Never Far Away by Jafndaegur

Stranded in the Meidou

Time yielded cruelness almost as much as one such as he. No one could stand parallel to either. Yet here he stood amongst his enemies, both his Sword of Heaven and his own sword drawn. Who would have guessed so much had passed since the demise of the Shikon no Tama. One would think he would have found his conquests in peace. That, he, the Great Lord of the West would find no hitch to his plans. He never had before.

    But to be surrounded by the Lords of every other territory—North, South, and East—he could feel as though this had been planned.

    “Lord Sesshomaru, we have come to bring an end to your tyranny,” the Lord of the East, a female youkai, spoke. Her long blue hair wavered down the sides of her shoulder while she herself, tightened the straps of her armor on her shoulders. “This rule you’ve held has gone along far enough.”

    The Inuyoukai lifted his brow, not allowing any other response to their disgusting accusations. They did not deserve any other reaction.

    With a sigh, the Lord of the North, one of the dragons, stepped forward. His eyes held a certain amount of haze to their dark green depths. That was strange for one of their kind. But it seemed harmless enough. The dragon’s black hair seemed familiar however, the kinked curls and the greasy texture—the Western Lord had seen it before. He dared not presume the likeness, because there should not be any correlation between a spider and a reptile.

    “Sesshomaru,” the dragon hissed with an easy going tone. “Be reasonable.”

    The dog demon would hear nothing of it. Mutiny among the lords irritated him to no end and the fact that it was restlessness towards him agitated him furthermore. His grip on the handles of his weapons tightened even more.

“You have all upset this one,” he snarled, his gold eyes narrowing. “I have ruled no less cruel than my father did.”

The smell of heavy herbs upset his nose and he covered it with the sleeve of his kimono. Wafting through the air, stringent streams of dark green aroma settled like miasma. He blinked in confusion when he realized that both the Lords of the North and the South had opened large jars of poison. As if they thought that had the power to stop or slow him. The effort was almost cute.

“We have sought help, Sesshomaru,” the Lord of the East snapped, her war fan waving back and forth as if to dispel the pungent scent from her direct proximity. “And he will take you down. We are only in tow to help.”

“Was it this fool’s idea?” snorted the daiyoukai, his lip lifting in a dark smirk.

“No, it was mine,” the northern lord’s face seemed amused as he pulled a third jar out from behind his back. The lid popped open with a snap and a new wave of poison flushed out into the air. “The rule of the Inus has stretched long enough. It is time for a new reign, a good one, my boy. Your family is simply not cut out for it.”

“Then who, who would possibly be stupid enough to face off this Sesshomaru to face your will?”

“Why your brother of course,” the Lord of the East purred, watching the dog demon’s unwavering stoicism of facial expressions.

Inuyasha? He lifted his lip up into a smirk. Surely they jest. “As idiotic as the hanyou is, he would dare not fight this one under the commands of someone else. He would do so solely for his own pleasure. Especially since you see it fit to destroy the Inu reign.”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” the Lord of the North gestured behind them where a figure stood, his face partially covered by a taijya’s mask and his eyes enveloped in nothing by red light.

Sesshomaru frowned. That may have been the body of his half-brother, but that was not him. The hanyou, while often gave in to wanted tendencies to fight, had settled their qualms when the miko wench that followed him around disappeared into the well after the fight with Naraku. Seeing his brother standing with Tessaiga drawn told him that this was coercion.

“Inuyasha, you let this sniveling creatures control you?” He egged, he knew that persuading the ego of the half-demon would be the only way to bring him back. At least the way he could. If he remembered correctly, the human girl that traipsed around the whole of Edo with Inuyasha could often appease any negative effects to his seemingly unguarded mind.

Taking another step closer, Inuyasha growled at the lords—they stepped back.

Standing toe to toe, the siblings glared at one another. The crimson and blue eyes of the hanyou told the full blooded demon that his brother was not in control of himself. Whoever it was that had possessed his mind this time must have done something to threaten the half-demon. While he was rash, he would not actively seek him out. Not like this.

“S...sesshomaru…” croaked Inuyasha in a voice so low, it sounded more like a growl than a name. “R...rin...safe…”

Sesshomaru furrowed his brow, eyes dubious. “What do you mean Rin is safe, Inuyasha?”

The hanyou snarled and swung his sword, the large demonic blade sending a gust of air past him. What surprised the daiyoukai was no incantation followed the blow. It was not unknown that the half-demon would often scream out the intention of his attack. Either the strike had been feigned to look like an actual one, or Inuyasha had finally mastered the art of finesse.

When the daiyoukai’s feet did not touch the ground and darkness surrounded him, however, he realized that he had made a mistake. His senses had been dulled by all the smoke on the area, he had not been aware. A rumbling growl escaped his throat as he raised Tenseiga to try and counter the attack. But with a wail of wind and a sudden snap of all light, he was enveloped and encased in nothing but pitch black. Air fled from his throat and it felt as though wet cotton had been placed to his nose, his eyes, and his mouth. He had not taken the most tactful approach to the situation. That was unlike him. And now Sesshomaru was stuck.

Stranded in the Meido.

~

A quick author's note: I don't own Inuyasha or it's characters. For disclosure, this story is an adaptation of the Korean drama Goblin: the Lonely and Great God.

I hope this story can bring you some enjoyment in the day~ Many thanks for reading.