A/N: Glad I nabbed your guys’ attention :3 well, here we go!
Of course I must pay my respected due to my Kaye! I told you that you would be mentioned in every chapter even if you tell me it’s too much praise ;)
-MissKatt
DISCLAIMER: All Inuyasha goodness belongs to the amazing Takahashi-san
Beta Reader: Sama-chan!
The Sword Smith’s Secret
By MissKatt
Chapter Two: The Not-So-Useless Blade
He, the taiyoukai of the West, could not believe his current situation. Never had he been caught off guard; he always held the upper hand in battle. But it seemed there was a first time for everything. However, this was only because it was not a fair fight. His senses had been dulled by his enemy’s miasma, his nose too overwhelmed by the scent to smell any enemy and his eyes were dulled by the thick smoke.
The coward.
Never could Naraku face him on his own. He always had to have some sort of trick up his sleeve. Still, he would not back down from a challenge. Naraku thought that he could sneak up on him and attack after rendering his senses useless, but he still had his sharp instincts. The spider hanyou Lord of the South would not win this way; not by playing tricks from the shadows. They were at war. Was he really such a coward that he would not even fight a fair fight on the battlefield?
He lifted his hand and let his long, claw-tipped fingers wrap around the cool handle of his sword. He pulled the blade free from his obi and swung it until it was directly in front of him, his feet sliding apart so that he was in a defensive stance. To think the hanyou had actually hit him had infuriated him, but his icy mask would not reveal it; would not allow his enemy the pleasure of seeing his demeanor twist.
With his pointed ears, he heard the movement of one of the puppet’s tentacles as it sliced through the air, the sharp wood branch heading straight towards him. He tightened his grip on Tokijin and swiftly swung his blade towards where he knew the thing would be. Sure enough, his blade cut through it, a soft ‘thump’ confirming his hit as it fell to the ground. His enemy would have to do better than this.
A deep chuckle rang out throughout the thick miasma, the hanyou mocking the Western Lord. “It seems I will finally defeat you, Sesshoumaru. The victory is mine.”
“You will never have the West.” He replied, his silky voice remaining calm.
“Your position suggests otherwise, dog!” Naraku spat through his puppet and made it attack once more.
The taiyoukai grew tired of it. He swung his blade at the direction he sensed the puppet coming in and sent out his attack, hundreds of youki needles firing from the blade and sinking into the several tentacles. When he heard the puppet still moving, he swung Tokijin once more, a massive wave of blue youki quickly crashing down upon the puppet. As the puppet disintegrated, it released another strong burst of miasma.
But it did not conceal the presence of the new person from him.
“Fuujin no Mai!”
He quickly jumped to the side, dodging the wind blades. He narrowed his eyes and raised Tokijin into a defensive state once more. He heard the soft footsteps on the ground as the person approached him. He heard the shuffle of a fan and felt his long, silver hair swish about in a flurry as a wave of air hit him. He watched as the field cleared of the miasma, leaving a woman in its wake.
With crimson red eyes, the woman took in her opponent. So, this was Sesshoumaru. “I am Kagura, the ever so faithful servant of Naraku. He has ordered me to cut you down. Are you prepared?”
“Hn,” The inuyoukai had yet to encounter this female henchman of the hanyou. Was Naraku so desperate that he would send a woman to fight him on his behalf? How pathetic. “Leave while I still grant you the option to.”
Her brow furrowed in anger. “Do not take me so lightly!” She shouted and waved her fan at him once more, sending another wave of wind blades at him.
He easily deflected them with his sword and released a wave of youki needles at her. She scoffed and sent another attack, canceling out his. This was the youkai they were up against? With such weak attacks, Naraku should have won already. Perhaps the master she hated with the passion from hell was finally losing his touch.
But then in a flash he was gone. Sensing his movements, she quickly jumped back and swung her fan again, summoning a swarm of youkai to her. They blocked Sesshoumaru from reaching her, creating a wall between them before he could slice off her head.
“You are outnumbered, Western Lord.” She stated, bringing her fan to cover her lips as she released a menacing laugh.
Narrowing his molten honey eyes, he channeled his youki into his blade once more. Once he deemed it ready, he spoke its command, “Soryuha,” A stream of blue-white youki emerged from the blade, swirling around him until it took the shape of a dragon.
Kagura’s eyes widened a fraction as she saw the powerful attack. That was, until her partner stepped forward; her black, emotionless eyes looking down at the mirror in her hands. “Kanna?”
Not responding to her sister, she lifted her head and watched as the youki dragon shot towards them, destroying the weak youkai in its path. She then held up her mirror a fraction of an inch and muttered something incoherent. Then, without warning, the mirror glowed bright and glimmered on the dragon along with the surrounding youkai, the rays pulling it all into the confinement of the glass.
Standing on guard once more, Sesshoumaru watched as the mirror flared with another blinding light before his attack was thrown back at him, the youkai a heartbeat behind it. He raised Tokijin to reabsorb his attack, but fighting off the youkai surrounding it would prove difficult with only one hand. He lit his claws with his poison whip and lashed it towards the swarm of youkai, killing what he could, while his one hand still held Tokijin.
“Ryuuja no Mai!”
He saw the several spinning twisters head straight towards him, the demoness’ wind blades mixed in with the attack. Snarling, he realized he had no way out of this mess, and would have to choose the less damaging route. That was, until the blade in his obi began to gleam brightly, warmth spreading through the sheath and filling his body. He was forced to close his eyes as the brightness intensified once the attacks were upon him.
Kagura used her fan to shield her eyes away from the blinding light. When it finally dimmed back down, she lowered her weapon to see that their opponent was gone. “Hm, it seems the war is ours. He was not much of a challenge, was he?”
“He is not dead.” Kanna replied, her voice as soft as a gentle breeze. With that said, she turned around and began to walk away, heading back towards their lands.
“Wait, what do you mean? We hit him dead on!” She called after her sister.
“He escaped,” She answered, her voice barely audible as she traveled further away from her sister. “We must report to Naraku.”
She paled at the thought. “Must we? We should just track him down and attack again!”
“He is gone. Naraku already knows of your failure.”
Huffing in embarrassment, Kagura snapped her fan shut with a click and followed after her sister. She was greatly disappointed that she had not succeeded. Naraku had promised that if she were to kill Sesshoumaru, he would return her freedom. She took a deep breath and looked up at the canopy of trees above her, the rays of sunlight seeping through the lush green leaves to caress her soft skin. So long had she desired to be free like the birds; to fly freely without consequence. She simply wanted to run away and never have to worry about someone beckoning her or giving her lashings for disobeying orders.
Scowling with resentment, she made a silent vow to herself that she would be the one to kill the taiyoukai of the West. She needed to free, and he was her ticket out.
*~~~SSS~~~*
Sesshoumaru opened his eyes, not realizing when exactly he had closed them, and sat up. When had he fallen asleep? Had he been knocked out by his opponent? Preposterous; he would never let that happen. He took a quick check of his surroundings for any threats and was content to see none. He found that he was near the border of his lands, perhaps a day away if he walked. Knowing the area well enough, he allowed himself look back on what had happened. He had been foolish, letting Naraku slip through his defenses so easily while patrolling his own lands.
He remembered the bombardment of attacks and the light that consumed him. His eyes flickered, finally resting to gaze on his broken sword. He was still holding Tokijin, but it had been shattered; only the hilt and a sliver of the blade remained. It seemed the sword could not withstand its own attack. Frustrated with the fact that he had broken another sword, he flung it to the side, letting the darkness of the forest consume it.
Sesshoumaru felt a steady pulse on his hip and looked down to see Tenseiga, a fading glow still around it. Curious, he removed the sheathed sword from his obi and let his amber eyes glance over it. That was right; he remembered his father’s sword glowing and warming at his side. So it was Tenseiga who saved him from battle. He could not recall when the sword had ever spoken to him. Since he had come to possess it, it had been silent; never speaking to its own owner. He thought it to be a dud, especially when he witnessed Tessaiga constantly speaking to his half-brother while in battle.
Tessaiga. He gripped Tenseiga tightly, the sword pulsing in protest before the light disappeared altogether. Even after three hundred years, he still could not fathom why his father would give Inuyasha the powerful blade instead of him. He was his heir! His only full blooded inuyoukai son. He had respected his father to no end. Ever since he was a pup, he strove to be like him, even after he mated with a human. He did everything to be like his father, trying to earn his respect. Did his lineage and perfect uprising not count for anything?
He deemed it as not, for he gave the precious heirloom to his idiotic half-brother. The hanyou was worthless! He was too hard headed and reckless, swinging blindly into battle without analyzing anything. Never did he wait for an order to attack and always did he go against any other order given to him. He lacked every graceful aspect an inuyoukai should possess. Yet he received the most powerful sword his father had created.
Once more, he looked down at the useless sword in his hands. The Sword of the Heavens. Why would his father even create such a pointless weapon? What had his father said all those centuries ago?
A round of applause rang throughout the courtyard of the Western Palace. Inukimi and Izayoi sat next to each other on the grass, comfortable cushions beneath them to keep their kimono from being ruined. Sesshoumaru sat next to his mother, their stoic masks gone as they looked at their lord in awe. Inuyasha was to the side of Izayoi, the two of them cheering Touga on for his greatness. Behind them were a few servants, some quivering in fear from the raw power of the blade. They had all just witnessed Touga’s demonstration of his new sword and could not help but be impressed.
“Ahh! Amazing, Otou-sama!” A little Inuyasha cooed after witnessing his father cut down a large group of rogue youkai in one swing. He leapt to his bare feet and ran to his father’s side, bouncing up and down. “Otou-sama is the best! I wanna try it too!”
The Inu no Taisho grinned down at his youngest son and sheathed Tessaiga, the massive blade transforming back into its dormant shape as it slid into its sheath. He placed a clawed hand on his son’s head and ruffled his hair. “Soon you will have such power, Inuyasha; you just have to wait until you are older.”
“Otou-sama, what does this one do?” Sesshoumaru asked, standing on the other side of his father and pointing to the second blade in his father’s obi. “Is it the same as Tessaiga?”
He did not miss the eagerness in his tone. He knew he hoped one was for him. Still, he grinned at his question, knowing just how well Sesshoumaru would come to know the sword. He pulled it from his obi and held it out for his boys to see. “It can revive the same hundred Tessaiga had previously cut down.”
“Revive? Why would you want to revive the ones that you purposefully killed?” Sesshoumaru was thoroughly confused. Just because he created one sword to cut down one hundred youkai in one swing didn’t mean a sword had to be produced to reverse its effects. It was redundant.
“To create a sense of equality, my son. When there is an evil created, a pure essence must be made as well to balance each other out. That is what Tenseiga is. It is Tessaiga’s brother, much like you and Inuyasha.” Touga replied, holding each of his new treasures in his hands.
“Hn,” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Then Inuyasha must be Tenseiga, for he is weak. I am Tessaiga; strong, powerful, and deadly; everything Inuyasha is not.”
Inuyasha blinked, registering the insult. “H-hey! That’s not nice! Otou-sama! He called me Tenseiga!”
Touga let out a chuckle and slid his swords back into his obi. He then picked up his youngest and balanced him on his hip as he soothed him. “Trust me, young one, it is not a bad thing. Sesshoumaru will see that in due time.”
He ‘hn’ed at the memory. His father’s words still puzzled him. He did not see how Tenseiga was not an insult. The sword was useless to him, despite what had just occurred. Yes, it had saved him, but now he could be viewed as a coward for running from a battle. He let a growl rumble in his chest. He did not run from a battle.
Growing tired of his own aggravation, he stood and prepared to leave. He slid the sword back into its place in his obi and headed off towards the East, the opposite direction of his lands. He needed a new sword.
A strong sword.
It was time to pay Totosai another visit. It had been one hundred years; surely the youkai would have changed his mind by now. After all, he had been one of his father’s closest friends, always crafting him armor and swords. Did he not have any pull to grant the son of his friend a sword? And, if he still refused, he would use force to get his way.
No one could deny the Lord of the West anything.
Updated 2/12/16 With Beta Edits!