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.9 [R] slash
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.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 ~3100 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 Nine: Hush, My Child, and Listen . . .
by Chocolate H.-D.

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The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.
- Mark Twain

***

“You do know that she just saved our lifes, don’t you.”, Sango stepped in, voie flat. Stating the obvious, but maybe the obvious was not obvious enough.

“Wha…?”

Miroku nodded. “Yes. You should not be rude, InuYasha.”

They both bowed toward the Lady. She smiled. Openly, this time. And wow. Nice smile there. “To answer your question, pup. I am not with anyone, merely myself. But I digress. You sure are the youngest son of the InuTaisho… and your brother’s brother.”, she spoke, voice quiet but stern. No hint of doubt. And really, who would have not seen the similarity between these two? It was so apparent, it just about hurt.

InuYasha’s ears twichted, except for once, he kept silent. Ha! The Lady’s eyes, however, turned-- sad. Pitiful. “So similar and still countless worlds apart, I see.”, she whispered.

Yes, worlds apart was, in a way, right. And she wasn’t talking about being Hanyou or Youkai.

He understood the sadness entwined with her simple words, and even though he knew a fraction of how the youkai world worked, it bothered him, too. Two sons of the same father shouldn’t be that distant. Shouldn’t be enemies to the blood, for it was the same. But then again, it was a human being thinking about human standards and hey, youkai weren’t human. They had other principles, values, rules; as foreign as he might think it was. Or cruel.

And InuYasha… he was neither one nor the other. Which was – maybe – even worse. Hated by one part, and shunned by the other. It really was sad. “You knew InuYasha’s father?”, Kagome piped up suddenly, only to smack her hands over her mouth when she realized that she had spoken out loud. Anakin grinned. “Sorry…”

The Lady laughed. “Do not worry, my child. And to answer your question, yes, yes I did know the great dog demon. A long, long time ago it was. So long, that even I have trouble to remember it sometimes.”

“But you look so young and…”, Shippo babbled, curious.

Sango glared at the kit. “Shippo!”

The little kitsune blushed on cue. “Uh, sorry, Lady.”

“Do not be.”, she said with a mere shake of her head. “Appearance can be deceived, little one, never let it cloud your mind or judgement. A great mistake that could be. And a deadly one, at that.” Since Sesshomaru wasn’t stopping him anymore and the conversation didn’t involve him, he went to retreat his daggers. Cleaning them carefully, they would be of good use later.

“So, um, not to be rude or anything, but what the hell are you doing here?”

Riiiight. Let’s not be rude or anything, InuYasha, he thought amused, barely keeping the goofy grin off his face. Anakin rolled his eyes. Only that yes, he would like to know that, too. He doubted the Lady wandered the land just out of pure entertaining. “Well, you see, pup, since forever I keep an eye on this land on behalf of my lord. I saw the darkness coming for you, thus I took matters into my own hands.” A pause. “And rightly so.”

It would take a while to collect every single dagger, mostly because of the poison and the fact that they were either sticking in human flesh or lying in a pool of blood and, well, the remains of whatever was once human body. Or youkai. Yuck. Carefully cleaning them with a white piece of cloth, he placed them one by one into the weapon carrier.

The poison might not have been enough to hurt Sesshomaru – or any other high up youkai for that matter – but it could kill him in an instant. Okay, not an instant, he had cut himself several times in the past, sometimes even on purpose. The reason was to get himself used to the poison. To make his body resistent to it. At least to some degree, because in higher dosage, it would still be what it was.

Leathal poison.

Which – duh! - was the reason he used it in the first place.

In a battle, it was a very valuable weapon, and Anakin used it more times than not these days. Particularly in a fight with a human enemy. Or an animal. Even onii. He barely listened to the conversation any more, tuning them out and turning their voices more or less into backround noise. He slipped the latest dagger into its holding place, a thick leather coat covering the dangerous tip, and went to stand when the Lady appeared in front of him.

Out of thin air.

Literally.

His heart skipped a beat or two as he jumped in surprise. “Damn. Damn you all. What is it with you trying to scare the living shit out of me today, huh? Do you want to kill me that badly?!”

The Lady chuckled. Chuckled. Uh-huh. Anakin was floored. Sort of. “I am sorry, child. I did not intend to startle you. But where, if I may ask, did you get this?” Where did he get this? This what? She seemed to sense his confusion, or maybe it was written all over his face, but she reached out to touch something and…

Oh! Looking down he noticed that the necklace had escaped from under his clothes, now lying against his chest. “Oh that. It belonged to my older brother before he gave it to me. I don’t know much about it, aside from the things our mother had told us.”

“Which was, young one?”

“Uh…” Unsure, he glanced at Sesshomaru, but the youkai gave no indication that he was even listining to what was being said, let alone to what he should do. Which meant it was a choice of his own. If he wanted he could talk, if not, well okay then. Anakin sighed, but went on. “It’s some kind of protection spell, shielding the owner from powers outside his imagination, or something along those lines. My brother told me it would protect me. Guard me, in times he… could not. Forgive me, but why do you want to know?”

The Lady pressed a finger to her lips, looking thoughtful. For a fraction of a second, Anakin could have sworn that her eyes turned a darker shade of blue, almost the blue of the deep sea. But then it was gone and maybe… He sighed. Maybe he’d just imagined it. “Your brother, he is… dead, is he not?”

Huh? “Yes.” Strange. It still hurt to admit it so freely, even after all--

“I see.”, she cut off his thoughts. It was probably for the better anyhow. “Never give up on it, Anakin. On anything. Or anyone. Nothing is ever so different that you can not overcome the barriers seperating it. You will do good to remember that.”

The Hell?!

That was the second time within hours he had been adressed with almost the exact same words. And that with him being knocked out cold the first time, mind you.

Why did everyone all of a sudden saw the need to speak in riddles anyway? What the fuck was wrong with using ordinary, clear and most of all not riddle sentences? Hell, simple words would do better than fancy riddles anyway. Why beat around the bush out of the blue? A rose by anotehr name was still a rose.

So, yeah. Whatever.

The Lady smiled, hardly concealing her delight. As if she knew what he was thinking. Then again, maybe she did know.

Next, she was gone. ‘Just remember what we said.’, echoed her soft voice in is mind loud and clear as a farewell. Great. More words. Although, he wasn’t cold anymore.

Only much, much later did it occure to him that she’d said ‘we’ instead of ‘I’.

***

Okay, so why exactly was it that he was on his way to the miko’s village again?

’Cause, he grudgingly told himself - yet again, - Sesshomaru told me to. Right. It wasn’t really that bad, considering he’d been promised something to eat – Kagome’s unfamiliar but nonetheless very enjoyable food – and a bed to sleep in, but it was still strange. Not to be alone and still being it, that was. Oh wow, how profound. He snorted in disbelief at his own thoughts.

Now he was getting philosophical. About loneliness! How… pathetic. There was nothing philosophical about being alone. Absolutely nothing, no matter how you looked at it. It was always the same. Not that he was surprised that Sesshomaru hadn’t been all smiles about spending the night in a human village. Ha! What a joke!

And understatement.

So the youkai lord had decided for, you know, Anakin and everyone else, that he should spend the night in said village, while the Lord himself was… doing something. Gathering more information, maybe, wandering around or just… whatever. He wasn’t really sure about what he actually did since sleeping was out of the question here and him just sitting or standing around somewhere?

Anakin had a hard time picturing Sesshomaru doing that. Something so ordinary.

No, he was sure he was doing something. He just didn’t know what.

Anyhow. InuYasha had breathed fire and brimstone because he, in his words, had to play babysitter for his hated brother’s companion once again. That was, until Kagome had send him flat on his face with a single word. At least now he knew what she had been talking about before. Or threating InuYasha with. It was amusing, in a rahter sick and fucked up way, but he had kept that reveal to himself. He liked his hide in one piece, thank you very much!

Shippo hadn’t had that problem. He burst out laughing the moment the hanyou had hit the ground. Hard. What a spell or hex it was, Anakin had no idea. Once the spell had worn off, he had been running after the small youkai child, screaming bloody murder at him. Kagome had rescued the poor kit after a minute. The same kitsune, however, was now walking a few feet to his side, stealing curious glances at him every now and then.

Finally, Shippo seemed to have found the courage to come over, touching his hand with small, furry paws. Which reminded him. Where the hell was Shadow? Ah well, he would show up sooner or later, he always did. Somehow, luck was always on the dog’s side.

Shippo smiled up at him. “Are you okay?”, he asked softly.

Huh. “Yeah, yes, I am. Why are you asking?”

“You look like Kagome when InuYasha was mean to her.”, he whispered. And even though the hanyou had superior hearing, he doubted he would take notice of it right now, considering he was in a very animated…uh, conversation with said Kagome.

“Do I?”, he repeated, chuckling lightly.

“Hm-mm…”

“Nah, don’t worry Shippo. I am fine. I was just thinking about what was going on.”

The little youkai looked at him for a moment longer than nodded. “That thing was scary.”

“Oh yes it was.”

“You were afraid too?”, he asked, completely surprised.

“A little, yes.”, he admitted. “There is nothing wrong to be afraid from time to time, Shippo. Fear can be very useful, tells us to stay cautious and watchful. Hence, to a degree, it keeps us alive.”

Nodding thoughtful, the little one replied, “Probably.”

Anakin chuckled. “Why, yes, Shippo. Probably.” Patting his head, he was silent for a few moments. “Plus, you are still pretty young, no shame in being afraid. Rin gets scared sometimes too.”

“Rin?” The kitsune’s eyes lit up at the name. “Where is Rin anyway?”

“She is…somewhere safe.” I hope.

“That’s good.”

He chuckled again. “Yes, it is, huh?” The little youkai nodded fiercely. “Exactly my thoughts, kiddo. Jaken is with her, and I think we c--” InuYasha stopped walking at once, almost causing him to run into Sango. “Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Someones coming?”

“Someone as in…?”

“A dog.”

And then a huge, dark shadow jumped out of the bushes, runnig straight up to him and – of course – tackling him to the ground. He hit it with a wheezing “humpf”. Freaking dog. ‘Cause seriously?! It wasn’t as if they had been seperated for months on end. By kami, he loved that dog with all his heart, but sometimes? He was pain in the ass. And annoying as hell. Aww shit.

“Shadow!”

His dog paused in licking all over his face, ears twitching, as he turned his head to look at the little youkai. The dog scrunched up his face like… He had no idea. It looked, however, funny as hell. And cute. Chuckling, he pushed at the weight on top of him. “Get off of me, you freak.”, he growled, not hiding his laughter. “I’m not a pillow. Come on, Shadow move. You’re heavy.”

Shadow “woofed” once, moving his attention to the little kitsune near-by and dragging his nose and tongue all over the poor thing instead. What do you know? He grinned. Not that it bothered Shippo, mind you, because he was giggling and laughing, while trying to pet the dog at the same time. Not an easy task, considering Shadow was squirming over the place like crazy. In the meantime, Anakin got back to his feet, brushing off the dust and dirt.

He heard a soft chuckle from his other side and was a bit surprised to find Kagome standing there. “He’s quite clingy, huh?”

“The dog, or Shippo?”, he said joking. Well, mostly.

Kagome laughed. “I’d say both.”

“Works for me.” They watched them for amoment longer, before he noticed that Kagome was shivering slightly, rubbing her hand over her upper arms. Huh? It was just then that he became aware that, yes, it was getting colder. And it got quiet again. Uh-huh. Not a good combination these days.

Time to leave. Indeed. “Shadow.”

The sharp tone of his voice got the dog’s attention, for sure. “Enough.” Shippo and Kagome stared at him, and he was sure the others were, too. “Let’s go.”, InuYasha finally grumbled, already moving away. That, he thought, is the smartest thing you said in a while. A short gesture with his hand aimed at his dog, and he started to follow the hanyou, Shadow soon enough by his side. He could very well remember Jaken grumbling about Shadow being better at following orders than a certain, raven-haired little girl.

Anakin grinned. Yeah, Rin could be… exhausting at times. Or rather to take care of her could be exhausting. But all in all, she’s a sweet kid, and he cared deeply for her. Oh fuck that. He loved the girl. There. He said it. But it was true. Hell, he found that he even cared for that toad eventually, even though he was just as exhausting and annoying. Sometimes. Well, okay, it was mostly when he tried to please his Lord and overdid it in some way. He didn’t mean it, obviously, and they all knew it. Which was how Jaken was still alive.

Probably.

A moment later, he almost walked into InuYasha. Ah yes, here we go again with daydreaming. It’s been what? A few hours. He rolled his eyes at himself. Terrific. Thinking too much wasn’t good for him, least of all now that sleep was near and he didn’t particularly wanted to dream again. Or no, dreams, yes, nightmares, no. And that was the catch, wasn’t it. Noone is to chose between the two, they come and go as they please, and not one being can do a thing about-- Uhg. Right. He did it again. Thinking too much. Fuck. Cursing himself for his idiocy, he went back to follow InuYasha.

And this time he was paying attention.

The village was close.

***

He wasn’t used to it anymore. That was the first thing he discovered. Back at the Palace of the West, noone was looking at him strange. Or at least not anymore. That was, if there were people to look at him. They were so quiet and moved as if they were invisible. Sesshomaru once told him that it was only then that they did their job right. Not to be seen or heard was normal for the staff.

But if he met someone, once in a blue moon really, they nodded to him or talked to him. If, yes, if he was the one to start the conversation. His personal staff – god, how that sounds! - was getting better at starting conversations with him, but the rest? Not so much. Another leaf out of the ‘How to behave right – Manners of the Staff’ booklet.

Now the people of this village?

Totally different matter. Thank kami they had gone to eat on their own. Kagome’s food, whatever it was, was once again fantastic. Only InuYasha had bitched. Oh no, not because it wasn’t good, see, he thought he didn’t get enough. Yup. He ate more than they all put together, including Shadow, so one could take that as they please. After Kagome had send him to the floor for a second time, he was sulking somewhere that wasn’t there.

Poor mutt. It had to hurt to hit the floor face first, even though he was half youkai. Ouch. On the other hand, he had a pretty big mouth, so yeah. Not his problem anyway.

The others had explained to Kaede what had happened, and she had been just as shocked. In contrast to the rest of the village, his presence didn’t seem to bother her. Or, if it did, she didn’t let it show. Not as openly, at least. He could sense her discomfort, but she didn’t get out of her way to illustrate it by staring at him or whatever, so he left it alone. Maybe it was just the thought of Sesshomaru so close by that made the villagers so nervous where he was concerned.

Or maybe it was that darkness that lurked at the edges of everything. The forest was quiet. Too quiet, and he was sure they all knew this too. He himself could feel it deep in his bones. His skin felt like right before a thunderstorm, the air charged with energy, ready to bolt at any moment now. There was no thunderstorm. Just silence, and this strange feeling that something was coming. Something terrible.

In the middle of the dark forest, it was even worse then in the village.

Then again, maybe he just shouldn’t be running around all alone in the dark like this. Anakin sighed. Yeah. Probably. It was just that he couldn’t stand being there any longer. Taking a deep breath, he simply walked on, his own quiet breath more or less the only sound he could make out.

Crushed merely by nature’s ever present hush.


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