Four Seasons (Sesshomaru Fanfiction)

Autumn: Chpt 8

8. Bokuseno

The gentle winds of autumn caressed the leaves that hung high above a brightly lit forest path. Bright green leaves bathed in the rays of the morning sun, hanging there defiantly, ignoring the call of mother nature to darken and redden and eventually fall. They swayed, rustling against one another, filling the forest of towering magnolia trees with their song. Even Sesshomaru, who walked along that brightly lit path deep in thought, listened, for a while. The thoughts plaguing him, however, were much louder than the sound of tranquility.

He had an enemy to find.

But before he could find them, the daiyokai knew he needed to understand them, and for that, he hated to admit, he needed assistance. His foe was enigmatic, mysterious. Had it been anyone else – any other kind of demon – Sesshomaru was certain, disposing of them would have been next to effortless. This one was just a bit more...complex. He'd only needed "help" in defeating an enemy a few times before. So few times that he was sure he needed only one hand to count them.

He recalled the time that foe had been his half-brother. He hadn't needed help in defeating him, no. It was understanding Inuyasha that had proven to be challenging – understanding why his father had insisted on bequeathing him the Tessaiga.

Sesshomaru concluded that the person, or demon rather, that had helped him to understand the half demon could have easily aided him in understanding the unfamiliar red headed demon that he had only encountered once.

Behind him, he could hear Jaken speaking to himself.

"This place bears a strong resemblance to somewhere I feel we've been before."

Indeed, it did. Because they had been there before.

Sesshomaru stopped walking. A lone tree, much wider and far taller than the others, stood in his path. He felt the weight of Jaken bumping into the back of his leg, but Sesshomaru's eyes were focused on the wrinkled, human-like face on the tree's trunk.

"Bokuseno."

At his call, the tree-demon's eyes slowly opened. Small, beady eyes looked across at him,

"Sesshomaru," he said, his voice echoing through the forest, his words as slow as ever, "you are earlier than I expected."

"Oh!" shouted Jaken, "it is your father's old friend!"

"I am having a difficult time believing that." Said Sesshomaru to the tree.

The last time he had come to see the demon, it had ben regarding Inuyasha and the swords of their father – the very swords that Bokuseno's branches had helped to sheath. It had been a part of his father's plan for him to come looking to the old tree for help in understanding Inuyasha. But how was it that old Bokuseno knew he would have made a second appearance? Surely, it had nothing to do with his father.

But the tree-demon did not let him in on the secret of how he knew. He merely asked,

"Tell me, do you come seeking information about someone?"

"That is correct," he replied. "tell me Bokuseno, do you know of any demon able to cause burn marks with their claws? Of a demon that can disappear into a plume of purple fog?"

In response, the tree-demon closed his eyes, seemingly deep in thought, for a few seconds.

"Hmm...A demon disappearing in purple miasma... I know nothing of. But claws that can burn...,"

For a moment, Sesshomaru thought he would not get an answer.

That was all he knew about the male demon from the palace. But then he recalled that night in the rain and the rather emotional demoness that bore resemblance to him.