Ice and Snow, Mind and Heart

Chapter 8: Fates

"Woods... squirrel..." Jaken commented as he trailed behind Sesshomaru through the forest. "Lily... yellow..."

The little demon turned his head back towards Sesshomaru as he asked: "Your father's friend lives so deep in the forest, Lord Sesshomaru."

"Lord Sesshomaru, when do you think Yuki will come back to visit?" Rin piped up from her seat atop A-Un.

"Silence, child! Stop asking that every five minutes!" Jaken yelled, and Rin pouted: "But we haven't seen her for so long!"

"I said silence!" Jaken scolded.

Rin sulked quietly as Jaken continued to scold her while Sesshomaru tuned them out. They'd repeated this behaviour too often for his liking recently, for Rin missed the half-demoness and constantly wondered where she might be. Sesshomaru had no time for such trivia.

He was focused on his father's swords – he couldn't afford to be distracted by thoughts about that curious half-demoness. Her loyalty astounded him, particularly given where it lay, and her determination to protect her friends piqued his interest.

But now was not the time for that interest, and Sesshomaru banished such thoughts as he focused on one tree standing alone in the middle of the forest. They were close.

"Welcome..." Bokusen-Oh's voice called out to the group. "I have been waiting."

"A voice... from the sky." Rin gasped as she stared up at the canopy, while Jaken did the same as he said shakily: "I don't see anyone."

"I've been expecting you," Bokusen-Oh mused, "Sesshomaru."

"You knew that I was coming, Bokusen-Oh?" Sesshomaru questioned as he came to a halt before the ancient tree.

Jaken glanced at his master in confusion, while Bokusen-Oh answered: "You've come to speak to me about the swords."

Sesshomaru waited, staring at the tree, and Bokusen-Oh finally revealed his face in the centre of the tree trunk. Jaken and Rin gasped, but Sesshomaru remained cold as he waited for Bokusen-Oh to speak.

"Is the information you seek," Bokusen-Oh asked, "about the Tetsusaiga, your father's heirloom sword? Or..."

"A tree demon!" Rin gasped, finally breaking from her shock, while Jaken murmured uncertainly: "Lord Sesshomaru, just what is that?"

"A 2000-year-old magnolia tree." Sesshomaru answered flatly.

Jaken gasped in awe, while Bokusen-Oh added: "The sheaths of the swords, the Tetsusaiga and the Tenseiga, that belonged to Sesshomaru's father were carved from my boughs."

"The sheaths?" Jaken gasped, while Sesshomaru said impatiently: "Bokusen-Oh. You would know... the link between Inuyasha and the Tetsusaiga."

Bokusen-Oh's eyes finally flickered over to Sesshomaru, as the ancient demon repeated thoughtfully: "Inuyasha? You mean your younger brother?"

"Inuyasha's blood changed." Sesshomaru explained without deigning to reply to the other demon's prodding question. "It was when a demon bit into the Tetsusaiga."

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed as he remembered the smell as he said firmly: "It changed from a half-demon's blood scent to the smell of a demon's blood. Like mine and my father's."

"The same smell of blood?" Bokusen-Oh repeated before he chuckled.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed slightly as Bokusen-Oh murmured: "I wonder about that."

Sesshomaru stiffened, and he asked slowly: "What do you mean by that?"

Bokusen-Oh looked right at him as he explained: "Inuyasha is a half-demon, born between a demon and a human. He could never become a full-fledged demon."