Tales of the Western Lands Chapter 8

"Why do you want another sword for? It seems to me like you're strong enough already," Sakura told Sesshomaru as the group walked on. Earlier that morning she had woken up to find herself back with Sesshomaru. She guessed he'd found her and had brought her back. She was still a bit injured but wasn't as hurt as she was.

Sesshomaru gave her a look and blinked a few times before turning away from her, walking on. "Hey! I'm talking to you, you know!" She yelled out.

"Mind your manors human. Lord Sesshomaru rarely answers anyone and likes to have me talk for him," Jaken told her.

"Ya, well, I'm getting the answer from him not you, one way or another." Sakura ran up to the demon lord, grabbing his arm, pulling on it. "Hey!"

Sesshomaru jerked his arm out of her grasp and turned around to face her as he stopped walking. "Touch me again and I'll kill you," he told her, not really meaning it. He was now just trying to push her buttons, just looking for an excuse to piss the Priestess woman off even more so than she already was at the moment. He found it amusing to keep pushing her buttons this way.

"Hey! Quit threatening me already and just answer the damn question!" Sakura yelled out at him. She reached out to slap him and Sesshomaru thinking it would be amusing decided to let her do it. There was then a loud slapping noise of flesh hitting flesh as Sakura slapped him hard across the face.

"Human wrench how dare you!" Jaken cried out. He had no idea that Sesshomaru had actually allowed this to happen. As always Jaken was clueless as to what Sesshomaru was doing. He never got what his lord was up to and was always questioning everything. Sometimes it got pretty annoying and pissed Sakura off as well. And this was one of those times.

Sakura was about to yell at Jaken when Rin spoke up, "Please Sister, don't pick a fight with Lord Sesshomaru. I don't want you to get hurt." The girl looked like she was about to start sobbing. Even she could tell when things were about to get serious and the child didn't want a huge fight to break out right in front of her. She loved her sister and Lord Sesshomaru and couldn't stand seeing the two of them fight all the time. Sometimes some of the fights Sesshomaru and Sakura got into seemed kinda pointless to Rin and really a kind of silly thing to be fighting over.

Sakura looked from her sister and then back to Sesshomaru. "Fine! But I don't care who he is. No one ignores me like that and gets away with it! It's very rude not to answer someone when they're talking to you!" She glared at Sesshomaru as she said that.

Sesshomaru sighed and actually answered her although he thought it was none of her business in the first place. It seemed to him like Sakura wasn't going to let this one slide until she got an answer from him after all.

"This sword is useless," he told her. "I need a new one."

"Why? What's wrong with it? It looks fine to me," Sakura told him, thinking Sesshomaru was being quite stubborn about the whole thing and just throwing out a perfectly good sword.

"This sword was a memento from my father when he had died, but it is useless to me. It doesn't cut anything at all," Sesshomaru told her, taking out his Tenseiga and looking it over. The sunlight shined off the blade as he looked it over, holding it in his hand. "Unlike the sword he gave to Inuyasha. He got the Tetsusaiga and I was stuck with this sword that doesn't cut."

"It doesn't cut? Are you sure? Perhaps you're not using it right," she wondered, her finger rubbing across her chin.

"Are you calling milord weak!?" Jaken demanded angrily, once again jumping the gun on something he didn't understand at all.

"No, I'm just wondering if he's using it the right way is all," says Sakura. "And you should mind your own business you know!"

"That goes double for you, human!" Jaken growled at her. The two of them both glared at each other.

Sesshomaru decided he'd have to prove it to her that the sword can't cut anything at all. He turned to Jaken. "Jaken, come here for a minute."

The toad trembled and started walking towards him afaird of what he was getting ready to do to him. "Yes, milord?" He questioned after he was standing right next to him.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Sakura cried out, seeing Sesshomaru lift up his sword and bring it down onto Jaken, cutting him with it. Her eyes widen in shock at what she just saw. She then yelled out in a panicked voice, screaming at the top of her lungs and tears started coming out of her eyes at the sight she had just witnessed right before her very eyes.

"Stop that at once Sakura. He's fine," Sesshomaru ordered her.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Sakura demanded, angrily. However she had stopped her yelling. Even her tears were starting to dry up as well. Or maybe her eyes were drying out and that was what had stopped her crying.

But as they were arguing Jaken got back up from where he'd been knocked over from where Sesshomaru had used Tenseiga on him. There wasn't a single scratch on him at all. Sakura at once quit yelling at Sesshomaru as she turned around to face Jaken. "How can you still be alive? He just cut right through you." The expression on the woman's face was one of complete and utter shock. She couldn't believe what she had just saw happen. It made no sense at all to the woman. By all logical sense Jaken should be dead right now, but he wasn't. "How is this possible?" She shook her head. Who was she to question how the world worked after all? The world was quite a mysterious place after all.

"Now, you see for yourself that this sword is rather useless to me," Sesshomaru told her. "It can not cut. It only brings the dead back to life when I cut through them destroying the minions of the underworld that only I can see. This was how I brought you and your sister back to life when the two of you had died."

"But why? If your father gave it to you, shouldn't you treasure it for his memory? And I think bringing the dead back to life is a great power," Sakura told him. She grinned a bit at that thought. She thought bringing people back from the dead was a wonderful gift and he should treasure what a special power he has after all. 'It's like playing God,' she grinned to herself from ear to ear at the thought, picturing Sesshomaru going around as an agent for justice and helping people.

"What are you grinning about?" Sesshomaru asked her.

"Oh nothing," she giggled.

"It can't destroy your enemies," he then told her as he re-seethed his sword.

"But..." Sakura started but stopped as the demon lord turned, starting to walk away. That basically meant the conversation was over for now and he didn't want to discuss it farther. "Hey! Quit walking so fast!" She cried out, grabbing Rin by the hand and running to catch up with him.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Jaken cried out, also running to catch up with Sesshomaru noticing once again he was being left behind. This was something that always happened to him. Jaken was starting to think that perhaps Sesshomaru did it on purpose after all cause he loved seeing him struggle trying to catch up to him.

"Who's going to make you this sword anyway?" Sakura asked him when she'd finally caught up to him. She didn't know of any sword smiths that made swords for demons after all. So she had no idea who Sesshomaru was going to get to forge his new sword for him.

"Kaijimbo," Sesshomaru told her. He never looked at her as he answered her, but did stop walking to talk to her though.

"Who the heck is Kaijimbo?" Sakura asked him. She'd never heard of anyone at all by that name. This was new to her.

"You don't need to know who he is. He's just a demon who forges swords made from demons. Although he may not do it. He is after all very strict about who he makes swords for and often the price he asks for is very high. If he refuses me I'll have to force him to do it," Sesshomaru explained.

"There you go again, being rough with others. Can't you for once in your life be nice to someone?" She asked him. She was starting to get fed up with Sesshomaru. Sometimes he was quiet while other times he was rude and mean. She just didn't get him at all.

Jaken answered for Sesshomaru before Sakura could stop him, "Oh, believe me he doesn't need your sympathy. I heard he's a crazy old evil man who quite enjoys the taste of human meat."

Sakura shook somewhat at that. She actually felt cold chills run up her spine at what Jaken had just told her. "Ewww gross!" She gadded, looking like she was going to throw up.

"Jaken, I want you to go find him and order him to make me my sword," Sesshomaru ordered.

"If he can be found. He moves around a lot," Jaken said. He saw the way Sesshomaru was looking at him. "Y...Yes! At once, right away milord." Jaken scrambled away, rushing off to find Kaijimbo and tell him about Sesshomaru's request to have a sword made.

"You're making him go by himself? What if something bad happens to him?" Sakura questioned Sesshomaru.

"He'll be fine, let's go," said Sesshomaru, starting to walk off.

"But..." Sakura started but seeing as he was leaving she shook her head, her and Rin following him along with Ah-Un. She had no idea how Jaken was to find them again if they were moving around and not staying in one place. But she guessed maybe he'd just sniff them out and find them. Or at least she sure hoped so.

Suddenly Rin spoke up, "I smell something sweet."

"What? Really?" Sakura asked her. The child giggled and ran ahead. "Hey! Come back here Rin!" She ran trying to catch up to her sister. Rin had always been very fast when she wanted to be. And this was a time where she was very quick on her feet. Sesshomaru followed right along with her, not really interested much in the least about sweets.

Rin had her mouth hanging wide open, drooling at something when Sakura and Sesshomaru caught up to her. "Look," she pointed out.

"What do you...Oh my gosh! A house made out of candy!" Sakura gasped, as she looked ahead at the open field of sunflowers. Right in the middle of the field was a small gingerbread house with a few trees surrounding it on either side of the house. Rin giggled and started running towards the house. "Hey Rin, wait up!" Sakura ran after her, a bit excited about the house herself.

'Something about this doesn't seem right. Why would something like this be sitting out in the middle of nowhere. Unless...it's a trap!' Sesshomaru gasped as he ran to catch up to the girls. "Stop at once!" He cried out.

Sakura turned, "Hey! Who told..."

"AH!" Rin cried out as something long and slimy that looked like a giant tongue flew out of the opened door to the house pulling her inside the opening.

"Rin!" Sakura cried out. She ran ahead trying to get to her sister when Sesshomaru pulled her back. If she wasn't careful the house would swallow her as well. She looked up at him, seeing him shaking his head no. "But...my sister." A few tears fell out of her eyes.

"It was a trap. It's a lure, to lure humans in to be eaten by the demon that lives inside," he informed her. "If you get any closer you'll just be pulled in as well." Sesshomaru pulled out his whip and ran forwards while Sakura stayed back.

"I'm not about to just sit back and watch you know!" She cried out. She stood very far away and pulled out a scared arrow. She attached it to her bow and fired at the house which was actually a demon. The house blinked at her once and morphed itself into a huge tower.

"You think that'll stop me?" Sesshomaru said. He took to the air and started flying up towards a small opening in the side of the building.

"Sesshomaru!" Sakura cried. She grabbed onto him before he could get too high up. Suddenly the opening got bigger and the two of them were both swallowed up into it. Sakura cried out in terror as she felt both her and Sesshomaru being pulled inside of the beast. "What are we going to do!?" She gripped onto the demon lord very tightly, panicked stricken. How would they ever get out of this mess?

"Stay still and go with it," he answered her. He pulled the woman up tightly into his embrace so she wouldn't get hurt. Sakura suddenly cried out in terror and pain then, as everything around her went black as she blacked out in the demon lord's embrace.