Kurama, Sesshoumaru's General: Rewrite

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Chapter Four:

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A human arm flying in his direction snapped Kurama out of his daze, and he frowned as the appendage sprayed him with blood as he dodged it. Great. Now he smelt like human.

Kurama caught himself, shaking his head. No. He couldn't return to the mindset of Youko. He'd determined during the Demon World tournament that he would grow beyond his past and not fall back into old habits. He was a new person now, reborn in a new body provided by a mother for whom he would have sacrificed his life to save with the help of the Forlorn Hope mirror if it hadn't been for Yusuke… not thinking. Like he usually did.

Revived by the memories of his friends, he unsheathed the blade and turned towards the wolves that had determined him safe enough prey again. Before they could get close enough to bite him, he split their heads open with controlled swipes of his sword. He was going to win this tournament and return home, to his friends, family, and world, and anyone who got in his way would find themselves on the other end of his blade.

After swiftly taking down five wolves, the onslaught of enemies diminished to nothing, and all that remained was the pained cries of humans on the verge of death and those who had been injured during the fight. Half of their number had decimated, and half of the remaining soldiers were close enough to death that they would be useless in the next round.

Sighing, Kurama took the moment they were given to catch his breath. His stomach wound still hurt, which reminded him of the lizard man that had attacked him. The Youko half of him found the whole altercation fascinating, while the human part of him found it worrying. Why had the demon come down to stab him in the stomach and then toss him a sword? What had he been trying to prove? What were his intentions?

Somehow he didn't think he'd be getting his answers soon.

The large doors in the ring opened again, and this time a horde of lesser demons came charging at the humans with cackles and jeers. The already-injured humans grouped together under the onslaught, and Kurama found himself running toward them with the hopes of helping them out. He must have cut through almost twenty lesser demons before he finally reached the group of humans, and he felt a pain in his chest at the sight of nothing but blood and carnage. He hadn't been quick enough. They were all dead.

Had the lords not intended to let one human face off against a General in the first place? If Kurama were a normal human, he would have died by now.

Seeing that the remaining demons had surrounded him, he cleared all thoughts from his mind and focused on the battle ahead. Falling into a stance that he'd picked up from Hiei after countless spars, he focused utterly on killing every single one of them.

He was going to survive this god-forsaken tournament.

The sword was magnificently crafted. Balance perfect, sharp enough to slice through bone like butter, it was a blade that even Hiei would have respected. Sinking it into another demon's gut, he wondered how long he would have to fight off the trash before he would have a shot at fighting a General.

He must have killed almost thirty demons before they finally stopped falling upon him like the bugs that they were. Glancing around at the carnage around him, he tried to ignore the human body parts that were mixed in with the colourful demons' skin and blood. He was tired of fighting. He wanted a proper meal and shower.

"Well, well… there hasn't been a human to get this far in quite a while."

Kurama tensed at the familiar voice of Hikume. Turning around, he made eye contact with the demon and could feel the other fox demon's demon energy pressing against him, trying to force him into submission. If he were a normal, untrained human, he would have collapsed to his knees and probably started frothing at the mouth.

But that wasn't the case. Knowing that if he killed this General, he'd be allowed to go free, he charged forward while he still had the element of surprise.

Hikume obviously didn't expect such a quick recovery, as he had only just barely drawn his sword in time to block Kurama's attack. Mentally cursing at the missed chance, he forged forward in the hope that he could throw Hikume off and kill him.

It wasn't meant to be. A quick recovery resulted in a thick slash to the redhead's arm that sent him jumping back with a grimace. Grabbing another seed, he slipped it into his arm as he 'gripped' it in pain, keeping his grip on the blade strong and true. The seed happily lapped up the blood and grew to fill the wound, digging a short ways into his capillaries. There were two downsides to using this kind of patching method: one, the would couldn't heal with the plant in the way, and two, the plant didn't stop feeding on your blood. Sure, it stopped the wound from resulting in blood loss, but if he kept the things in him for too long he would be drained dry anyway. It was like a ticking time bomb to his death.

Deeming that survival was more important than keeping his demon energy secret any longer, he pulled a seed out from where he'd embedded it in the sleeve of his shirt and attached it to his finger. Gripping the sword with two hands, he rushed forward again, only to disappear from Hikume's vision with an inhuman burst of speed. The demon blocked Kurama's attack to his back, but he couldn't block the bush of thorns that exploded from Kurama's hands, slipped under the guard of his sword, and sank into his torso.

The stadium was silent. Kurama, to make sure his attack had killed the other demon, had the spikes that had already embedded themselves in the fox demon fork off into even more branches, tearing the demon's body apart from the inside and sending a mess of flesh and blood in every direction.

It fell to the ground with a pattering of splats, and the only other sound in the stadium was the sound of Kurama's heaving breath as he returned the tree to its seedling and slipped it under the skin of his wrist. If someone had the brains to scour his hair for seeds, he doubted they would be able to find the seeds that he had implanted in his body. Most of them were back ups for emergencies, but that didn't mean he was going to be complacent.

Gold Eyes- no, Sesshoumaru appeared before him, a blank expression on his face as he walked a few steps closer to Kurama. The redhead brought the sword up in preparation for another attack.

Gold eyes glanced between the spray of blood on the floor and Kurama, once, before Sesshoumaru inclined his head the slightest bit at him and turned around. "Follow," he ordered, walking out of the stadium.

Kurama stared at his back in puzzled surprise for a moment before pushing his tired body forward, sword remaining in his hand. He made it five steps before black crawled over his vision and blood loss caught up with him. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of soft fur against his cheek.

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Kurama let out a scream as fire burned through his stomach. Disoriented, plants on his body responded to his panic and exploded, creating a cocoon around him and pushing back the source of his pain.

"Milord!"

Kurama blinked bleary eyes and gasped as a hand punched through the cocoon of plants and wrapped itself around his neck.

"You will recall your plants," a familiar, rumbly voice murmured. "Or I will crush your neck."

Unable to even swallow nervously from the pressure, he forced the plants back into himself and gasped as his head spun again. The hand around his neck ended up holding him up as his body tried to collapse backwards again from weakness.

The hand disappeared in a flash that Kurama couldn't even follow, only to be replaced on the back of his neck, lowering him to what felt like a futon. Blinking through tired eyes, he frowned at the sight of Sesshoumaru hovering over him.

"The plant in your body is draining blood. You will remove it so that you may be healed." When Kurama just stared at him, gold eyes narrowed. "You dare disobey an order from this Sesshoumaru?"

Casting his eyes down to the little hag that stood near the foot of his bed, he took in a deep breath and recognized the pungent smell of healing herbs. So, he was telling the truth. Sending demonic energy to his stomach and arm, he forced the plant that had been feeding off his blood back into seeds. Reaching up with his right hand, he plucked the seeds out of the wounds. Reaching into his hair, uncaring of his bloody fingers, he slipped them in among the other seeds attached to the roots of his hair before letting his arm flop back to the futon in exhaustion. He really had overdone it.

He couldn't keep himself from passing out again as the little old hag started tending to his wounds.

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The sounds of birds woke Kurama. Moving to roll over on the futon, he grimaced and hissed as his stomach viciously complained. Returning to full awareness quickly, he pulled open the yukata he didn't remember changing into and frowned at the bandages around his stomach. What had happened again?

The sword at the side of his bed brought it back. Staring at the still-bloodied sword in shock, he couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised that he was still alive. Forcing himself to sit up completely, he closed the folds of the yukata and examined his surroundings. It looked like he was in a pretty nice room, the sheer size of it and the multiple, expensive paintings on the wall betraying the wealth behind its otherwise unassuming appearance.

With a groan, he pushed himself to his feet and wobbled over to the sliding rice paper door. Opening it, he frowned at the sight of a beautiful garden and pond. How had he come to be here? Where was here?

"You are awake," a voice came from his left.

Kurama jerked in surprise and turned to see Sesshoumaru sitting on the deck, looking out on to the garden. His swords rested at his side.

"Yes," Kurama said quietly, taking his time in walking forward. He eased himself down next to Sesshoumaru and closed his eyes as the wind carried various scents to his nose. The amount of nature and plants here was very peaceful. Much nicer than his term as a slave.

"You are rested, but not yet healed."

Kurama rested a hand on his still tender stomach. "Yes."

The demon turned to him with an slightly raised eyebrow. "Is that the only word you shall speak to me?"

Kurama laughed slightly. "Well, you continue to state the obvious. I am afraid it would be difficult to make a more floridly voiced affirmative."

The demon said nothing, but Kurama's sensitive ears picked up the slight hitch of his breath that was likely a suppressed laugh. Progress. "When you are well, you will report to me for orders. As Hikume's replacement, it would benefit you to rest and recover quickly. I have much that needs doing. A war is brewing."

Kurama frowned. "A war? With whom?"

"Naraku. Half-blood spawn. He continues to be a nuisance, and thus, must be destroyed along with his empire of lesser demons."

Kurama's frown deepened. "And what if I choose to escape again?"

Sesshoumaru turned his head completely to stare Kurama down with those intense golden eyes. "You would abandon the humans and demons alike that fall to this monster's games of greed? I had not thought you the coward."

Without another word, the silver-haired demon stood and took his leave. Kurama sat there for a while longer, contemplating his future. Sesshoumaru had known exactly what to say.

His conscience wouldn't let him leave.

-Toki Mirage-

So it seems most of this chapter was already done a while ago. I just finished it up because I was wondering what else of mine hasn't been updated in centuries. There ya go!

Happy reading :)