One Life Ch.15 Time Cannot...

Chapter 15:  Time Cannot Erase

“I suppose I should give you this before you go.  It is yours after all.”  Totousai’s old voice piped up behind Sesshoumaru just as he was about to depart.  He turned, annoyed by the delay, to see what it was that the old smith was babbling about.  But when the old man held out something wrapped in a raggedy cloth, he froze.  He had forgotten about it.  He stood staring, unblinking at the small parcel unable to stop the memories from flooding his mind.

“I infused it with the strand of hair as you instructed.  It turned out rather well if I do say so myself.  I wish I didn’t have to part with it so soon.”  The old smith stated proudly, but his proud stance sagged as Lord Sesshoumaru continued to merely stare at the unwrapped cloth.

“Well do you want it or not?”  Totousai rasped impatiently.

Golden eyes sharpened on the old man and Sesshoumaru took a step forward, causing the smith to shrink back.  “Show your respect for the object you are holding, Totosai.”  Ordered Sesshoumaru icily, and then he reached out and slowly, deliberately took the cloth wrapped weapon, his gaze still boring into the now cowering old man.  With a blink, Sesshoumaru turned and left, joining Jaken and Ah-Un on the path back through the volcanic lands and headed North.  His mind wondered to the blade as he continued his trek.

He had ordered Jaken to go to the smith to commission the blade as a gift for Rin all those months ago, while delivering the marriage propositions to the bordering demon lords.  

A wedding gift of sorts.

He had not understood the impulse, nor had he really thought about it.  He just knew that he had wanted to give her something.  Something of personal value.  Something only he could give her.

Slowly he unwrapped the cloth pulling out a piece of parchment folded over the blade and examined the weapon.  The dagger was pure perfection, just as Totousai boasted.  It was dainty, small enough to fit Rin’s feminine hand, and it had a sharp edge and a serrated edge. The hilt was an emerald jade stone sanded and polished to shine with a thin cord winding all the way up and around the hilt.  What made the dagger the personal gift that it had been meant to be was that it was imbued with one of his own strands of silvery hair.  

Slowly he unfolded the parchment and read the forge master’s sloppy markings.  It explained what powers the blade came to possess with the strand of hair.  The blade would cut through anything, and was unavoidable when thrown straight on.  When used in a killing blow, it would seal the wound around the blade while embedded in the body, and both freeze and poison the victim instantly.  And it would only respond to its true master.  It was both beautiful and deadly.

Sesshoumaru tucked the dagger securely into his obi.  He would put it in the family shrine at home when he returned, but now he had one more detour to make.

It only took one more day to reach the rocky lands that the trolls were fabled to live, and which Totosai had confirmed.  The lands were disaml, grey, and bare of any vegetation.  Those growths that might have been trees at one time were now shriveled and brittle; skeletons of dead trees reaching up into the sky in agony.  Massive rock formations jutted out of the ground making a maze of the eerie land and no sound, no life, no movement was evident here.  

“Jaken, you will stay here with Ah-Un.”  Sesshoumaru ordered softly before making his way into the rocky labyrinth in search of the entrance of the den.

It didn’t take long for Sesshoumaru to navigate his way through the huge boulders before he found what he was looking for.  He was looking up at a huge rock face and a gnarled, old, and very dead tree.  He moved around the trunk to look between the tree and the rock wall and found the entrance.  It didn’t go into the rock face, rather, it went down under the tree and into the ground.  He stood for a moment listening and heard no sound, though he could smell the faintest hint of the stench of flesh.  

Good.  They’re home.  He thought as the dark and eager need for revenge filled him and he made his way into the black hole.

He continued slowly his demon sight adjusting easily to the darkness. He listened intently for any sound that would indicate which vein to follow, but still heard nothing.  He followed the main artery passing darkened corridor after darkened corridor and still only had the putrid smell in the air to follow.  He was growing impatient when the end of the corridor he was following finally opened up and he found himself in a large chamber.  It was filled with rickety tables, black pewter cauldrons, and a huge fire-pit in the middle of the room.  It seemed to be some type of preparation or sacrificial chamber, but what caught his immediate attention was the stench of burned flesh and the blackened and rotting corpses that littered the floor.  Dozens of bodies, and body parts were strewn across the chamber, all charred to a crisp.  The walls seemed to be scorched and the ceiling was black with soot.  As he made his way around the chamber, examining the bodies, he was mildly surprised to see that every one of them was the warped body of a troll demon.  

Someone or something had beaten him to the kill.

Anger filled him and his vision blurred to a blood red hue as he turned, lashing out at a cauldron with his whip of energy, slicing it and sending it flying across the cavern in a loud clang.  Months of pent up rage boiled to the surface and now he had no outlet for it!  He lashed out again and splintered a wooden table.

A scrap of color caught his eye as he turned to slice through a particularly bloated corpse and he stopped to look at it.  It was a pale pink color with a red pattern on it.  

What a strange place for a scrap of cloth that color.   He thought to himself, his vision bleeding back to normal, as he reached down and picked it up.  

Probably their last meal.   He surmised as he fingered the silky fabric, but his heart stopped when he suddenly recognized the bit of clothing.  It wasn’t pink with a red pattern.  It was pink with red blood stains.  Blood he had smelled before.  He knew the scent of this blood well.  

It was a piece of Rin’s sleeping garment.

For the first time in centuries, bile rose in his throat as he thought of Rin in the hands of these demons.  

Had they killed her and brought her back here to devour her, or had they kept her alive long enough to bring her here?  Had they eaten her?   He found himself hoping beyond all hope that they had at least killed her first.  

Images of the hideous creatures stripping bits of flesh from delicate bones with their sharp, animal like teeth flashed through his imagination.  His rebellious mind conjured up the sounds of splintering bone and screams of agony as they fought over pieces of her.  

Had she screamed for him then too?   

He closed his eyes and willed the images away, swallowing and concentrating on breathing.  He clenched his fist, his claws piercing through the scrap of silk and digging into the palm of his hand.  The pain felt good.  Sharp.  

And then he felt it.  The familiar feeling of a healing power called to him, surrounded him.  His eyes shot open and he looked across the floor, searching.  It was here.  He could feel it!  

Father’s fang…

Tensaiga lay on the ground in the corner of the burnt room.  

A sharp pain shot through his heart.  What good was it to him now, when he didn’t even have a body to call her soul back to?  

He retrieved the sword, sheathed it in his obi next to the delicate dagger and turned away from the chamber, leaving behind gruesome scene.  Leaving behind the phantom cries.  Leaving behind the scrap of cloth that told of a brutal, lonely death.  

The troll demons were dead.  He didn’t care how.  He didn’t care by whose hand.  

They are all dead.  The grim declaration did nothing to quell the burning hunger for revenge, but it didn’t matter anymore.

It is time to go.   He told himself resolutely, numbness beginning to blanket his heart once more.

He stopped just outside the entrance, a thought forming.  His eyes narrowed as he gathered his power and sent it out, probing the rest of the cavern, searching again.  But this time he was searching for an aura of pure evil.  

Toukijin.   

But the sword was not here.  He could not detect its presence anywhere in the vast cavern.  It would have called to him had it been there.  

The pathetic creatures probably couldn’t handle the mighty weapon.   He sneered to himself. Or perhaps the mysterious exterminator now possessed it.

No matter.   He told himself as he headed back up and out of the now extinct troll demons’ lair.

When the sun hit his face and he drew the fresh air into his lungs he felt a bit refreshed.  Slowly he made his way back through the rock formations.  He could hear Jaken before he could see him, the bothersome little toad mumbling to himself as always.  Complaining.  Sesshoumaru sniffed in annoyance as he heard his name mentioned in the complaint and quickly found the perfect stone to lob at the insulting little demon.

“…always going off alone!  He’s going to be killed for sure this time!  These demons nearly killed him last time!  Why can’t Lord Sesshoumaru just….” *clunk*… “Gah!”

Jaken’s grumbling ceased as he went flying off his rock and landed hard on the ground, his feet in the air.  “Eh…Lord Sesshoumaru!  I’m so relieved you are alright….”  The imp swallowed the rest of his sputtering words as he scrambled to his feet and looked at the one ebony eyebrow raised at him.

“I mean….I’m so glad you retrieved your father’s sword!  I knew those pesky trolls couldn’t stand up against you!  Did you slaughter them all?  How did you kill the large one?”

“They were already dead.”  Sesshoumaru cut off the babbling toad demon and without another word, hoisted himself up onto Ah-Un’s back and guided the dragon into the air, Jaken barely dangling from the scaly dragon tail.

“Master…don’t leave meeeee!”

*****
            
Masahiro, TaiYoukai, Alpha Male of the Tiger Demon Pride, and Lord of the Northern Lands, sat in his study across from the
Lord of the Central Trade Region and leader of the Central Panther Demon Tribe.  The panthers had arrived that afternoon weary from their travel and in a rather somber mood, and Masahiro took casual note of Lord Kazuo’s matured countenance.  It had been years since he had seen the young man.  The uniquely white haired panther looked older now.  Jagged scars marred his tan skin and his sky blue eyes, outlined with the lines of heavy responsibility, were cold and distant.

“What is it you wished to discuss with me, M’Lord?”  Kazuo asked, not looking at the Northern lord, but staring instead at the wall behind him, and Masahiro noted the emotionless mask the once joyful youth now wore.  The Northern Lord could all but see the feelings of sadness and loss emanating from the demon before him.  He sighed heavily as he examined the panther.

The last time the two had met, Kazuo had been a young, powerless lesser demon with no rank or title.  He had been the liaison for the Panther demon tribe that had been sent to witness the marking rituals.  But despite his lack of power he was an ambitious youth who had been playful and easy to laugh.  And he had fallen in love with Kasumi.

But now, so many years later, the young demon was the leader of the panther demon tribe, and Lord of the most powerful trade routes in the land.  It was rumored that an alliance with the West had even been formed.  But sitting before Masahiro now was not a successful, confident leader, but a bone-tired and defeated young man.

Blinking out of his moment of contemplation, Masahiro cleared his throat, his mind turning to the business at hand.  “My dispatchers have informed me of rumors of an alliance between the Central Region, and the Western lands.  Is this information accurate?”

Kazuo maintained his gaze on the spot on the wall, but his eye lashes flickered slightly as he answered.  “Hai, M’lord.  I was to take Lord Sesshoumaru’s ward as a life mate to seal the alliance between our two lands.”

Masahiro blinked in surprise.  He had heard that Lord Sesshoumaru had allowed a little human female to travel with him, but he had dismissed it as rumor.  He had known Sesshoumaru to become a rather uncaring TaiYoukai whose only desire since his parents’ death had been for power, and Masahiro knew the unconscious desire driving Sesshoumaru to gain that ultimate power was truly the desire to never be questioned, to never be taken advantage of, and never to be close to anyone who could leave him.  Masahiro’s heart ached for the youth whenever he thought of him, but the simple fact was that a human female simply did not fit into that equation.     

“So the rumors were true.  Tell me, what is the human like?  She must be particularly unique to have been allowed to stay in Sesshoumaru’s care for so long.”  He could barely contain the ache of curiosity that bubbled up in his chest.

“The Lady Rin had been in Lord Sesshoumaru’s care for the past ten years and would be about eighteen now.  She…was very kind hearted and a rare beauty among her kind with much grace and intelligence.”  Kazuo’s voice was soft as he answered, his mind adrift with the memory of the young woman.

Masahiro was puzzled.  “Was…?”  He remembered the panther demon’s Second coming to deliver the request for the delay of the marking rituals this last winter.  The request had explained that there had been complications during travel and a matter that needed urgent attending that prohibited Lord Sesshoumaru from being in the North.  Masahiro had not asked what was so urgent.  But, now he wondered….

“His ward was the ‘matter’ that needed attending to with such urgency?”  He inquired somberly.

Kazuo’s eyes darted to the Northern Lord’s face, cold blue steel locking onto his gaze.  “This winter she was traveling to my lands to receive the marks and become my life mate when she was killed by an attacking demon hoard.”  He stated calmly, his voice void of all emotion.

Masahiro stared in mild shock at the panther.  “I am truly grieved to hear about this loss.”  He offered sympathetically.

Kazuo returned his gaze to the wall.

“Thank-you, but the Lady Rin was not truly my loss, M’lord.”  He said in a near whisper.  “Lord Sesshoumaru needed the time for his own recovery and to mourn her loss.”

The gears in Masahiro’s head were turning a little faster now as he studied the panther.  “In order to give the female as a life mate in accordance with an alliance agreement, Lord Sesshoumaru would have to have acknowledged her as clan.”  He stated matter-of-factly, though he was truly looking for confirmation.  

Kazuo simply nodded.  

Masahiro could feel his own eyes widening with mild surprise. Lord Sesshoumaru must have cared very deeply for the young woman!

All business once more, Masahiro cleared his throat and continued.  “But she is dead now, so the alliance is dissolved?”  He asked, the curiosity in his voice clearly laced with hope.

Kazuo let out a long tired breath.  

“No M’lord.  Lord Sesshoumaru and I have already signed the agreement.  The alliance with the West and the Central Region is still in the negotiation stage, though it will be completed after Lord Sesshoumaru’s mating rituals.”

Masahiro blinked again and attempted to keep control of his expression as he asked his next question.  His heart was pounding with hope and anticipation.

“Do you plan to extend the alliance to include the North?”  He asked bluntly.

Masahiro watched as Kazuo’s eyes darkened.  “Only after Lord Sesshoumaru has control, M’lord.  You are ready to pass on the lordship of the North, but until Lord Sesshoumaru and the Lady Kasumi are wed, Lord Kane stands to gain control of the Northern lands.  The central region does not wish to be involved with such a leader.  My alliance is with Lord Sesshoumaru himself.”  Kazuo answered just as bluntly.

Masahiro nodded in resigned understanding.  He shared this dislike and mistrust of his Nephew as well, and could not blame the panther for not wanting to deal with the tiger demon.

The two sat in silence for several moments, each lost in their own thoughts, when Lord Kazuo finally stood.

“Is the Lady Kasumi at home?”  He asked mildly.  “It has been many years, and I would like to extend my greetings.”

Lord Masahiro, lost in his own thoughts, waved vaguely towards the window.  “She is down in the gardens.”

*****
Two days later, Lord Masahiro sat across from the Western Lord himself.  Lord Sesshoumaru had arrived just that afternoon and Masahiro couldn’t help but notice the lack of emotion the young lord portrayed.  True, the stoic demon had always been rather emotionless, but even his golden eyes were dead now.

“Are you certain that you are ready for this, Lord Sesshoumaru?  If you need more time to mourn the loss of your ward…?”

Lord Sesshoumaru’s icy voice interrupted the Northern lord’s query abruptly.  “Enough!  We will not speak of her!”  He hissed angrily, and then his face went blank and his voice was controlled once more.  

“The treaty has been delayed long enough.”    

Masahiro did not miss the flash of grief that crossed the dog demon’s eyes, and the brief moment when raw emotion was thick in his usually bored tone.

So, he does feel.

*****
Lord Masahiro sat up late into the night, staring with unblinking eyes into the flickering candle.  It was clear that Lord Kazuo still loved his daughter.  The two had not parted company for two full days now and though Kasumi was marked by the Kiss and no longer felt for the panther demon, he knew she still remembered her feelings for the panther demon.  

He had hoped that Lord Sesshoumaru would come to fall in love with Kasumi as well, but it was clear that such a hope would never become reality.  Something had happened that killed even the slightest flicker of such a sentimental emotion in the young demon lord.

He sighed.  He couldn’t help feeling caught between wanting to give his daughter whatever would make her happy, and having to perform his duty to his lands.  He could not allow, no…would not allow the Northern lands to fall into the hands of his nephew.  He sighed again as he thought of his dead brother’s only son.

Lord Kane was a rather powerful TaiYoukai, who had also made a reputation for himself as a skilled warrior on the battlefield, but he was also selfish and self serving and Masahiro didn’t trust the young tiger demon.  He remembered the circumstances surrounding his brother’s death with bitter disgust.  The healer had been certain that his brother had been poisoned, and Masahiro, though he had no real proof, was certain that Kane had been the dealer of that particular death.  True, he had no tangible evidence to suggest that Kane would kill his own father, or that he even had a motive, but his intuition told him that Kane was not to be trusted even in the slightest.

Masahiro sighed again. No…Kane cannot inherit the North. His own selfishness would hinder him from uniting these lands that so need a strong leader, and I am growing old and tired.  I cannot continue to maintain control.   

Sadness filled his heart at the thought of what had to be done.  It was the sadness of a father knowing he had to take away his child’s freedom.  Her freedom to fall in love.  Her freedom to choose that love over duty.      

But…, a thought kept bubbling up to the surface of his thoughts.  Something the new panther leader had said kept tickling his mind and forming half ideas….

“My alliance is with Lord Sesshoumaru himself…” An idea began to take form.  

No, the first mark has already been given.   He growled at the inner voice that fought with him to see something he was missing…

When the thought finally took full form, it felt like a sharp slap in the face.  Masahiro shot to his feet and began pacing his study with excitement.

“The Seal of Approval was given….”  He whispered to himself as he began to work out the details of his new possibility.

Could it possibly work?   He would have to plan carefully.  He would have to make sure all was in place before he did it.  And…the treaty between to North and the West had to be signed first!

*****
Something was troubling Lord Sesshoumaru as he stood in the great ceremony hall looking down into the glowing face of his intended.  He could feel a familiar presence, and yet he couldn’t understand it.  Casually his gaze swept over the hundreds of guests once more before returning his attention to his intended.

The Lady Kasumi radiated pure beauty as she smiled brilliantly up at him.  Her fiery red hair was done intricately with tiny pearls woven through thick curls that cascaded down her back.  Her tilted emerald tiger eyes, lined with a light shade of green powder, glowed as she watched his face intently.  She wore a delicate cream colored lace with more pearls woven into it over her wedding kimono that accented her silky bronzed skin and flaming hair.  She was breathtaking, and she was trembling with sheer excitement.

Hazel green eyes flashed through his mind as he began to slowly draw in his power.

Enough!   He silently commanded himself.

Lord Masahiro finished his ceremonial decree and took a step away from the couple.  

The moment had arrived.

Sesshoumaru gathered the trembling tiger demoness into his embrace and leaned down, biting sharply into the flesh over Kasumi’s collarbone and let his power flow over them both.  She would carry his scent now.

Kasumi had wanted to complete the Branding and the Binding together in the marriage bed, but he had refused.  He felt no desire for his bride.  His heart was dead.  He knew he would never again feel anything but a sense of duty.  So, he Branded her during the ceremony and the following evening they would share blood and complete the Binding through ceremony as well.  

A sudden image of Rin, glowing in the warmth of passion and encircled in his arms assaulted his thoughts and he closed his eyes, willing the torturous image away.  He concentrated on the flow of his power, the hush of the crowd, the tangy taste of blood, the scents of lavender and vanilla that Kasumi radiated…

The sweet scent of cherry blossoms assaulted his memory and pushed away all other thoughts, and then he sensed it again.

*Pulse*

Outwardly calm, he released his hold on Kasumi and looked out over the crowd once more. I feel it.  I’m sure of it.   

Slowly he scanned the crowd of guests that were now on their feet cheering and caught sight of someone he had not expected to see.  There, between two neighboring clan leaders, Master Kushil who was actually whistling, and Master Mushin of the temple of the dragonfly, still sitting in his seat, emerald eyes blazing with an odd satisfaction at Sesshoumaru, was Lord Kane.

*Pulse*

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the demon, but was suddenly being embraced by his almost wife.  His sight of the tiger was momentarily obstructed, and in that instant Kane was gone.

*****
Twilight progressed into late evening and then turned into the shade of purple night and finally the guests had all retreated to their rooms and camps.  Sesshoumaru breathed a deep cleansing breath as he slipped out of the palace.  He longed for the peace of solitude and needed to gather his thoughts.

Kane has it!  I’m sure of it!   He declared to himself as he wondered through the vast gardens.

Kane has my Toukijin.

The foul tiger was there that night!   He reminded himself as he began to sink into the memory of that horrible night.

It is too convenient.  Rin dead, and Toukijin now in Kane’s possession.   Sesshoumaru let out a growl as he thought of what the scenario suggested.

Kane was obviously in league with the trolls.   His inner anger voiced vehemently.

But why kill Rin then?  Had the tiger not tried to take her as a mate only shortly before then?   His inner voice of reason countered.

No matter.  Toukijin will no doubt have already possessed the weak-minded demon.   Sesshoumaru grunted in mild satisfaction at the thought.  

First he will loose his mind, and then I shall take his life.   He told himself, quite pleased with the thought.

Just as he was conjuring a very appealing image of Kane’s final agonized breath a scent caught his nose.  Salt.  Tears.  He stopped his wandering and looked around, listening and taking in the scent.

A muffled sob caught his sensitive ear and he turned, looking into the flower bed only a few feet away from where he stood.  A dainty form of what could only be a female sat in the middle the pale pink flowers, completely covered by a sheer veil of shimmering black, but though he could not see who was under the veil, she was visibly shaking and he knew she was the source of the sorrow he could feel hanging thick in the air.  He turned to leave her to her silent mourning when another scent caught his nose.

Though he could distinctly smell the flowers she crushed in her tiny grip, he could also smell the scent of lavender.  

Kasumi…?  

No.  The lavender was not the scent he caught either.  It was something else.  Something unmistakably male.  Something unmistakably…Kane.

He stared at the sobbing figure, eyes narrowing suspiciously.  She hadn’t sensed his presence yet, so he began to move towards her.  It was undeniably there.  This female was Branded by Kane.

A plot began to form in his mind.  

Kane’s mate could be of use to this Sesshoumaru.   He thought as he stealthily approached the still sobbing figure.  He could tell now that she was facing away from him.

I believe a trade is in order.

He lengthened his stride as he approached his prey, the salt of her tears mixed with the lavender of her scent stronger with each step.  As he approached, he watched her head rise and turn, and he readied himself for a quick pursuit in case she was to flee.  But, she did not flee.  She did not move.  She did not scream.  He heard a strangled gasp, heard her heart stop.  He grabbed the tiger’s mate by the arm, dragging her to her feet, and pulled the veil away from her.

His world completely froze.

Rin!