New Beginnings
folder
InuYasha › Het - Male/Female › Sesshōmaru/Rin
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
9
Views:
4,776
Reviews:
39
Recommended:
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Currently Reading:
0
Category:
InuYasha › Het - Male/Female › Sesshōmaru/Rin
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
9
Views:
4,776
Reviews:
39
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.
Chapter 6
© Salome Wilde, 2008
New Beginnings
Chapter 6
Jaken stumbled more than once under the cumbersome weight of the broken sword’s two substantial pieces. The pommel had already smashed his left foot when the hilt slid from his arms, and the slender half-length of the blade was taller than Jaken himself. But Lord Sesshomaru had commanded him to bear the weapon on their expedition, and he did so. If he did so awkwardly and in pain, he also did so proudly. Well, proudly once Sesshomaru had responded to his complaint that Rin would make a better loadbearer. His master had made clear that Rin would not be joining them on this journey; she was visiting Priestess Kikyo. His terseness and a flash of scarlet in his eyes preempted any further questions on Jaken’s part. Though he suspected there was more here than he could as yet discern, Jaken opted for silent obedience as a method of avoiding a demonstration of physical violence upon his person as well as an opportunity to spend some time alone with his lord. It had been too long since he had had Sesshomaru to himself. Hence, they set off and he carried (and fumbled and occasionally dropped) the fragmented weapon with determination and satisfaction.
They were headed, so Lord Sesshomaru indicated, for the small village where the monk Miroku lived. At the mention of his name, Jaken had goggled. Everyone knew that this former companion of his half-brother had grown belligerent and saké-addled over the years since the days of Naraku and the Shikon jewel. Why seek his assistance? Sesshomaru’s reply indicated that it was only a desire not to damage the sword pieces that kept him from kicking Jaken down a mountainside.
Jaken did not doubt Sesshomaru’s willingness to do him bodily harm, and he knew his master prized the enchanted sword’s potential power. Having a quest was quite pleasing to the little yokai, who longed for days of battle and conquest over stewardship and domesticity. Yet, it was not only Rin’s absence that made this mission troubling to Jaken. Something was not right with his master. Certainly, he need not carry the sword himself if he did not wish to, but why did he not wish to? And why did he walk so far ahead, almost beyond the reach of Jaken’s shrill voice, and sleep at an even greater distance?
Sesshomaru had been quite covetous of the item when he had brought it, three nights previously. Jaken remembered the way Sesshomaru’s elegant fingers played over the ornate, etched symbols that covered the segment’s length and glowed an eerie blue in the moonlight. His lord wanted to understand and control that sword, and nothing would stop him. Jaken was honored to assist in accomplishing this task. But now Sesshomaru did not seem to want to touch it. That first night, he had taken the two pieces with him when he and Rin walked off to their private place of rest. But when morning came, Rin was gone and Sesshomaru bade Jaken retrieve and carry the sword on their journey. Even in the sunshine, the sword shone and beckoned with its mysteries. Jaken could feel it, though it did not move him as it obviously did Lord Sesshomaru.
With these thoughts pressing upon him and with further, purposeful observation over the next two days, Jaken began to notice subtle fluctuations in the sword as Sesshomaru’s proximity to the weapon changed. When his lord paused to take note of direction or for other unspoken and unquestioned reason, Jaken took the opportunity to close the gap between them as much as he could, and he noted the broken blade grow deeper and richer in hue. At one point, he felt an actual pull to rid himself of the weapon and give it back into Sesshomaru’s hands. Without indicating this feeling, Sesshomaru seemed—if he was not deceiving himself—to react to it, to put even more distance between them.
As the third day of their travels turned to night, Jaken became convinced that the sword, incomplete as it was, had tremendous power and that this power had a marked effect on Sesshomaru in particular. And with this growing understanding came awareness of the likelihood that Sesshomaru had sent Rin away because of this. So, was it then Jaken’s unspoken task to convey the sword safely to one who could control, perhaps bind it, and keep it from any negative effect on Sesshomaru while he searched—with Jaken at his side—for the missing third? More importantly, should they even search for the rest of it? Whatever the answers to his questions and surmises, this last he could not ask.
As the quarter moon reached its zenith in the sky, Sesshomaru indicated that Jaken would be allowed to rest, if he wished. There was tension in Sesshomaru’s voice. Jaken doubted that any other being in the world, including the pampered Rin, would be able to detect the subtle change in tone and pitch. Jaken was torn: they could reach the monk before daybreak if they continued on, and he certainly could not rest until he better understood the sword’s powers; yet, if they did stop, he might find a way to get Lord Sesshomaru to address the way the fractured weapon was affecting him.
The second option he dismissed as quickly as he thought of it, however. If the blade was impacting Sesshomaru and he already knew it was doing so, then he also either knew how best to deal with it or was unwilling to consider the matter further. As always with his master, the feeling that there were options to be deliberated was illusory.
“I do not need rest, Sesshomaru-sama,” Jaken offered with uncharacteristic tenderness in his voice.
Sesshomaru’s gaze instantly closed the distance between himself and his follower. Jaken feared his lord had noted and resented the gentle tone in which he had spoken, though he did not react beyond the intensity of eye contact. After a long, strange moment, the inuyokai turned and resumed his pace.
New Beginnings
Chapter 6
Jaken stumbled more than once under the cumbersome weight of the broken sword’s two substantial pieces. The pommel had already smashed his left foot when the hilt slid from his arms, and the slender half-length of the blade was taller than Jaken himself. But Lord Sesshomaru had commanded him to bear the weapon on their expedition, and he did so. If he did so awkwardly and in pain, he also did so proudly. Well, proudly once Sesshomaru had responded to his complaint that Rin would make a better loadbearer. His master had made clear that Rin would not be joining them on this journey; she was visiting Priestess Kikyo. His terseness and a flash of scarlet in his eyes preempted any further questions on Jaken’s part. Though he suspected there was more here than he could as yet discern, Jaken opted for silent obedience as a method of avoiding a demonstration of physical violence upon his person as well as an opportunity to spend some time alone with his lord. It had been too long since he had had Sesshomaru to himself. Hence, they set off and he carried (and fumbled and occasionally dropped) the fragmented weapon with determination and satisfaction.
They were headed, so Lord Sesshomaru indicated, for the small village where the monk Miroku lived. At the mention of his name, Jaken had goggled. Everyone knew that this former companion of his half-brother had grown belligerent and saké-addled over the years since the days of Naraku and the Shikon jewel. Why seek his assistance? Sesshomaru’s reply indicated that it was only a desire not to damage the sword pieces that kept him from kicking Jaken down a mountainside.
Jaken did not doubt Sesshomaru’s willingness to do him bodily harm, and he knew his master prized the enchanted sword’s potential power. Having a quest was quite pleasing to the little yokai, who longed for days of battle and conquest over stewardship and domesticity. Yet, it was not only Rin’s absence that made this mission troubling to Jaken. Something was not right with his master. Certainly, he need not carry the sword himself if he did not wish to, but why did he not wish to? And why did he walk so far ahead, almost beyond the reach of Jaken’s shrill voice, and sleep at an even greater distance?
Sesshomaru had been quite covetous of the item when he had brought it, three nights previously. Jaken remembered the way Sesshomaru’s elegant fingers played over the ornate, etched symbols that covered the segment’s length and glowed an eerie blue in the moonlight. His lord wanted to understand and control that sword, and nothing would stop him. Jaken was honored to assist in accomplishing this task. But now Sesshomaru did not seem to want to touch it. That first night, he had taken the two pieces with him when he and Rin walked off to their private place of rest. But when morning came, Rin was gone and Sesshomaru bade Jaken retrieve and carry the sword on their journey. Even in the sunshine, the sword shone and beckoned with its mysteries. Jaken could feel it, though it did not move him as it obviously did Lord Sesshomaru.
With these thoughts pressing upon him and with further, purposeful observation over the next two days, Jaken began to notice subtle fluctuations in the sword as Sesshomaru’s proximity to the weapon changed. When his lord paused to take note of direction or for other unspoken and unquestioned reason, Jaken took the opportunity to close the gap between them as much as he could, and he noted the broken blade grow deeper and richer in hue. At one point, he felt an actual pull to rid himself of the weapon and give it back into Sesshomaru’s hands. Without indicating this feeling, Sesshomaru seemed—if he was not deceiving himself—to react to it, to put even more distance between them.
As the third day of their travels turned to night, Jaken became convinced that the sword, incomplete as it was, had tremendous power and that this power had a marked effect on Sesshomaru in particular. And with this growing understanding came awareness of the likelihood that Sesshomaru had sent Rin away because of this. So, was it then Jaken’s unspoken task to convey the sword safely to one who could control, perhaps bind it, and keep it from any negative effect on Sesshomaru while he searched—with Jaken at his side—for the missing third? More importantly, should they even search for the rest of it? Whatever the answers to his questions and surmises, this last he could not ask.
As the quarter moon reached its zenith in the sky, Sesshomaru indicated that Jaken would be allowed to rest, if he wished. There was tension in Sesshomaru’s voice. Jaken doubted that any other being in the world, including the pampered Rin, would be able to detect the subtle change in tone and pitch. Jaken was torn: they could reach the monk before daybreak if they continued on, and he certainly could not rest until he better understood the sword’s powers; yet, if they did stop, he might find a way to get Lord Sesshomaru to address the way the fractured weapon was affecting him.
The second option he dismissed as quickly as he thought of it, however. If the blade was impacting Sesshomaru and he already knew it was doing so, then he also either knew how best to deal with it or was unwilling to consider the matter further. As always with his master, the feeling that there were options to be deliberated was illusory.
“I do not need rest, Sesshomaru-sama,” Jaken offered with uncharacteristic tenderness in his voice.
Sesshomaru’s gaze instantly closed the distance between himself and his follower. Jaken feared his lord had noted and resented the gentle tone in which he had spoken, though he did not react beyond the intensity of eye contact. After a long, strange moment, the inuyokai turned and resumed his pace.