Chronicles of the West

Chapter Fifty Five

"Look old man, I need this in a hurry" Ryu grumbled at the swordsmith. Totosai scratched his had, his bulbous eyes taking in the hanyou. "Inuyasha, is that you?" he croaked. Ryu growled, "No you idiot it's Ryu". The fire demon looked surprised, "Ah! Sesshoumaru's whelp, I remember".

Ryu narrowed his eyes, "Watch it old man". Totosai shook his balding head, "You sure do act like him through. Same bad temperament as your uncle". Ryu sighed heavily, "Can we just get on with it old man?". Totosai blinked up at him, "What were we doing?" he asked.

Ryu whapped him on the head, causing a large lump to appear, "I need you to make a charm for me" he repeated for the third time. Totosai might be the best at what he did, but gods he was so damned irritating. Like sand in the crack of your ass, it could only rub you the wrong way and in the end you just wanted it to go away.

"Well, what kind of charm?" he asked. Ryu quickly explained, trying to use small words so as to confused the already befuddled demon. "So you want a charm that will bind her powers and then release them, back to her only?" he asked.

Ryu nodded and Totosai seemed to consider his request, "Wouldn't it be easier to make a charm that kept her powers from binding to you?" he asked. Ryu blinked, "Can you make one like that?" he asked. Totosai nodded, "I made one for your grandfather when he was young".

Ryu stared at him, "What? When?" he demanded. The fire demon was already moving around his workshop, "When he was with the great miko, Midoriko" he said calmly. Ryu leapt after him, "Midoriko? The creator of the shikon jewel?" he asked.

Totosai glanced over at him, "Well of course. She was so beautiful. I used to wonder if she'd keep your grandfather around. But she had a job to do and well, so did he. He married your grandmother instead, after Midoriko fell".

Ryu was stunned, "Why did he need the charm?" he pressed. Totosai dug in his ear with one long claw, "Oh that. Well it was to keep her purification powers from getting to him, you see" he replied, "I shouldn't be telling you these things, your are much too young. But her miko powers would not allow Toga to come in intimate contact with her".

Ryu's eyes went impossibly wide, "He had you make a charm so he could safely take the miko?" he demanded. Totosai nodded, "That's right. There was nothing that stood in his way when he wanted something. Of course he had her consent in the matter as I needed some of her blood to create it" the swordsmith went on.

Ryu was floored, his grandfather had been the lover of the fabled Shikon miko. The maiden of the jewel? He bit back a snicker at that thought. Maiden indeed. Totosai was sorting through his materials, "I think something like that might work for you" he was saying.

Ryu poked and prodded the jars and jugs, the boxes and vials that littered the many shelves. "You sure got a lot of junk" he muttered, "And are you sure? She's not a miko, she's an elemental. Well, half". He handed a small vial of blood out to the fire demon. Her blood. His father had warned him that it was most likely needed. Totosai peered up at him and Ryu drew back from him, "What?" he demanded.

Totosai eyed him, "Setting your sights high for a hanyou aren't you?" he asked. A loud whap rang out in the stillness of his forge and he slowly picked himself up off the floor, "Oww. My apologies".

Soon the demon went to work, laying aside his customary hammer and leather straps, he took up smaller more delicate tools and spewed forth his flame. Ryu stared down at the closing gash on his palm, his blood would be the ingredient that activated the power. Keeping powers from binding themselves to her. Her power would cling to her blood.

The heat in the forge irritated Ryu, but he refused to leave, watching intently as Totosai forged the requested charm. Metal was reduced to shining rivulets and poured carefully into molds. The blood carefully measured into the hissing mixture. Tapped out when they hardened soon after. The senile onld demon, tossed various herbs into his forge fires, letting the object heat to glowing and then plucked them up.

His hand was a great deal more steady than his mind as he carefully carved the objects. His hands gentle and his eyes almost loving. The air hummed around them with heat and power and Ryu felt his ears pin as a result. The steam and wavering currents of air warped around the tottering old smith, as he worked the powers wished into his project.

In the end, Totosai had present him the objects saying that they fit well with what had become the tradition of his family. Ryu blinked down at his palm, eyeing the etched bands of gold that seemed heavy in his palm. Listening carefully to the instructions given, he nodded and thanked the older demon.

Long hours later, Ryu headed for the western palace, a small pouch tucked into his long sleeve. It's contents still warm from the forge He hoped to hell it worked. It wasn't exactly what he'd thought he'd be leaving with but Totosai was trusted for a reason.

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Silvana paced the balcony. Ryu had been gone for nearly three days. The wolf had been sighted near the border. Adus would arrive soon. Sesshoumaru had discovered her worries, how she wasn't sure. Not that it mattered, it wasn't something she could change. She'd not feel guilt over it now.

Sesshoumaru was just below her, in the gardens, speaking with his human daughter Rin. She smiled up at her demon father and laughed lightly over something he had to say. Silvana's eyes mirrored the scene. Sesshoumaru. The most feared demon ever known.

What a different creature he was within his home. His family was his treasure and he guarded them fiercely. His eyes rumored to be colder than the iciest winter, sparkled with warmth and his voice rang with the authority and wisdom of his many years.

Had his human wife and child planted within him the seeds of humanity? Compassion and temperance? Silvana allowed her mind to wander towards his, just the faintest brush against his. Golden eyes lifted the balcony to lock on her. Such a slight pressure and yet, he'd felt it.

His calm swept over her as he felt the harried edges of her mind. Poor thing, suffering so. He would speak to her. Remind her that it was impolite and unwise to poke around another's thoughts. Silvana stood still, caught in the act, she knew flight would not serve her.

Sesshoumaru nodded once to Rin and vanished into the palace. Silvana had half expected him to leap up and berate her. Seconds later, her door was flung open and the power of the west stood framed against the dark wood.

"My lord" she said, bowing slightly to him. He stepped inside her rooms and shut the door behind him. She suddenly felt very uncertain. Sesshoumaru caught her uneasiness and kept his expressionless mask in place. He moved forward to stand in the sunlight of the balcony.

"What were you seeking?" he asked. Blue eyes deeper than the sea blinked up at him. She was tall for a female. "When you were poking around" he reminded her, "It must have been something of great importance to resort to such rude measures".

She blushed heavily, "Forgive me my lord" she stammered out, "I am not in the habit of doing such things". Sesshoumaru looked over his domain with a cool eye, "Yet you chose to attempt it with me" his voice and expression were deadpan.

She hadn't meant to offend him, but of course she had. "I am very sorry my lord. I have no excuse for my actions…..I suppose that it is because you are an enigma. A paradox" she whispered.
An elegant silver brow lifted in response. "Why?" he asked her.

His voice was no longer icy, still cool but lacking the bite of before. She nodded towards the gardens where Rin was walking. "She is human like your wife" she told him, "You are the most powerful being in creation…so they say. The world whispers of your honor and your wrath. You are feared far and wide. One would think that you were nothing but a vicious brute".

He eyed her now and she hurried to continue, "And you might well be, but that is not all. Your domain is peaceful and your allies are very loyal to you. Your family devoted. Such a cruel being could not, I think, raise such fine and happy children. In that way you are a paradox, a contradiction in terms"

She looked away from him to the gardens below, "I suppose I wonder how different my life might have been….had my father……been more like you". Sesshoumaru said nothing for a long while, hearing the hurt that years had not dulled. His youki flared and brushed against hers, "Drop your barriers to me" he commanded softly.

Such a thing she had not done before. She'd lowered them before to show her submission to him. His golden eyes burned like twin sons and she found her hold on them slipping away. Sesshoumaru pushed gently past the barriers she'd erected around herself.

He walked the dark corridors of her mind, taking in the images of her life. A sad life it was. A child who's own father had only begotten her for power. Her mother learning it to late and abandoning her child to her demon relatives to return to the brighter world of air. A young Silvana tried time and again to earn her father's affection, his respect.

She'd excelled at everything and her efforts were for naught. The wolf fell under his eye, the bargain between parent and suitor. An alliance beneficial to all but the girl in question. Silvana had heard it all, her powers masking her presence from them.

She'd fled down the halls of her home, her keen ears catching the whispers of the white inu. A plan formed in a desperate mind. Taking her sword with her, she'd run, run far and fast, fighting many until she reached the area that Toga had last been reported in. She'd let her powers flare, to attract him.

And he'd come. Toga, in all his glory stepping into the woodland clearing like a lethal breath. He'd eyed the female, and denied her the fight. She'd not accepted that and lunged at him forcing him to block and defend, until she'd pushed him to the point of anger and he'd fought her in earnest.

She'd been terrified of him. Sesshoumaru was quite shocked by that fact. Still she fought, and fought well. Toga actually showed signs of tiring. Her father's men had come upon the scene mere moments later. Toga's blade swinging in a swift arc of light, to rest against her throat. Pale curls fell to the ground around them.

She panted and met his eyes, the blade tip drawing a single drop of blood. "What is going on here?" they'd demanded. Toga had snarled at them, and her father had drawn back. "I. Challenged. Him" his daughter's voice lifted. She met Toga's gaze again, "And I have…lost".

Toga glared down at the girl, seeing something in her eyes that gave him pause. "Go on" she barked at him, her voice lowering to a bare whisper, "Demand my life". His expression became bored. "No" he told her in a low growl, "I do not wish for your life girl".

She was crestfallen, "What then?" she asked, tears pricking her eyes. Toga smirked at her, sheathing his weapon, "Your loyalty. You are far too pretty to kill".

Scenes flashed before him and then he found her creeping down the darkened hall. She paused before a tall door and her heart thundered. She jumped back with an 'eep' when the door opened to reveal none other than his heir.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her. She stared at him in awe, "Please….I….". Toga cocked his head at her before sniffing the hall, finding no one, he pulled her within his rooms. Arousal and fear rolled off the pale female. "Why have you come here?" he asked.

Silvana dropped her eyes to the floor, "I wish to offer myself to you" she whispered. Toga snorted, "I have no need of a wife". Her eyes flickered to his, "And I have no need of a husband" she replied. Gold eyes went wide as the pale woman stepped closer.

"I asked for your loyalty only" he said in a hard voice. Desperation welled in her heart. "Please. I ask for nothing in return. I wish for only this night with you". Toga studied her carefully. Females threw themselves at him often, but this was different.

"What are you running from?" he asked her softly. His large hand moving to stroke her cheek, she leaned into the caress. "I wish to feel freedom" she whispered, "For my loyalty will you let me fly?". Her scent was sweet and innocent, "You have had no lovers" he told her. She clutched the silks of his shirts, "There was never one such as you before and none of your caliber will come again. Please my lord, indulge me this night and take your own pleasure".

Her words went straight to Toga's groin and he crushed her to him in a breathtaking kiss. Sesshoumaru had no desire to see what happened next, and moved on. More images flew past him, the death of her father.

A coup by her men, the betterment of her domain under her rule. The anger of the thwarted wolf. The euphoria of belonging only to herself. Scorned by many but free even so. Then Ryu. Her longing. Her love. Her fear.

Sesshoumaru withdrew from her and did what had to be done. Meeting her eyes he said quite sternly, "I am going to have to do something your father should have done right from the start" he told her. She swallowed hard and then gasped as he drew her into his arms.

Sesshoumaru, the feared lord of the west was holding her tightly, stroking her hair and rumbling his comfort to her. She fisted her hands in the fine silks of his chest and buried her face in his chest. Sesshoumaru, lord of the west became someone quite different then and under her hands he proved himself a paradox. Sesshoumaru became a father.