Redemption Through Blood by cloud_wolfbane

The First Taste

What is left when honor is lost?

A question, I myself have pondered for well over 900 years, and I have finally found an answer. You must simply look at my life to see for yourself. Without honor a man is nothing, not even the most prideful of us can survive without honor. Though the real question here is 'When do you truly lose your honor?' I have hit the lowest of the low and yet the answer to this still alludes me. Perhaps it is something that just cannot be answered, or perhaps my 900 years of life is just not enough time to gain the wisdom needed to answer it.

I recall a young girl, no woman, who may have been able to give me this answer. It was because of her that I even began to question what honor I had left. If I were to describe her then one word instantly pops into my mind as if inanely driven there. That word is innocence, the women was inept and stupid in her own human way, but she was also the wisest creature I have ever meant in my entire immortal life. I first met her through a fight with my half brother, but I did not truly know her until years later. Years after she had earned my grudging respect. I still remember that night; it will be permanently burned into my mind.

It was the night I died...

The night of a blood red moon

A full moon shined in the distance seemingly brighter than ever and giving off a rather ominous glow over the ivory walls of the western palace. The guards marched across the ramparts in silence, their weapons held at the ready for any intruder bold enough to attack the castle of the most powerful taiyoukai in existence. Nothing ever escaped their notice as they kept their sharp ears at constant alert and their even sharper noses catching whatever their eyes could not. Though this night the air was still and nothing more than a few bothersome owls could be heard in the distance. One could say it was almost too quite, as if the night itself was holding its breath, waiting. Waiting for something to happen under the cover of the lunar eclipse.

One creature of the night did manage to slip past the guards, a creature that carried no scent and made no noise. This creature was cloaked in all black; the only visible color on its body was a pair of glowing red eyes. It leapt and climbed its way up to the top of the castle with the skillfulness of a cat. The creature should have stood out on the ivory walls but the shadows seemed to swallow the ebony form in darkness.

The creature never moved its eyes away from its target, the highest room in the castle, the lord's chamber. "Ssssssoon my lord, sssssoon you will belong to usssssssss," the creature hissed before jumping into the window of the lord's room.

The room was eloquently done and well furnished, but it was not overly done like most arrogant lords. In the middle of the room was large tatami mat covered in rich red silks. The only thing that could be seen with in the lump of silk was a flash of white and silver.

The red-eyed creature approached the mass of silver with caution, knowing very well that the lord was only lightly sleeping after a week of not doing so. Its muscles tensed rhythmically as it waited, watching for the perfect time to pounce. When it came the creature leapt forward with the same feline grace it had shown before. It was quick to find its mark and sink long dagger like fangs into the jugular, efficiently paralyzing the normally undefeatable lord.

Gold orbs sprang open as soon as the lord had felt the creature pounce, but it was too late. He had made a fatal mistake and was now paying for it with his life. The lord tried to move and push the creature away from his lifeblood, but there seemed to be some sort of spell holding his limbs in place and all he managed to do was let out a feral growl into the night.

The creature above him chuckled against his neck before moving away and to the window. "You are ssssstrong wessstern lord, but no more," the creature hissed once more, making gender utterly impossible to tell. The red-eyed monster disappeared into the shadows of the night, leaving behind a lone western lord lying in a pool of his own blood, and wrapped in silk sheets that ominously matched the blood of the one they were so snuggly wrapped around. It was like this, not in a wondrous battlefield, that the western lord died. It was like this that the taiyoukai Sesshomaru disappeared from the world of the light and became a creature of darkness, a vampire.

NEXT PAGE OF SESSHOMARU`S JOURNAL

Long after my apparent 'death' it came to my attention that the assassin's true purpose was actually to kill me not turn me. You see for someone bitten by vampire only true virgins can be turned by the bite. I suppose no one guessed the GREAT western lord would still be so inexperienced, I guess I do have something to thank my father for. After my mother was shamelessly replaced by a human I decided to just cut a sex life out of my mind entirely. About a year after my turning I broke my celibacy completely, I just had no will to fight after that. I had gone from the greatest of the great to nothing more then a blood-sucking parasite. Let us just say that I no longer cared.

Though the strangest thing did happen after my turning. After I had awoken from my death induced trance a vicious hunger, not unlike that of my demonic beast, called to me and I searched for a way to quench it.

I ran across some humans sleeping in a clearing and sated my hunger on one of them, but my feeding was interrupted and whatever lucky bastard I had chosen for my first meal survived with only minor blood loss, damned wench. I was later to learn that that first taste had been my savior from the darkness. There was something in that human's blood that made by entire body tingle for energy and wish for more.

It was because of this first taste that I ever learned...

Learned to live.

Slightly startled eyes snapped open as Sesshomaru quickly rose up to a sitting position, his chest heaving for breath. He let out a low growl when the scent of blood, his blood, filled his senses. With a quick shove and a push Sesshomaru rose to his feet and walked over to a large mirror near his window. The mirror revealed what it always did, a lean and well toned chest, platinum silver hair, and ivory skin. The only large difference in the image was the now blood red eyes that stared back at him and a small puncture wound resting on the right side of his neck. The wound was very small and should have healed by now but it had not and the glistening red liquid that adorned the sides of the little teeth marks seemed to be mocking him.

Then it hit him, a pain in his abdomen that made the normally proud lord double over in pain. A low feral growl escaped his clenched jaw before Sesshomaru stood and leapt out the window. He had no real idea where he was going, only instinct, pure and untamed, was leading him.

The pain was not just some ordinary pain it was a demand, a demand for blood. His legs pumped forward as he quickened his pace to reach the quarry before him. A sweet scent had been tickling his senses ever since Sesshomaru had left the castle. It was faint and barely recognizable but damn did it smell good and he wanted, no needed, to find its source.

Sesshomaru let his mask slip for the first time in years as he entered a small clearing surrounded by a groove of pine trees. He licked his lips in excitement and barely contained bloodlust and he approached the wonderful scent. Before him rested three humans and one small demon child. Closest to the fire and cuddled against the demon child was his long awaited feast.

Sesshomaru did not even bother to look at his meal; only saw a flash of black before he leaned down toward the little human's neck. Somewhere in his mind Sesshomaru realized what he was doing was very wrong and that letting his instinct control him like that was a sign of weakness, but this instinct to feed seemed somehow new and unused as he sank his newly elongated fangs into the tanned female's neck.

He noticed that her breathing quickened as soon as he did so and he also saw her eyes flash open, the blue orbs shrouded in fear and confusion. 'She is under the same spell I was,' Sesshomaru thought faintly as he lapped up the, o so sweet, blood. It was like ambrosia from the heavens and he wanted it all, but a quickly approaching scent made him pull away from the wonderful feast.

The scent of his younger half brother and a neko demon where coming dangerously close and he knew he had to leave. Sesshomaru may have been controlled by this new hunger at the moment, but his prideful subconscious knew something that Sesshomaru would not admit to till some time later. He had been significantly weakened by the turning and a run in with his brother would only help to further beat his already wounded pride.

'The fates truly do love irony,' Sesshomaru thought as he disappeared into the surrounding forest. He used to always tease his brother about his tainted blood and weak human emotions, but now the great Sesshomaru had sunk even lower then his low half-breed brother, he had been turned into a parasite, a useless blood-sucking bug. Though one thing he did not notice as he left the clearing was a pair of bright blue eyes following his retreat and his own blood red orbs flickering back to their normal honeyed gold.

IN THE CLEARING>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kagome watched as a flash of silver and white disappear into the forest, leaving her miko senses tingling with the powerful, and seemingly familiar, demonic aura the person had taken with them. She was curious about what he had been doing for besides the small mark on her neck he had not tried to kill her or try to steal the Shikon Jewel shards that rested around her neck.

When Kagome sensed Inuyasha and Kirara returning from their nightly training she realized why the demon had taken off so swiftly. 'So he was trying to do something, but what?' Kagome let the question roll around in her mind as she rested a small hand over the mark on her collarbone. 'O well no reason to warn Inuyasha, he didn't do anything more then take a few drops of blood, no reason to start a fight' she decided before falling back into her sleeping bag and snuggling in for a comfortable sleep. Dreams of the mysterious white cloaked figure and beautiful topaz eyes dancing through her subconscious.

The next day started as it normally did a rude awakening from Inuyasha, a few yelled 'sit' commands, Kagome making breakfast, another fight, more 'sitting', and then the continuation of the search for the shards. The Inu-tachi where heading back towards Kaede`s village where Kagome had sensed a shard heading and soon the group came upon the jewel empowered snake demon that was quickly dispatched with a well aimed throw of Sango`s demon-bone boomerang and one of Miroku`s ofudas.

Kagome quickly picked up on Inuyasha`s good mood as she retrieved and purified the darken Shikon shard and used it to her advantage. "Hey Inuyasha how about I go home for a little while sense we are so close to the well?"

Inuyasha`s good mood disappeared just as quickly as a scowl appeared on his face," No wench, you think just because we got one shard you can run off and head home. Naraku has over half the jewel and we only have 5 shards."

Kagome practically growled as she yelled out, "SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, How DARE you CALL ME WENCH!' With that proclamation of rage Kagome marched off into the forest and headed to the Bone Eaters Well. "Jerk, how dare he, I have a name, no need to yell at me," Kagome mumbled under breath as she hoped up onto the lid of the well and jumped inside.

The purplish blue light that made up the magic of the well, flashed briefly before Kagome found herself at the bottom of the well and the wooden roof of a shrine hanging above.

"Aww finally I can sleep on my own bed instead of a sleeping bag in the woods and I can finally get a nice hot relaxing bath," Kagome remarked with a content sigh as she hefted the large yellow backpack onto her shoulder and began the ascent up the ladder her family had placed in the well. Kagome smiled softly as she took in the gentle musky smell of the well house before throwing open the door and stepping into modern day Tokyo's well polluted air. A fit of sneezes raked Kagome`s body before she got control her stupid allergies and continued on to her home which laid nearby on the shrine grounds. She cast an admiring glance at a large, no gigantic, tree in the shrine yard before heading inside her home.

"OKAA-SAN, JI-CHAN, OTOUTO-SAN I`M HOME!" Kagome called out as she walked into the kitchen, looking around for her family. As she searched, Kagome cast a look at the calendar and saw it was Saturday. "Great I have school tomorrow," Kagome`s groaned even though she knew that was the whole purpose for returning. 'Still can't make me enjoy it,' her thoughts grumbled.

A sudden shriek from upstairs broke Kagome from her thoughts as yell resounded through the house, "KAGOME YOU`RE HOME!" With that and a flash of black and red, Kagome was suddenly assaulted by the body of her baby brother hugging her thoroughly. Two seconds later and she was joined by her mother.

Kagome let out a cheerful laugh before gasping out," Kaa-san where is Ji-chan?"

"I'm afraid he is in his room dear, your grandfather broke his leg in a fall from the shrine steps," her mother answered softly her once jubilant facade falling to a more somber one.

Kagome burst out with questions as she asked," WHAT? Is he ok? How did he fall down the stairs? Who is going to look after the shrine? Is he ok?"

Kagome`s mother made a placating gesture as she replied," Yes he is perfectly fine just laid up for a little while. Which is why I need you to tell Inuyasha to give you some time to stay here and take care of the shrine for Ji-chan?"

Kagome nodded furiously before replying," Of course I will, I mean with you working and all I have to, and I'm not going to let Souta try to look after the shrine." She let out a small smile when Souta scowled at this before once more speaking up," Mother, I'm going to go lie down for bed since it is so late, then I will sweep up the shrine after coming home from school tomorrow alright?"

"Of course dear, sleep well."

Kagome sighed gratefully as she dropped her over weight backpack on the floor of her room before clasping into the fluffiness that was her comforter. The room was done in soft shades of blues and pinks that helped to greatly diminish the ever growling migraine Kagome had been getting. "Arg, Inuyasha will be mad when I tell him," she mumbled before slipping off into an exhausted sleep.

KAGOME`S DREAM >>>>>>>>>>>

Everything was black and eerily quite, only what seemed to be a blood red moon loomed in the distance of the shadowy emptiness that was her dream. The place seemed to carry about it a sign of silence that clearly said 'be quite.'

As Kagome searched around the empty world something fell from above and encased her in its crimson softness. Some type of blood red fabric had fallen from above and seemed to be intent on wrapping Kagome up in the silken folds. "DRINK LITTLE ONE," a voice boomed throughout the darkness as the blanket began to liquefy and drench her gallons of metallic smelling blood.

Kagome wasn't quite sure what to do but her voice seemed to know as she answered out in a resilient," NO NEVER." The blood suddenly turned a brilliant shade of silver at this outburst and it made her look down into the suddenly wondrous waters. Staring back at her instead of her own eyes was a pair of glaring dark red eyes flecked with gold.

"What the," Kagome gasped as she stumbled backwards and suddenly ran into something that vaguely felt like a brick wall. She quickly turned to face whatever was behind her, but all she caught was a flash of silver before white light took over her vision.

The last thing she heard before leaving the world completely was a deep commanding voice that said," Come to me little one or you will never walk in the light again. Your blood is mine now, and mine is yours."

END OF DREAM >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kagome twisted and turned in her sleep, sweat drenching her brow as she contorted and groaned in her restless sleep. The small pale mark on her neck pulsed painfully and he stomach lurched for something that Kagome just could not give it. The pulsating mark turned an eerie shade of red as she screamed out in her sleep and bolted up in the bed. Her eyes took on the same reddish hue before turning back to their beautiful midnight blue.

No one seemed to have awoken to her scream as she searched her room in confusion. Everything was as it normally was, but something was making the small hairs at the back of her neck stand on end and send a chill through her body." What was that about?" Kagome asked herself softly before snuggling back into bed and holding her pillow to her body like some sort of dream shield. It took some time, nearly an hour, for Kagome to fall back into a fitful sleep but the memories of the dream still danced in the recesses of her unconscious mind as well as a pair of red demonic eyes that danced across her mind's eye.

THE NEXT DAY >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*BEE..........CRASH*

Kagome let out a rather vicious snarl as she got out of her bed and looked at the shattered remains of her alarm clock on the floor. Her heavy lidded eye barely acknowledged the broken clock before she went into her bathroom and quickly jumped into the awaiting waters of the shower.

About thirty minutes or so later Kagome walked out of the bathroom dressed in a short forest green shirt and school uniform style sailor shirt with a red ribbon. "Oops," she squeaked with a small blush as Kagome laid eyes on the now annihilated alarm. With and exasperated sigh and a run of her hand through ebony tresses, Kagome walked down stairs and grabbed a granola bar from the kitchen before heading off for school.

The streets seemed abnormally calm compared to a normally school day in Tokyo, but Kagome was in no mood to complain. She admired the other shrine buildings and older buildings that littered the street she lived on before she continued on her way to school. Though quick flashes of blood red and gold flecked eyes kept dancing in her vision. It was only thanks to the calls of her friends that Kagome forgot about the strange dream she had experienced the night before.

Eri and Yui greeted her with smiles as they filled in what had happened while she had been... sick. They told her that Hojo was still just as desperate as ever to get her to go out with him and that math was just as hard as ever. It also seemed that now everyone had boyfriends of their own except for herself.

Her friends also mentioned that the history teacher had been replaced by a younger male whom had just come today. Kagome was secretly dreading that first class as it was Japanese history and they just happened to be doing the Feudal Era. Ironically, it seemed Kagome`s own travels in that era were not quite the exact details of what was found her history book. As she headed down the bleach washed hallways down to her classroom, a sudden feeling of foreboding struck her very core but Kagome simply threw it off as dread for the damned class.

'Damned', ha, had she actually thought that before entering the classroom.

Stupid Fates and their irony

As Kagome entered the room her new teacher's deep baritone voice ordered her to take a seat, she glanced a look at the new substitute before her books fell to a pill in the floor. Papers scattered and pencils disappeared under desks as Kagome`s jaw fell slack. "No it couldn't be, how could he, how could he be here?" Here mind shot off as she began to fall backwards into the darkness. Her eyes flashed red for a moment as she caught the strangest smell of sage before she passed out into a heap on the floor.

Yeah, those 'damned' fates...

Fickle little bastards aren't they