Entry tags:

chaptered fic: between the devil and ..., fanfic, fanfic: inuyasha, genre: action/adventure, genre: slash, pairing: sesshomaru/omc, rating: r

[InuYasha] The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Pt.6 [R] slash
.
.between the devil and the deep blue sea.
InuYasha. overall rated r. chapter rated pg-13. yaoi/shonen-ai. adventure/action. violence. Sesshomaru/OMC. WIP. chapter ~2900 words. | Summary: A sinister presence troubles the land, and Sesshomaru is trying to find out what or who it is. Friends and foes, old and new, cross his and his companion's (OMC) way, including InuYasha + friends and Naraku.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

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*** = scene change
-I- = POV change

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Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,
Part Six: Winter's Cold in Summer's Hold
by Chocolate H.-D.

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-I-

He had wanted to teach that loudmouthed hanyou a lesson. A painful lesson. He really wanted to. But one look at Anakin and the anger had disappeared in a heartbeat. Or maybe faster. His lover was not all right, he could see that. No matter how hard he tried to control himself, Sesshomaru could still make out the way his hands shook just the slightest bit.

Anakin was… sad?

Yes, that was almost certainly the… emotion he was picking up on. The hanyou had been lucky that he was not responsible for this sort of meltdown, or seemed to be, because he would have paid dearly for it. But no, it had to be something else. That was the reason he answered that one question as well. He was not in the mood to talk, but there was the fact that Anakin dreaded the silence. Which was putting it mildly, to be exact. Why that was, he had no idea.

For him, the thought was foolish in any case. He was conent with silence, with his own thoughts. But then again, Anakin was human, and human tended to have foolish reactions to the simplest of things. They had feelings, they cried. How much he despised them for it. Their weakness. They had no idea how pityful they really were. Creatures that feared their own death.

Even though they knew they were mere mortals.

So very stupid. Pathetic, really.

And still, you concern yourself with two of them. So what does that make you?

Arg!

This time that persistent little voice in the back of his head sounded too much like that worthless half breed of a half brother he dreaded so much. Did he say he was content in his thoughts alone? Well, he was, just not at all times. But, yes InuYasha. That was another thing that had him… troubled.

The youkai was certainly not pleased that InuYasha’s wench, that girl with her strange clothing, had been right. But to Sesshomaru’s annoyance, she had been. He knew. It was not the time to fight with his useless brother. Or not to fight. Period. There was something else out there that was more important to take care of. He remembered the concerns the Lady had voiced. About Anakin… and InuYasha.

But no, he would choose his own allies – if any. That had to do just as well.

He Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, would not lower himself to collaborate with a mere hanyou and his foolish mortal frieds.

Hell would freeze over first.

He might have paraphrased that one last thought, though, if he’d only known what was going to happen soon.

***

They had travelled for hours when something cold, terrible though, crashed into him like a massive barrier. It is not winter yet, was the first thing that went through the youkai’s mind, It should not be this cold, the second. But it could not have been natural, because this something was even colder than the frost of winter. Being colder than anything the Lord had ever encountered in his time, the ground froze beneath his feet.

Sesshomaru froze with it. His whole body tensed at once, preparing himself to fight whatever came at him. So he waited. And waited.

And waited.

Nothing came.

The air around him just got colder and colder with every breath he took. Wind caught in the leaves of the trees around them, shaking them, and the faint scent of animals in the distant reached his nose, but there was nothing else there. Nothing dangerous, that was out to attack him. Still, the cold did not vanish. It clung to his clothes, burned his skin after mere seconds. The icy cold seemed to penetrate even his bones. A shiver ran down his spine, not because of the cold, but the feeling that came along with it.

The Lord of the Western Lands could only find one word to discribe it. Evil. The purest kind. No youkai, no nothing he’d ever come across had made the youkai feel like this. Made him shiver. There was only that being they were hunting that gave him the same reading. And it angered him. He, Sesshomaru, was not afraid of a plain sensation! Human were simple like this, yes, and even lower youkai, but he should not be bothered by such trivial things.

Only that he was.

Fury spread inside him like fire through the dry forest.

He fought against the cold in his bones, the cold terror that was starting to numb him from within. There was no such way he would be defeated by this! The animal in him, the demon, screamed to be released, to shred whoever dared to taunt the great youkai lord to bits and pieces. Only the soft pulsing of his father’s sword at his side – a sword whose very existence he disregarded more times then not – and a pained yelp made him stop and actually listen to something beside the rage of the demon and the beating of his own heart.

Anakin!

Sesshomaru whirled around in a motion too fast to be grasped by any mortal eyes that might have been present. But there was only one, and that one was kneeling on the ground, hands claps tightly over his chest, eyes clenched shut in pain. He was shivering like he was freezing. And to his horror it registered that this was exactly what was happening.

Before the youkai could even think about doing something – anything – the boy collapsed to his knees, only to pass out seconds later. How could he have not noticed this? If this unnatural coldness was strong enough to affect him, of course it would be worse for the human walking by his side.

The icy cold would probably would kill him. Something in his chest clenched painfully at the sudden realization.

But he had no time to ponder why that was.

Another shudder wrecked the unconscious body at his feet and with a mental slap the youkai shook himself out of his stupor. It was time to stop staring and start acting. They had to get out of there. And fast. Whatever this was, it was not something even he could ignore. Wrapping his fur around the lifeless body, he actually flinched at how cold it felt against him. With one last glance toward the direction the piercing cold seemed to come from he leaped into the air, taking them in the opposite direction.

The piercing cry of the phoenix followed his departure.

He shall look at this later. When Anakin was not freezing anymore and his own skin was not burning with the same cold. Once he knew he had gotten enough distance between the cold and Anakin, the demon lord returned to the ground. Anakin was still icy, his own body heat not enough to warm him up.

But they were out of the woods and the sun was out, so he placed the boy down onto the green grass, letting the warmth soak through his clothes and into the ice cold skin.

The young man was even paler than usual, almost as white as the color of his kimono. Anyone who did not have his senses would have presumed the human dead. But he knew better. Anakin was still alive, barely, but he was. And that was the important part. The youkai lord frowned. Important? A useless mortal? Where had that thought come from? Ah, but you do know that already. You care.

No. He did not care about Anakin.

He was good in bed, he would give him that, so it was a pity if he had to give that up. But that was all. The bedding part was great and that was it. The persistant voice in his head snorted. Of course it is. He let out an angry growl only to shut up the same instant. Talking to himself? Now that did not fit one of his position. Not at all.

Maybe the cold was still taking its toll on him. Yes, that had to be it.

Sesshomaru straightend himself. What was he doing anyway? He, the great Lord of the Western Lands, kneeling beside an unconscious human boy and holding his hand like a worried mate, waiting for him to wake up! Ridiculous. That was what it was. Getting to his feet he took a few hasty steps away from Anakin. The sun would do its work no matter if he was here or not. Seraphin could watch over him, he should go back, find out what this was about, but something held him back.

Something he had no knowing of how to name.

Instead, he leaned against one of the trees that surrounding them, staring ahead where he culd make out the horizon. He pretended not to notice that his eyes returned to the fragile figure lying on the ground unmoving every so often, no matter how hard he tried not to.

-I-

“Wake up!” Huh? Was there… someone calling him? “Anakin. Open your eyes.” Yes, there was definitely someone talking to him. But who? It was so dark and so cold and… “This is important. You must open your eyes. NOW!”

But I don’t want to, he thought foolishly, almost sounding like his 5 year old self. But to hell with that. He really didn’t want to, he was feeling so tired, so damn tired, but that voice kept calling and calling. Anakin just wanted to sleep. Still, his eyes seemed to have other ideas, because after another minute or two, they actually opened. Just to reveal more darkness.

Like he was afraid it would.

Darkness was not good. No, no.

“Anakin.” Now he could here that persistant voice more clearly. And louder. But he couldn’t see anything at all. “Are you awake now?”

“Uh… yes?”

“You have to listen to me, and you have to listen good. This is important.

“Yes?”

“You need to wake up. You have to.”

Huh? But wasn’t he awake already?

“No. You are not.”

Then how the hell was someone talking to him? “What? I don’t understand?”

“I know you don’t, but you need to trust me. Can you do that?”

Could he? The only one he trusted were Sesshomaru. Well, okay he trusted the hanyou and his friends as well, at least to some degree, but could he do it here? With a voice that came from the darkness? “Who are you?”

There was silence, and for a moment he feared he only imagined that voice. When it spoke again, Anakin jumped in surprise. I can’t tell you that. Not yet. And if you can’t trust me, than I need you to at least believe in what I have to say. You have to wake up.”

“But it’s so cold… and I am so tired…”

“I know it is and I know you are, but you have to fight it. There are people out there who still need you. Maybe they don’t believe it just yet, but they do.” In the distance, Anakin suddenly could make out something that looked like the flame of a single candle. Was he starting to imagine things or could he actually feel the warmth that seemed to emerge from it? “Don’t leave them alone like you were, Anakin. Not in times like…like these. Everyone, the whole world needs one thing the most right now. And there are too few giving it anymore. Taking, yes, but giving? Not so much.”

“Give? Give what? I am sorry, but I do not understand.”

He heard something that sounded suspiciously like a sigh. “But you will. I know you will. I can't tell you more, they won’t let me, not yet anyway, but I have faith that you’ll figure it out in time. You always do.”

“Do you know what is happening here?”

Yes. But they think he has all information he needs, if he onlywould listen.”

He? “Who? Sesshomaru?”

“Please Anakin, you have to wake up and try to remember what I told you now. They want you to know that he has to listen. All of you… you have everything it takes to achieve the one thing you want the most. You need to see that you are more alike than you are different… always have been. Never give up believing that.”

“I never give up. On anything.”

“They know that. Just remember that you have to think of all the others, Anakin. Do not let him make his pride an issue. If he does, doomed shall we all be. And now… WAKE UP!”

For a heartbeat the light seemed to get brithter, like a flash, but then there was only darkness. And… warmth? Where did that come from? His chest was hurting. And he could actually feel his own body again, that he was lying down on something. Hard, but still not. His fingers twitched by his sides. Was that grass between his fingers? Yes, it even smelled like it. Like fresh, green grass.

The royal garden back at the Palace smelled like this. So why was he lying on the ground somewhere? What happened? Ah right, the cold that had suddenly overcome him, frozen him to the spot. He couldn’t even breath for a long time and then…

Breath! That was it, he needed to breath!

Sitting upright, he coughed painfully into his hands, shaking away the last bits of the cold that was clinging to him. His chest hurt like hell, but he had to breath. Clenching his eyes shut at the pain, he waited until the coughing fit was over. He gasped for breath after it even more than before, red and and yelloe and blue dots dacing before his closed eyes. Then there was someone touching his arm, pulling him against a warm chest.

All of a sudden, breathing was a bit easier.

What the… But then he felt it. Soft fur was curled around him like, like a blanket, warming him like the sun, that had been stroking his face only moments ago. How could he fail to remember... Sesshomaru was here as well, of course. “Wha-what happened?”, he managed to rasp out faintly.

“You were freezing to death.”

Just like your voice. Matter of fact, nothing betrayed a single emotion. The perfect mask. He shook his head to clear his head from the fog that still seemed to surround him. “Ah, okay.”

“Just breath.”

Well, duh. It wasn’t like he was actually trying to choke, but yeah, sure. “You don’t have to tell me that twice…”, he rasped, still gasping for breath. Okay, so he was trying to joke as well, not that Sesshomaru would appreciate something like this. Still, it made him feel better.

And once the bright dots in his vision seemed to fade, his breathing got back to normal. Which was a relief.

Sesshomaru seemed to sense that as well, because he pulled himself to his feet, looking cold and indifferent as ever. Like nothing happened. Uh-huh. Not good. “What was that back there anyway?”, he asked quietly, he didn’t want to piss off the youkai. Not right now.

“I do not know that but I understand it has something to do with the thing that we are searching for.”

“Like some kind of side effect of his doing?” The youkai gave a tiny nod he would probably have missed, that was, if he hadn’t been familiar with those gestures already. “When I was out, I… um, heard this voice talking to me.”, he began. Golden eyes snapped to attention in an instant. “I don’t know if it was real, but someone was telling me things.”

“Tell me.”

And he did. Every little detail he remembered. It could be important somehow. While he was talking, a strange shadow seemed to cross the youkai’s handsome face. As if he was remined of something or someone, and he didn’t like it. He looked somewhat like Rin when she bit into a sour or bitter fruit. Well… he was exaggerating, of course, and that look disappeared just as fast as it had come. Almost to the point where he had to ask himself if it was there in the first place.

Every time the youkai lord wasn’t pleased with something, he would narrow his golden eyes in that particular way that meant trouble for anyone and everyone involved. Most of the time it was Jaken who had to encounter that look – and it always end in a hit on the head for him, he thought – or a ykai that doubted him.

Well, and InuYasha, he remembered the way Sesshomaru looked at the hanyou, but that was different in a way, too. Even though they obviously hated each other’s guts, they were still brothers for god’s sake. Despite the fact that they were only related by the blood of their father, they were not so different. Both looked so much alike. Starting with those stunning golden eyes, the white-silver hair, even their whole appearance.

Okay, so they had attitudes more different than night and day. Where Sesshomaru was cold and stoic, InuYasha was hotheaded and loudmouthed. Big deal. The only apparent noticeably difference between those two were the purple marks on Sesshomaru’s face and wrists, the moon on his forehead and InuYasha’s canine ears. Other than that, they… weren’t so… different after all.

‘You need to see that you are more alike than you are different…’

Oh damn. So this was what had the youkai so very displeased. Great, just great. This was getting better and better.


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