will kill the
child as you did not succeed in defeating me.”

    

Sesshomaru struggled to say something, but was overcome with an
upheaval of blood. He coughed, the red liquid pouring from his mouth as
it was from his gaping wounds.

    

Naraku smiled. “I believe I will hang onto this sword. It is a powerful
weapon indeed. And what else is it that you have at your side?” He
kicked Sesshomaru in the back, rolling him over onto his stomach, and
retrieved the other sword in his possession. “I will take this one as
well.”

    

As soon as the Tenseiga left his side, the pain doubled in intensity
and Sesshomaru’s entire body shuddered against it.

    

“Any other demon would be dead by now,” Naraku observed. “Still, you
have not much time left. Farewell, Lord Sesshomaru.” He turned and
began walking away, but noticed a small figure waiting in the bushes.
Naraku smirked, then ran the figure through with the Tokijin as well.
Jaken fell dead with one strike of the sword.

    

Sesshomaru struggled against his pain ridden body and his exhausted
mind. He wonot not allow Naraku to get away with what he had done. He
had to pay for his deeds. But even these determined thoughts could not
keep the demon conscious for long. Despite his best efforts, Sesshomaru
slipped into a dark mental place, no longer aware of his body nor the
pain he was in. He had no earthly idea of how long he stayed
unconscious, but he came out of it at the sound of a familiar voice.

    

“Don’t tell me you’re dead. Wake up, you bastard.”

    

There was a kick to his side and Sesshomaru grunted in agony.

    

“Oh good, you’re still alive. Listen, I need your help. I know it’s
weird that I’m asking you of all people, but it’s my only choice. This
is the only way I can save her.”

    

Sesshomaru listened to the voice, struggling to identify it. It was
familiar for sure, thoughcoulcould not place it at first. Another kick
to his ribs brought him more into consciousness and at the next words
spoken, he realized who it was immediately.

    

“Hey, I’m talking to you!”

    

Sesshomaru opened one eye and gazed up at his younger brother. “What do
you want?” he managed to struggle out before coughing up more blood.
The cold look in Inuyasha’s eyes lessened then, as if he had just
realized that Sesshomaru was injured.

    

“What the hell happened to you?” the half-demon asked.

    

Sesshomaru could not answer. He was coughing and heaving up more blood
onto the ground which was already covered in the stuff. Inuyasha
groaned in annoyance and knelt down beside him.

    

“Look, you’re gonna be okay, aren’t you?” he asked. “Because I need you
to use the Tenseiga to heal Kagome.”

    

Sesshomaru did not answer again, and Inuyasha realized that he had
fallen unconscious. “Damn it all,” he swore. “Of all possible times for
you to get your ass kicked.” He sighed. He did not like the idea of
helping Sesshomaru, but he did need his assistance. style="font-style: italic;">It’s for Kagome, he assured himself
before grabbing a handful of Sesshomaru’s long silver hair and pulling
his bloodied body up. He draped him over his shoulders, then bounded
out of the area as fast as he could. Naraku’s scent was heavy in the
air, and he did not like it one bit.

    

A matter of minutes later, Inuyasha arrived at the secluded cave he had
left Kagome in. He had decided to leave her there when he sensed Naraku
nearby, as anteanted to prevent her from getting hurt. So he had
continued the search for his brother on his own. Now he had returned
and Kagome was lying still in the same place he had left her. He let
Sesshomaru down on the stone floor then rolled him over on his back to
get a good look at his injuries. It looked like he had been stabbed
several times over in different places and had lost a great deal of
blood. Inuyasha was no expert in medical treatment, but he did know he
had to the the bleeding as fast as he could. He took off his outer
kimono and ripped it into several pieces. He dressed his brother’s
wounds as best as his inexperienced hands could, then sat back and
watched him for a while. When Sesshomaru still did not stir and the
night was beginning to set in, Inuyasha left the cave and found several
pieces of wood which he brought back and made a fire with. He then sat
next to Kagome, rather proud of himself for knowing somewhat what o
io
in the situation, and waited for Sesshomaru to wake up.