Greatest Fears

Greatest Fears

The setting sun had turned the entire forest a pale peach color as a young boy ran through the brush. Stopping to catch his breathe, his little body doubled over as he panted heavily, the sleeves of his haori touching the ground. Sesshomaru hadn't been running for long, but his growing anxieties mixed with fear of what could lerk in the nearby shadows after dark was enough to make any demon youth overly exhausted.

Straightening his small form, the white haired boy with a small crescent moon in his forehead looked around and took in his surroundings to see if anything looked familiar. It would be dark soon and the last thing he wanted was to be lost in this dark, menacing forest by himself. He hated it. His father always chided him about his fear, saying it was most unbecoming of a demon of such high status. It was a weakness. But Sesshomaru didn't care. All he wanted to do was find his way home into his mother's arms before it was too late. He may have wanted adventure this morning, but that hunger had gone stale hours ago.

The shadows slowly grew longer and darker on all the plant life around him as Sesshomaru continued to run down a blind path, hoping it would lead him to anything that looked or smelled like home. The farther he ran, the darker it got until the sun had dragged it's light down beyond the mountains, leaving the entire forest shrouded in darkness.

Letting out a small whimper, Sesshomaru stopped again to rest on a rock. This was not good. He had never been out this late alone. Of course he knew he wouldn't be in this mess if he had simply heeded his father's words and stayed within the castle grounds. But no, he had to wander beyond the castle grounds to the forest because it looked like more fun than sitting with a tutor all day. His father was surely furious with him by now, but at the moment he would rather be facing his father's anger than sitting in this cold frightening place all by himself.

A chilled breeze suddenly whisked by the young demon's face sending a similar chill down his spine as a threat jolted his senses. Rustling filled the trees to his left, soon followed by an even more menacing noise behind him in the bushes, and then again to his right as the threat circled him. His stomach flip-flopped in fear as he heard a menacing growl in front of him now, only this time accompanied by two blood red eyes glaring at him from the shadows. He could already smell the foul stench of the creature, or what could have possibly been it's last victim as the growl grew louder.

Leaping from his rock Sesshomaru landed several feet behind him, anxiously watching the glowing red eyes in front of him with his own wide eyes, preparing for it to strike. He knew he could probably try to fight it, but considering it would be his first battle, it probably wouldn't end well. He hadn't gotten to that part of his training yet. The eyes suddenly vanished and all that was left was the menacing sound of the beast slowly moving through the brush towards him.

If the kid had thought the look in the monster's eyes were frightening, it paled in comparison to not seeing it at all. Only hearing the sound of his impending doom as it approached was enough to mortify him. Overcome by his fear, Sesshomaru shut his eyes tightly and covered his head with his trembling hands. It was over now. A ferocious growl abruptly roared in his ears as the predator violently grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up in the air, earning a wailing yelp from Sesshomaru as his arms and legs flailed violently.

It was only when the roar turned into a rumbling laugh that young Sesshomaru mustered the courage to open his eyes and see what his captor was laughing at, in a rather familiar sounding voice no less.

"F-Father..?" Sesshomaru squeaked with surprise.

Holding him by the scuff of his collar was non other than his own father, the great dog general laughing uncontrollably. He had been trailing his son for a while now, but decided to wait until it got dark to announce himself to the disobedient whelp and give him a little scare.

Raising his son to eye level the great demon tried to stifle a chuckle. "So this is where you've been hiding eh? I believe I told you to stay on castle grounds. It's dangerous out here. What do you have to say for yourself?"

All Sesshomaru could do is stare at his father with the same, stunned expression. He was okay? He wasn't going to be shredded to ribbons or eaten alive by some monster?

"Well my boy?" His father continued, eying him skeptically, "you know your mother's probably worried sick about you. What's your excuse?"

The overwhelming relief of seeing his father and realization of what could have happened was almost more than Sesshomaru could bear. Letting his head hang low in shame, he tried to stifle the sobs welling inside him so his father wouldn't see how weak he was. How afraid he had been.

It wasn't until Inu No Taisho saw his son trembling with remorse that he realized he had gone too far. Giving his son a little scare to teach him a lesson was one thing, but terrifying him beyond words was unacceptable. Slaying the lesser demon a couple hours before that had masked his own scent probably hadn't helped the situation either. Letting his son rest on his chest he put one arm around him and gently patted his back to comfort him as he carried him home.

"I'm sorry son. I didn't mean to frighten you so much. I just thought you should see how dangerous it could be when you wander outside alone." his father said seriously as he weaved around some low branches.

His comment was met only by silent sobs as his son tried to regain control of himself. "you know Sesshomaru, you gave me quite a scare too."

Sesshomaru's crying paused. Father? Afraid? Impossible. His father was the most powerful being in Japan. There was nothing he COULD be afraid of. He looked up at his father, disbelief all over his little face.

his father chuckled lightly. "ho, you don't believe me? Well it's true." His father ducked to avoid more low hanging branches. They could see their castle home in the distance now. "You may fear the dark Sesshomaru, but in time, that will pass. I fear something that will never subside. Do you know what that is?"

Sesshomaru shook his head. His eyes were wide with anticipation now.

"losing my only son," His father said gently as he lightly tapped his finger on Sesshomaru's nose. "And you seem to love torturing me don't you?" he smirked as he lightly poked sesshomaru's side earning him a muffled Laugh that Sesshomaru tried to suppress.

The General chuckled and let out a weary sigh as he looked at his son. It wasn't a lie. Sesshomaru's growing curiosity of the world around him had caused him nothing but trouble. Frankly, it was beginning to take it's toll on him. The burden of the entire western lands was nothing in comparison to caring for his own son's safety. Still, he couldn't help but laugh at Sesshomaru's antics. It was like reliving his own past through his son's eyes. perhaps that was the grand reward of being a Father.

Sesshomaru had calmed down considerably after reuniting with his father, but something else was starting to puzzle him now. "Father, is fear a weakness? Just like you said?"

His father chuckled, "It can be. It's usually best to relinquish as many fears as you can so they won't be used against you. But you know, there are some fears worth fighting for, so you'll never lose them."

Sesshomaru's face scrunched in confusion. Fight for your fear? Why would he want to fight to stay afraid of the dark? That just didn't make sense. His father sensed his confusion and laughed.

"you'll understand one day Sesshomaru. In time."

Setting Sesshomaru to the ground, Inu No Taisho motioned for his son to follow. "Come on Sesshomaru, let's hurry home and tell your mother where you've been. But uh, let's keep your little 'demon encounter' to ourselves," he said with chuckle, "I don't think your mother would appreciate it."

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Several centuries later, a great demon with flowing white hair in sophisticated attire and armor sits casually on a grassy hill, overseeing the lands around him that use to belong to his father. But more importantly, he lets his musings wander several feet away to the little human girl harassing his annoying little green servant to amuse herself.

For the longest time Sesshomaru puzzled over his father's words, that some fears were worth fighting for. He had relinquished every fear he had ever encountered and never felt the need to keep one. It wasn't until he held a lifeless girl in his grasp and felt the warmth of her smile that he finally understood what his father meant.

"Hn, it seems you were right after all, Father."

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Author's Notes:

Hey Guys! Wow, it's been a while since I posted something huh? Sorry about that. I've been crazy busy and finding time to muse like I use to has been pretty hard to find. But , that's slowly starting to change now, so hopefully you'll be seeing new stuff soon, whether it's pics, stories, music, doujinshis, animation... yeah. Who knows what you'll be getting! My muse is all over the place these days. XD

Anyways, on to the story. I was finishing up my workshift where I have little to do but wait around for equipment to shut down, so I thought I'd play around with some writing. I had no idea what I would write about, but I figured I'd start rambling with something and an idea might come up. This is the result of that. A cute (probably humiliating) story about Sesshomaru's past with his father. lol I had a lot of fun with this. Especially since there's no real blueprint for Inu No Taisho's Character other than other fanfics. CX

As for the cover, I couldn't very well post this without some kind of artwork, so I whipped this up to go along with it. ^v^ I hope you like it! Enjoy.