The Long Road to Freedom 2: Fire on the Water

Fairytale Prelude

1498, late-Muromachi Period, Spring, Musashi

Sesshoumaru reached out one more time, searching for the thing at the edge of his senses, but there was nothing. Where had it gone? Was it still there, or simply quiet? Either way, he had other matters to tend to at the moment, and so he cast it from his thoughts.

Jaken scrambled to rejoin his lord on the impending battle field. Sesshoumaru hadn't even considered summoning the bastard half-breed to assist against the returned Panther Tribe, but the imp had, and he now returned with irksome, if not unsurprising, news.

"Forgive me, my lord, I acted on my own and sought out Lord Inuyasha. He may be a hanyou, but he is still your father's son."

"And? Where is he? Is he too cowardly to show himself; or did he refuse to come to his 'brother's' aid?"

"He is under seal, my lord."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

"Well..that is.. He lost his heart to a mortal priestess and was caught off guard."

Sesshoumaru glowered.

"That fool..."

"Yes, indeed, a complete fool."

It seemed he would not be punished for acting on his own, and for this much Jaken was relieved, but it did not lessen the danger he knew he was about to face now. He glanced over the mass of gathered demons nearby.

"My lord, if I may ask, who are they?"

Sesshoumaru almost seemed to shrug.

"Father saved them in the first battle."

"I see, then, they are our allies. How wonderful! I was concerned, but now that your honorable father's allies have come, you can go into battle with confidence!"

Sesshoumaru was less than pleased with his vassal's obvious lack of faith in his power, walking over the tiny imp in reprimand before considering again the gathered demons for the battle to come. It was a simple task to break them into platoons, recognizing de facto leaders and the various skills they all brought. Surely, this would be a simple victory. He himself was far stronger than he had been in his previous encounter with the felines, and he did, indeed, have complete confidence.

Pride seemed to truly come before the fall, however. While he was able to drive the panthers back to their territory further west, Sesshoumaru had failed in eradicating them once and for all. He'd underestimated them, been too confident, lost so many of those under his command; and while Jaken praised his master's might, Sesshoumaru turned silently on himself in livid rebuke. It was not a defeat, but neither was this a victory.

At the very least he knew which of his father's allies he could consider in the future and which he could not; Ryoyokan, for instance, was certainly one this Sesshoumaru would never find himself calling upon.

***

Rekkonji resisted the urge to pass a hand across his face as one of his field arms informed him of the disastrous outcome of Sesshoumaru's first military command. The pup was clearly not his father, not yet anyway. The loss of his forces was certainly something to berate, but in the end, he had been successful in driving off the Panthers again. In his home further north, Rekkonji hadn't even heard of their return until his vassal came to him with news of the battle's outcome.

On one hand, it pained his wartime sensibilities, all the waste, and slop; on the other hand, he was pleased it had happened. Sesshoumaru would not learn or improve if he never discovered where he was lacking. Indeed, the loss of men was unfortunate, but it was also true that perfection improvement sacrifice.