6Summary: When the dust settles what will Myouga see?
A/N: I had to rewrite this after overwriting the almost finished file, so I basically hate this more than I should, but maybe you will find it enjoyable.
I never planned to write a final battle with Naraku scenario, but here, have a post final battle with Naraku one.
TW: Major Character Death
Beta; Cstorm86
His Brother's Sword
Clouds of dust, smoke and miasma were obscuring the field, that one had been a lush forest meadow with a little bubbly stream crossing it on the far edge. Now the area was littered with smoking tree stumps. Puddled of water, blood and acid littered the ground, plowed by forces that had been unleashed during the battle. The animals inhabiting the meadow were no more filling it with movement or sound.
Myouga hopped forward, almost too afraid to break the eerie silence of the place, his eyes watering as he passed a wisp of smoke, trying to find any sign of life. As he made his way out of the forest a gust of wind blew past him, scattering the veil of dark clouds.
A wheezing sound caught his attention and as the clouds parted for a moment he could look towards the far edge of the field. He saw Naraku's inflated body, deformed and twitching in agony. His arachnid limbs were still shaking and clawing at the spot where a sacred arrow was still sizzling with reiki, purifying his flesh to nothing. The horrid noise stopped suddenly and all the tentacles and limbs started flailing and moving, falling limply on the rubble. Myouga wasted a second to just stare at the carcass, but then remembered that he had to find others.
The first person he saw was Lord Sesshomaru, slumped against a broken tree trunk. His youki was focused inwards, on healing his body, his eyes closed. Myouga was pondering if it was wise to approach him, when he heard soft whimpering from within the clouds of smoke.
As he hopped closer he saw Kirara in her huge battle form, laying on her side on the ground, miasma trailing upwards like smoke from a gash in her stomach while blood and entrails spilled on the pristine white fur. She was unconscious and the whimper wasn't coming from her.
It was the little kitsune, trying to wiggle his way out from under one of her huge paws, whining pitifully.
"Shippou," Myouga called to him softly. "It's okay, don't struggle."
"My-Myouga?" the boy lifted his tear-filled eyes to him. Under all the dirt his face was ghostly pale. The boy had refused to stay behind with Rin, wanting to help and to see this through.
"Yes. It's alright, don't worry," he said, trying to soothe the obviously panicking kit. "I'm going to find the rest now and we will take care of you."
"Miroku and Sango are over there," Shippou's voice was unnaturally high. his eyes wide and his breath as he tried to crawl from under the limp paw short. "I need to... I need..."
"Stay here, I will go check up on them," Myouga said in his most reassuring voice. He stroked Shippou's left hand, the only part of him beside his head, that was free. The boy shook under his touch. "It's going to be alright, I promise. Take a deep breath and relax."
The brave child nodded and took a few deep breaths before Myouga hopped to where he could see a shattered pieces of a boulder. Shippou couldn't see it from behind the bulk of Kirara's body, but Myouga saw the deep traces of acid that streaked down the rock.
Miroku and Sango were curled under the foot of the pile of rubble, wrapped around each other and partially shielded by Sango's giant boomerang. Myouga couldn't see much of them, but he could sense the faint reiki of the monk and could just hope that they were alive and not gravely injured. Their bodies just laid there, still under the protection of the bone weapon. He was almost upon them when a sudden noise made his blood froze.
A haunted howl tore through the silence of the battlefield.
The frightened whimper of the little kit drowned in the lament of a dog, a complaint of a lonely soul that had all taken from it.
Myouga didn't know how or when he made his way around the boulder. All he could think of was that canine song of loss, pain and sorrow, one he never wanted to hear again. There, between the shattered boulder and the smoking corpse of Naraku, Myouga saw his master.
Inuyasha was kneeling there, his head thrown back as he howled, tears flowing freely down his dirty cheeks. In his arms he held his miko, a bow still within her hand, but now useless, for the bow string was broken. She looked as if asleep, but Myouga couldn't sense her reiki. As the bone-chilling canine song came to an end in a broken whine, Inuyasha leaned forward, cradling the girl close to himself. He was silent now, but his shoulders were shaking.
Myouga slowly approached his master, watching his movements with sad eyes. He could see Inuyasha's youki swirling around him and changing directions, erratic and pulsing.
"Master Inuyasha..." he started and then gulped and took a step back when Inuyasha lifted his head with a feral growl of warning.
In his eyes gold and red warred for dominance, for control.
Was it his master's fate to defeat his foe and lose all he treasured at the same time? His pack, his mate, his mind?
"Master, where's Tessaiga? You need it," he stuttered feeling cold shivers running down his back when he saw the furry ears swiveling towards him. The sword was nowhere in sight. Did his master want to stay sane? Did he want to remember his pain and loss, the great price he paid for the victory?
Would it be merciful to let him slip into the abyss of his youkai rage?
His musings were stopped when he saw Inuyasha gently putting the body of his beloved miko on the ground. The slow, careful moves showed to him that his master was still somewhat in control, despite his looks and the rapidly swirling youki. Then the hanyou stood up and swayed on his feet. Now Myouga could finally see the stains of dark blood and dirt on his torn clothing, that was hanging from his body. He could just imagine the wounds obscured by the fabric of the fire rat. He could also see the injury on Kagome's body - a gaping hole in her chest, blood staining her white robe and pooling under her.
Limping and stumbling Inuyasha started walking. He went past Myouga, not sparing the old flea even one glance. He didn't stop by the pair under the boulder, merely whined softly at the sight of their bodies frozen in an attempt to shield one another. Another whine was torn from him when he approached Kirara. Still, all answer and acknowledgment Shippou's frantic questions got was a muffled grunt. Finally Inuyasha reached the place where his brother was waiting in silence as his youki fixed his broken body.
Myouga couldn't even imagine what power could harm the lord so much that he couldn't move, but whatever it was, he knew that the daiyoukai was going to heal soon. That is, if Inuyasha didn't kill him.
Sesshomaru opened his eyes and looked at the hanyou standing over him, but said nothing. Inuyasha kept quiet and from where he stood Myouga couldn't see his face. Finally, after a long minute, Lord Sesshomaru glanced to the side and Inuyasha went that way. Myouga wasn't sure what was happening, but let out a sigh of relief when he saw the hanyou bending down to pick a sword that had been partially buried in the dirt.
Inuyasha made his way back to where he left Kagome, moving without his usual grace and speed, but with some grim purpose. Myouga didn't dare to speak again, because his master's youki still was far from being calm. He watched the hanyou stumbling and falling to his knees beside his miko, a choked sob escaping his lips as he hovered over her.
Then he lifted the sword and for a second Myouga thought that the sun peeked from behind the clouds, because the blade shined. Then the old flea realized that it couldn't be the reflected sunlight, for the blade was silvery-blue.
"If you use it, half-breed," Lord Sesshomaru's oddly soft voice carried over the field, "and fail, this Sesshomaru will kill you."
"Appreciated," the hanyou barked. Myouga gasped at that and leaped forward.
"No, master!" he called out, but it was too late. Looking down at his fallen miko Inuyasha grabbed the katana in both hands and...
"Carry out my will... Please."
...Slashed...
A sudden wave of his youki flared in all directions pushes against the flea retainer and made him tumble to the ground. When Myouga looked up he saw his master, his late lord's youngest son he had watched over for decades, fall on top of the body of his priestess without a sound.
"Master Inuyasha!" he called out, reaching for the youth and used a hand to wipe tears from his eyes.
"Silence."
Myouga almost jumped out of his skin when he heard that cold voice. He looked away from his fallen master and saw Lord Sesshomaru standing over him.
"My lord...?" the old flea youkai blinked up at him in surprise. The daiyoukai's healing rate was fast, but when Myouga had passed him before he had seen that it would take quite a while to finish healing. Now the great lord stood proud and his youki was back to its usual level.
"Have you gone blind, flea?" Lord Sesshomaru asked and bent down to pick the sword. Myouga looked back at the blade that was pristine clean and sleek, just like it had been in Inuyasha's hand...
"...Oh."
He felt someone being close to him. A deep breath later his brain started to assign smells to faces and names. It wasn't a slow process while each face came to mind when a particular scent was recognized. No, it never worked this way. It was more akin to having a bucket of water poured over your head - all that information came to him within a blink of an eye.
Smoke and meat roasting. His friends, all close by. The scent of their blood on them, but they smelled healthy. And the scent of his own blood lingering in the air too. And the stench of Jaken, the smell of Rin, Ah-Un and his brother too close by to be considered far enough for comfort. He had to be on alert, even if his brother was less intent on killing him lately.
Groaning Inuyasha opened his eyes and sat up. He felt tired and his body was still sore, healing from the battle. As soon as he thought about the battle the memories of it flew back to his mind. Kirara being torn from the sky, Sango tumbling from her back, his brother attacking the tentacles with relentlessness of a rabid dog, Shippou distracting the vile hanyou with his multiplying skills, Sango and Miroku joining force as the evil bastard pushed them against a boulder. Himself charging in on the asshole to give an opening for Kagome's attack... Kagome... Kagome's blood, her limp body laying on the ground, the tentacle piercing her chest and still moving when he tore it out of her and shred it to pieces, just like her arrow was burning Naraku to nothing behind his back. Kagome's expressive eyes dull and unseeing.
"Kago..." he started and that was when a slender body of a certain young miko tacked him back on her spread sleeping bag. "Kagome..."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed in joy and relief. "You're awake!"
Without thinking he wrapped his arms around her, inhaling deeply the scent of her body - the stench of sweat, blood, tears and dirt mixed together over her skin, but not important, because she was alive. He whined in relief and joy, expressing how distressed he had been, how glad he was that she was with him and promising to be a better protector.
"Kagome, you're hurting him," Miroku called from somewhere nearby.
"He doesn't sound pained... Shippou, care to translate for us?" Sango asked.
"He says..." Shippou started slowly. "Nah, he's not in pain, it's just a bunch of mushy stuff."
Inuyasha froze in the middle of frantic stroking Kagome's back to make sure she was alright and growled at the trio, who were seated around a fire, that was not only the source of light in a cave that was his campsite, but also was roasting their meal - three rabbits were skewered on sticks over the flames. There were also three more people seated near the fire - Kohaku and Rin were smiling and Jaken was glaring at them all. Kirara was curled in Sango's lap and Ah-Un was dozing off while laying lazily behind the two children in Sesshomaru's care. The daiyoukai's pale form could be seen further away, close to the mouth of the cave, as if he was standing guard.
Inuyasha saw this all, but before he could say anything, Kagome moved in his grasp and looked down at him, smiling and blinking back tears.
She was alive. His intended was alive.
And, with Naraku dead and Kikyou avenged, he finally could show her affection without the feeling of guilt. He looked up at her and breathed out her name.
"Why only master Inuyasha is hurt?" Rin asked.
"Well,,," Miroku rubbed the back of his neck, obviously not having any answer.
"The wielder of Tenseiga cannot be influenced by it," came the cool voice of Lord Sesshomaru, who approached the group. Inuyasha tried to stand up to face his brother, but all he managed to do was to sit, because Kagome pulled on him to remain on the makeshift bed.
"What do you mean?" Sango asked. "Isn't it your sword that only you can use?"
"Indeed. Yet this one allowed Inuyasha one chance to try and use it. It looks like the blade deemed the half-breed worthy of its compliance. Thus you are alive and healed from the battle wounds."
"Wow," Sango looked from the legendary blade to Inuyasha and back to the sword. The daiyoukai put his hand on its hilt and then slid it to a handle of an unknown blade resting beside Tenseiga.
"I... Uh..." Inuyasha was staring at Sesshomaru's left arm as well.
"You don't remember much, is it correct, little brother?" there was a hint of amusement on Sesshomaru's face. "This one isn't surprised, since you were on the brink of transforming, due to your wounds and the loss of your miko."
"Your hand..." Inuyasha didn't jump to yell that the girl seated next to him wasn't his.
"This," Lord Sesshomaru lifted his left hand and moved his fingers. "Isn't your doing, but this Sesshomaru's. It doesn't concern you. Now, remember that, even if this one saw your worth in battle and permit you to use his sword, you are nowhere near this one's level and the next time you touch any of this one's weapons this one will end you."
Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something, but the daiyoukai already turned around and walked back to his post. The hanyou shrugged and wined when it caused some pain in his right side. Kagome looked worriedly at him, so he quickly assumed a careless expression and took a few deep sniffs - not only to smell his friends, but also the cooking meat.
And then, the group that had rid the world of the taint of Naraku started bickering about how to divide the rabbits.
Near the mouth of the cave Myouga shook his head, smiling softly, pride twinkling in his eye. He hid it well when he glanced up to the daiyoukai observing the cheerful and loud group of youkai and humans, with his little brother among them.
A/N: Thanks for reading!
