Sesshomaru's most valuable possession
Sesshomaru
rushed towards the burning castle, frantically trying to make out Mai's
scent. Was he too late? If her body turns to ashes, even Tenseiga would
not bring her back to life. Upon the realization, the youkai felt a
stab of guilt and something else in his cold demonic heart. Having
picked up a slight trace among the stench of burning wood, without
hesitation, the demon slammed himself against the wall, breaking
through. Once inside, he brought his hand to the face, shielding himself
from the unbearable heat. He quickly scanned the room, looking for the
woman. The whole place was already almost completely engulfed in flames,
that created a blazing inferno. Sesshomaru's eyes widened, as he saw
her – there she was, chained to the pole in the middle of the room, the
only place where the fire did not reach yet. She was limply hanging in
the scruffs, her arms above the head. Her hair were covering her face
and she did not make a move – the demon did not know, if she was even
still alive. He prepared to jump toward her, but a burning log fell from
the ceiling, blocking his way. Through the flames he saw, that she
stirred.
"MAI!" he yelled.
The girl shifted, struggling to
maintain consciousness. Her vision was blurred, she saw only bright red,
dancing everywhere around her. The heat was unbearable and every
shallow breath hurt more, reminding her of the nearing end. Mai thought,
that she heard a voice among the roaring flames. Was that a joke, made
by her dying brain?
The silver-haired demon circled the burning
debris, searching for the way to get to the woman before she dies. The
youkai knew, that every second was precious. Finally, he found a gap and
jumped through it. He leaped to the pole.
"Mai." He called her
name. Mai slowly lifted her head. She heard the voice again. Among the
blazing red, she saw a shape, a silhouette, but she couldn't make out
what it was. She concentrated her eyesight and saw a pair of golden eyes
looking into her own. She smiled.
"Sesshomaru, you came." The
woman whispered weakly. The demon with a swift move slashed the iron
chains with his claws and caught Mai, who was hanging limply in his
grip, like a lifeless doll. Sesshomaru knew, that she would not stay
alive if they lingered here any longer. He threw her over his shoulder
and drew Tokijin.
"Souryuuha!" he said and the blast of the
sword's demonic energy shot out, destroying the walls and extinguishing
the flames. Without hesitation, the demon jumped, following where
Souryuuha stroke, escaping before the burning building collapses. The
roof went down right behind the demon's back, as he managed to carry Mai
out. As he glided in the air, his youkai ears picked up a disturbing
sound – or rather lack thereof. The woman's heart was beating slowly,
her pulse barely hearable even for Sesshomaru and the breaths were
shallow. Now she stopped breathing at all. The demon cursed in his mind –
she was hung over his shoulder and her chest was pressed too tightly
against his back – with the little strength that was left in her, she
could not draw a breath in this position. He must land without delay and
place her in the position, that would enable breathing.
Seeing no
other choice, the youkai landed in the middle of the battlefield. He
thrust Tokijin into the ground and gently put the woman down. He placed
her in a half-sitting position, supporting her with his arm, and waited.
He ignored his surroundings, concentrating on only one thing – to hear
her breath. If he would not hear her inhale the air, he was ready to use
Tenseiga. Sesshomaru hoped, that the sword would not fail him. He could
not lose the woman's life, especially now, when he was so close to
saving her. As ashamed he was, the demon admitted to himself, that the
human was precious to him – she was his most valuable possession.
After
a few seconds, that dragged on like eternity, Sesshomaru heard Mai
taking a breath. He gasped, feeling relieved. Around them the humans
were battling among themselves – clash of steel, battle cries of the
attackers, pained screams of the defeated, but the demon heard only the
woman's shallow breaths. Slowly, she opened her eyes and gazed at him.
She moved her lips a little, trying to say something, but Sesshomaru
stopped her.
"Do not speak. Spare your strength." He said and
watched her smiling at him faintly. The demon could not help smiling
back at her.
"You look creepy." The woman muttered. Sesshomaru
frowned at her words. Apparently, she was regaining her strength faster
than he thought. Then, the demon averted his attention from the Mai and
warily looked around. The humans were approaching them, clearly readying
to attack himself and the defenseless woman. Quickly, he coaxed her
into sitting on her own and stood up, reaching for Tokijin. He
positioned himself between Mai and the humans.
The soldiers were a
bit unnerved by the presence of the youkai, who ripped Lord Maeda's
head off, but in larger group they felt more confident. The both sides
stopped fighting among each other and their attention focused on the
demon, who was far more dangerous than the opponents. The soldiers were
cautiously approaching the youkai.
"Slay the demon!" someone from
the crowd cried. The others immediately picked up the idea and pointed
their weapons at Sesshomaru.
"Death to the mononoke!" yelled another voice.
Further
from the place, where Sesshomaru and Mai were, Shinji was standing
among his retainers. The young general wiped the blood of his blade and
turned his head towards the commotion.
"What is going on there?"
he asked himself, furrowing the brows. After the youkai killed their
enemies' leader, chaos ensued on the battlefield. Some of the Maeda's
men yielded, other run away and some were still fighting. Shinji had to
admit, that the dog-demon saved their skins by his act. The general
wondered, what the commotion was about. It seemed, that the both sides
stopped fighting and concentrated on something else. What could that be?
"A
horse!" he yelled to his retainers. Almost immediately, one of them
returned, leading an animal. Shinji mounted it and strapped Maeda's head
to the saddle, not wanting to lose it. He kicked the horse's sides and
rode where crowd has gathered. As Shinji got closer, he saw what made
the men stop battling. Their attention focused on the silver haired
demon, who stood still, the sword in his hand. He wasn't making any
move, he only observed the soldiers warily. The young general squinted
his eyes and he noticed a shape, crouching behind the youkai. Shinji's
eyes widened, when he recognized the silhouette – that was Amayami. She
was still alive! The samurai figured out, that the dog-demon must be the
same, who kidnapped the princess months ago. Given that, he was the
one, Amayami escaped. So the youkai was about to capture her again and
the soldiers were trying to prevent it – that was the most logical
explanation of the scene. However, to Shinji, it seemed to be quite the
opposite. Knowing Amayami's feisty character, she would try to get away
from the demon, fight to the last breath, but she was sitting still, as
though not wanting to run. The demon was protecting her. He had come
here to rescue her from Maeda's clutches and now was shielding her from
the soldiers.
Shinji cursed under his nose. Considering the events
near Asakura castle, at the time, when Amayami was kidnapped, the young
general had an idea, what the demon was capable of. If he decides to
strike, it will be a massacre.
"Let's kill him!" one of the soldiers yelled. Shinji gritted his teeth. As a commander, he had to act swiftly.
"Men of Echizen! Retreat after me!" he yelled to his soldiers in order to get them out of here.
Just
after he managed to gather most of his soldiers and move them sideways,
the Maeda's men finally decided to attack. They rushed at the youkai
all at once. Shinji turned in his saddle to observe the scene. There
were over a hundred attackers and the silver-haired demon stood with a
stoic face, not showing fear or any other emotion. He waited. Then, he
lifted his sword and the young general could see a blue glow around the
sword.
"Souryuuha!" the youkai cried and a wave of demonic energy
shot of the sword, annihilating everything along the way. The soldiers
didn't even have a chance to cry from fear or pain. In a second the
youkai wiped all of them from the surface of earth, not even bones
remaining. Shinji shivered at the display of an unimaginable power. This
man could singlehandedly defeat the whole army.
The demon's eyes
turned to Shinji and his men. The young general was inwardly trembling
from fear, as the youkai stared their group down. After a while, the
demon apparently decided, that they were no danger to him and ignored
them. Shinji let out a breath, he was holding all the time. The young
man still observed the demon. He watched him turn around to Amayami and
help her stand up, supporting her with his arm. The girl was gripping
his armor, not to fall down. Shinji furrowed his brows. What was the
relationship between those two?
"Stay here." The young general commanded his retainers and, having made his decision, rode towards the demon and Amayami.
As he approached them, the demon stared him down, ushering the girl behind him.
"I
mean no harm!" Shinji cried from the distance, not willing to give the
demon a reason to kill him like the Maeda's soldiers. The youkai didn't
seem to be convinced by his words. He didn't draw his sword, but
outstretched the arm, flexing his fingers.
"No, don't. He's a
friend." Said the girl weakly from behind the demon's back. As Shinji
came closer, he saw how fragile she seemed now, barely standing on her
trembling legs. The dog-demon glared at him with a glint of
determination in his eyes. The young samurai knew, that for any mishap
he would pay with his life.
"I am not your enemy, youkai." Shinji
stated, stopping his horse in some distance from the demon and the
princess, dismounting. The demon was looking at him with an impassionate
face. Slowly, the young general made his way towards the pair, ignoring
his instincts, that told him to run away.
"Thank you for defeating the enemies of Echizen." Shinji said to the demon.
"They
were in my way." Replied the silver-haired youkai. Shinji looked at the
princess, who was standing at the demon's side, gripping him for
support.
"Amayami-hime, are you all right?" he asked. The girl nodded.
"Yes,
I'm okay. Leave." She said. Shinji stared at the girl. Why did she tell
him to leave? Wasn't she happy to see him? The young general was so
absorbed in gawking at her, that he didn't notice the look of annoyance
on Sesshomaru's face.
He was about to answer, but he heard a sound
of hundred hoofs. He turned around and saw the riders carrying the
banners of the Asakura clan approaching them. When the troops were not
so far away, Shinji could make out the silhouette of his Oyakata-sama.
His lord spotted him away and the small army rode to where he, the
princess and the terrifying youkai were standing. The demon put his hand
on the hilt of his sword.
Lord Asakura rode forward.
"My
lord!" Shinji, greeted him, bowing deeply. The lord looked at him
briefly and then he set his gaze on the girl. He jumped of the horse.
"Amayami,
my daughter!" he called to her and, forgetting all his dignity as a
daimyo, he ran to the demon and looked at him with the pleading eyes.
"She's my only child, please…"
The soldiers averted their eyed
from the sight of their lord begging the youkai. Shinji saw, as the
silver-haired demon glanced at the girl, as if considering something.
Then, he grabbed her by her shoulder and shoved into Lord Asakura's
arms. She stared at him, shocked.
"Sesshomaru!" she tried to protest, but the demon turned away.
Absorbed
by what was happening, Shinji nearly forgot of his duty. He retrieved
quickly Maeda Goemon's head from the saddle and approached the lord.
"My lord! It is the head of Maeda Goemon!" he presented the bloodied trophy. The lord nodded, acknowledging it.
"Well
done, Hiroyoshi, Shinji! As a man of honor I must be true to my word.
Hereby I give you Amayami-hime as your bride." The lord announced.
Author Note:
Please post your comment and review the fanfic. I'd like to know, what you think.
Plus, your comments will definitely make me upload more chapters faster...
:O Great and back then, two minutes ago I thought at fanfiction that you stopped! I'm so glad I found those chapters here! Great Job ;)
ReplyDeleteYup, really a great Job here!
DeleteAnd well, isn't it great to agree to your own message?! xD
This is by far one of the best fanfictions I have ever read!!! Thanks for putting so much effort into making this :)
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! I was just thinking Shinji was a pretty cool charactsr ghen BAM! Mai has to marry him! xD this is no laughing matter xD poor mai, and seshy :<
ReplyDeleteI was a little pissed when i realised it wasnt compleated, because this it happened before on fiction press when a writer wote these amazing stories then tok away half the story because she was publishing them and wanted to keep it as endorsement. But seeing as its still fanfiction and only moved to another place i feel better. Im really grown to like Mai. the last time i liked an original charater so much was a naruto story...the stupid auther killed her int he end, i was soooooooooo pissed. but i really like Mai, she's not a mary sue. shes strong, independent, but weak, like a normal human. i love this
ReplyDelete