Brave Hearts (Sesshomaru Fanfiction)

1. Captured

She didn't remember much, and everything hurt – her leg, her abdomen, even her neck, everything hurt and the smell of her own blood was making her sick.

There had been too many of them. 

She had managed to kill about two of them but then they'd started attacking all at once. She'd never imagined how much a wolf's bite would hurt, and how much blood it would have drawn.

First, one of them had jumped at her upper thigh, sinking its teeth in and bringing her down to the ground. That was when the rest had attacked – they hadn't even given a chance to attempt to fight back. Was that really the clan she had once been raised with? 

When she reawakened, everything had been blurry at first. She opened her eyes a bit further – the glare of the sunlight causing her to squint – and soon discovered that someone had been carrying her on their back, or at least that was what it seemed like. Almost her entire body ached. 

"Rin..." she managed to, barely, choke out the little girl's name. Even at a time like this, she couldn't help but worry about the human that had become so close to her. She had sent Rin off to pick some flowers while telling her not to go too far when she had smelled the wolves coming; she had hoped greatly that they wouldn't find her. Lord Sesshomaru and Jaken had been gone for a day – off on some quest unknown to her - , but that was not an anomaly. 

"Don't worry princess Hana; you shall soon be home – if you don't die from loss of blood first, that is." She heard a voice coming from somewhere near. It had been that of the demon that was carrying her. It was all that she could have managed to hear before everything faded to black.

∞

She soon found herself lying on the cold, hard ground. Nothing surrounded her but three stone walls and one opening shut off by numerous metal bars. From that she could easily tell where she was – imprisoned by the Southern Wolf Tribe. 

Hana lay flat on her back, unmoving and often in and out of consciousness. Weak was an understatement of what she'd been feeling at that moment. Her muscles ached, and she could still feel the agonizing pain of the numerous bites she had obtained. Suddenly, she began to feel alone and isolated.

 How could this have happened to her? 

After so much time had passed since her running away, she'd finally managed to forget all about the wolf tribe; now not only was she back, but she was being held prisoner – probably by none other than the wolf lord himself.

 In the middle of her thinking, she began to hear a familiar voice. She didn't know if it had been in her mind, or if she really was hearing it, but she did know to whom the voice had belonged. She'd heard Jaken's yelling in a very loud and displeased tone:

 "Unhand me at once, you ingrate!" She could pretty much picture him skirmishing in the hands of whoever had picked him up.

 But if she was indeed hearing Jaken, didn't that mean that Lord Sesshomaru was supposed to be with him?

She heard a soft thud, followed by what sounded like a brief cry as something was tossed next to her. It was soon followed by more of Jaken's yelling.

 "You will pay for this!"

 "Master Jaken!" Now she was hearing Rin's voice.

 So did that mean that they had captured her too? And what was Jaken doing there?

She tried making sense of it all, but all over thinking did was cause her more pain. She groaned softly followed by a pitiful whimper, as even making the slightest sound had caused her pain. She wished greatly that her healing abilities were more advanced.

 She soon felt a small hand being rested on her head, followed by a quiet and very sad voice:

 "Hana-chan, please don't die." She had only ever known once person that addressed her as Hana-chan.

 "Rin...," she choked out her name, similarly to before. "I'm...sorry."

 Though it was barely audible, she apologized – she felt as if everything was her fault, since the people holding them hostage were those of her own kind. Maybe if she had been a bit stronger, or maybe if she had never run away from home in the first place,

 These thoughts, accompanied by an overwhelming feeling of guilt, swirled about in her head.

 "...too Master Jaken," the 'you' hadn't quite come out properly.

 Jaken gave an audible 'hmph' followed by a brief moment of silence. He then spoke to her once more, this time his voice sounded closer to her – and a wee bit calmer.

 "Don't be silly."

 She smiled faintly. Jaken had finally managed to have taken some kind of a liking to her after so long. He was even worse than Lord Sesshomaru.

She suddenly remembered Lord Sesshomaru.

 "Lord...Sesshomaru,"

 "Those insolent wolf demons of yours took me away from him. I'm sure he has done away with them and is searching for us now," There was a sudden confidence in Jaken's voice.

 Rin then lay next to Hana, resting her head on the wolf demon's chest, holding her tightly but not enough to hurt her. Hana rested a comforting hand on the little girl's head, trying to hide how much pain she was in at the moment.

 "I hope so,"

 __________________________________________________________

If there was one emotion that Sesshomaru would always be certain about it was anger. Though his face did not show it in its entirety, Sesshomaru was angry.

 Jaken had been nowhere to be found, and when he'd gone to the place where he'd last left Hana and Rin, neither were they – the only thing that lay there was the corpses of two white wolves. The scent of wolf demon's blood lingered in the air. It wasn't just any wolf demon's blood, however. It was her blood.

 Sesshomaru suddenly felt a surge of rage form within him, and his demonic aura flared. They had taken her...and they had taken Rin. 

 He would slaughter them all.

 _________________________________________________________

Though it seemed that everywhere else was full of tension and other unsettling emotions, the atmosphere at the entrance to the Southern Wolf Tribe was quiet and peaceful – for a while, at least. There stood Hachiromaru and Kou, two of the wolf lord's best men, as they patiently waited the arrival of the renowned Lord of the West.

 On the surface, they both seemed calm, unafraid, but deep down they had been trembling with fear and overcome with guilt – fear of what would happen when an angered Sesshomaru came to reclaim those that they had taken hostage and guilt for hurting the wolf princess.

 Hachiromaru, with his long brown hair that was a complete contrast to his white fur pelt, was the first to speak.

 "Say, why is he doing this anyway?" He questioned with 'he' being the wolf lord that had the audacity to challenge Sesshomaru.

 "It seems that our leader wants to claim the west as his own – that and he wants to see how powerful this dog demon really is."Kou, the more mature-looking of the two, replied.

 "...and Hana-san?"

 "Capturing her was a mere coincidence. It serves her right for abandoning us and joining that bastard. Even her scent has changed – she reeked of dog demon and a hint of human too......disgusting."

 Hachiromaru sighed.

 Their conversation was soon interrupted by a rustling that came from nearby. The two demons immediately put their senses on alert.

"Who goes there? Show yourself or be hunted down and killed."

 The intruder slowly stepped out of a bunch of bushes that had been a couple yards away, a hand on his hips. It wasn't the one called Sesshomaru, they knew that much.

 The intruder...was a wolf demon.