Showdown! Arctic Alliances part 2

Ichi charged at him without another thought or word and at breakneck speed. While Sesshomaru was able to dodge him effortlessly, Jaken was not and Ichi took advantage of that fact by picking the imp up and punching him at a distance into a tree. Unprepared, Jaken was only able to yelp from the sudden assault but still held on to his Nintojo staff. His back slamming against a tree produced a hard enough impact that tilted the proud pine by pulling its roots from the ground. Ichi then conjured two enlarged snowflake shuriken from his claws and slashed at Sesshomaru, who blocked him with Tenseiga before returning his attack furiously with a parry of slashes, and defended himself against the western lord's yoki-based attacks. When Sesshomaru released divine power from his sword, Ichi covered himself in a cloak of darkness and let his barrier devour the energy. The protective barrier formed a wall, crumbled like it was made from older brick, and unleashed hellfire that stunned Sesshomaru enough for Ichi to burst through the barrier and cut at him in succession before kicking him into a tree. Though the tree he collided with didn't lean, it did bend and sway like a gust of wind was blowing at it. This half-breed was beyond his own natural limit of power! Sesshomaru concluded that he couldn't fight him as though he were a half-breed. He had to fight him as though he were a berserk demon. While his fighting style was wilder, Ichi was clever in his responses against attack and the sky seemed to be able to absorb divine energy; meaning, Tenseiga might not be as effective as he thought. He was too hasty in his assumption, it seemed.

"You're awfully slow for the son of a war general," Ichi taunted, raising an eyebrow. "Is all that silent musing you're doing an attempt to somehow defend yourself better?"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at that insult but didn't say a word. He pushed himself off the tree and raised his sword in defense. If Naraku could be defeated by being too arrogant, then so can these creatures. He just had to be more careful. No demon from the pits of hell was immune to divine power. Charging at Ichi, Sesshomaru clashed his blade against the snowflake shuriken and was able to keep up with the berserk half-breed more efficiently. Ichi's eyes glowed a bit more intensely before he dashed out of the stalemate and redirected Sesshomaru's sword using the arc of snowflake shuriken to guide Tenseiga to the ground. Disarmed, Ichi pivoted sharply and elbowed Sesshomaru a few feet away. The western lord reciprocated the attack by producing his poison whip to strike Ichi three times. With the half-breed poisoned and stunned, he was able to use his claws in a vicious double swipe before taking Ichi by his fur and slamming him down to the ground. Though he was strongest at one-on-one combat with Ichi, Sesshomaru found he was being taken by surprise too often. Right as he was about to punch Ichi into the ground, Ichi showed his natural agility and acrobatically recovered fast enough to unlock a burst of speed that left only snow flurries behind him and gave him ample time to slash at Sesshomaru two more times. The western lord missed Ichi by a hair in his retaliation before the half-breed burst into a snow flurry again and reappeared with his arms folded and a smugness in his toothy grin.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ichi scoffed, smirking. "You've no clue how to fight a Netherworld demon, do you?"

Again, Sesshomaru remained quiet but readied himself. No more thinking. No more thinking...

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Ichi responded, clicking his tongue. "That simply won't do. How do you intend to defeat the doctor if you don't know how to defeat me? Did you not understand me before? She knows hell. Knows how to survive in it. When was the last time you entered hell's domain, son of the Great General? A moment or two? You have far too much learning to do."

"If you know I've been in the Netherlands, then you should know I defeated the Master of Hell. You are nothing by comparison, and you will be nothing when you are cut down," Sesshomaru stated, unsheathing Tokijin and lowering his sword to a different defensive stance. He would have to get Tenseiga back in a moment.

Ichi chuckled with that familiar girth again and said, "How cute! Your confidence is actually quite winsome. Unfortunately, there is no such title in hell. That particular individual, if we're referring to the same creature, was just a gatekeeper, so your claims of defeating him are wasted spaces in an unstructured sentence, I'm afraid. Yes, you can defeat many an enemy with your might in the living world including myself. There's no denying this. You were born from the loins and womb of powerfully matched demons, and you were built to achieve such greatness, but the Netherworld would have been too much even for your father. Hell isn't just a pit of fire for the wicked to burn. It is a unified conglomerate of unique terrain and territories for the titans. The ultimate power that you seek to claim can only come from a lord or titan in hell. You haven't gone down far enough with either of your swords to know what it takes to hold a title such as master. The sky has seen the power of these creatures. Their hunt for blood is insatiable. You would die between the first and second levels."

"I suppose you're going to tell me that you can survive all of the levels, correct?" Sesshomaru challenged, summoning more yoki power.

"No," Ichi replied, making Sesshomaru furrow his brow. "I wouldn't last passed the first level as I am now. Only the sky has been to the lower parts and even it can't travel too deep."

"And I suppose your object of infatuation hasn't travelled as deeply as your sky," Sesshomaru said, narrowing his eyes. "You said the foolish witch was trapped in the Netherlands for a while."

"That is a question for the doctor herself," Ichi responded with a long sigh, readying his next attack. "The sky had only seen her in the second level while she was trying to escape to the first. It doesn't know how far down she had been. But, since you seem fixated on fighting me, I suppose I'll let you have at me for the rest of the hour. Retrieve your other sword, brother. The one you're replacing it with will only feed me."

"Lord Sesshomaru," Jaken whispered, finally coming to after his hit.

Very well. The sky wants to toy with him? So be it. Sheathing Tokijin, Sesshomaru called out to another source of power. He wasn't frustrated or angry at the berserk half-breed, but he was getting annoyed by the sky taunting him through Ichi as though he was the weaker link. Returning Tokijin to its home, Sesshomaru revealed Bakusaiga and looked directly into the sky with a deathly glare.

"Release this half-demon and face me, coward," Sesshomaru commanded.

"Are you sure?" Ichi asked, grinning toothily. When Sesshomaru didn't respond, Ichi stood straight and walked away from him. He only spoke over his shoulder to say, "As you wish, son of the Great General. Good luck."

Jaken returned to Sesshomaru's side in slow steps before hearing rumbling. He looked up and his mouth parted at the sight. The sky was creeping down like a hand was descending on the earth to steady a fallen man. Surrounded by darkness and snow, wintry winds whipped about and tossed Sesshomaru and Jaken's clothes around. Once close to the two demons, the sky then became ten smaller tornadoes until the tips of each one touched the earth and became solid drills. The pair were reminded of when they first encountered the wolf. So, the sky must have been covering the wolf like a shield before. Translucent eyes and a wide, fanged smile then appeared. Soon, the creature was in full form before the western lord and his servant as a towering beast made from shadow. Its webbed feet and hands were connected through brick and mortar. Tissue folds like wings were connecting its arms to its sides. The sky demon had a more muscular body than anything. Though its limbs were the longest parts of it, its shoulders and chest were broad and its core muscles tight. Its eyes started to glow and a soft, still voice sounded.

"What do you seek from me, little one?" the demon asked, making Sesshomaru grit his teeth. "You are smaller than me in that form. That's why you're little one. Now, what do you want?"

"To kill you... for harming Jaken," Sesshomaru replied with poison in his tone.

'Lord Sesshomaru! You're defending me?' Jaken thought, tears swelling with pride. 'And with such bold ferocity?'

"The only one allowed to do that is me," Sesshomaru continued, releasing the tension in his jaw.

"Do you wish for me to heal him then?" the sky asked, looking at Jaken. He only had a minor scratch on his back.

"I will not repeat my answer," Sesshomaru replied, honing his power in Bakusaiga.

"You can try to kill me, but that weapon is useless," the sky said, returning his sight to Sesshomaru. "It smells good, though. An excellent choice of meal!"

"You're saying you eat all energies from swords?" Jaken questioned, trying to understand the situation.

"Of the living world, yes," the sky answered honestly. "Unfortunately, this is not so for weapons of the Netherworld. Hence the need to feed off other things and to keep away from guardians of the other territories."

The sky demon turned to his left and reached out for the discarded Tenseiga. If one could only imagine the level of shock that both Sesshomaru and Jaken had when the creature picked up the blade without a problem and held it out to Sesshomaru to return it, one would have thought the creature ate a village whole on the opposite side of the world. Despite being such a menacing thing, the sky creature was mostly polite and honest - two traits that seldom belong to a demon.

"You've a beautiful collection of swords, though, son of the Great General," the sky creature complimented. "Apologies for not knowing your names. I've no ill will towards you. I just never knew much about the Great General or his family. I was preoccupied with my own plans."

"You only have an ill will for the doctor?" Sesshomaru questioned.

The creature chuckled and then answered, "Part of the beauty of being a healer is the ability to cure those who are ill. Think of my intentions as seeking a cure. I have a willingness to seek help for my illness. No ill will."

"A cure for what exactly?" Jaken asked, narrowing his eyes at the awful joke.

"Nothing of interest to you as you said before," the sky creature answered. "You didn't want to know when I asked, so I will respect your decision. I must warn you, though. I will not be staying here much longer. You have another five to ten minutes before I depart."

"Why so little time?" Jaken asked, gripping his Nintojo to attack.

"The blood pacts will be void soon," the sky demon replied simply with a roll of his shoulders to imply a shrug. "By then, the doctor will be just weak enough to hear my proposal."

"What proposal, you insolent thing?" Jaken demanded, tired of the sky creature and its vagueness.

"You said it didn't matter to you," the sky creature replied. "And it won't as long as she accepts."

"You misunderstood me then. No one else is allowed to fight her until - "

"Aht, aht, aht," the sky creature said, turning around to see the moon rising. "Time's up."

In the distance, a pillar of light was shot to the sky and the scent of blood rushed to everyone's senses. The doctor was bleeding... and it smelled like she lost a lot...

"Doctor?"

Drip. Drip. Whimper. She was startled by her own voice as she gasped and touched her throat. Eyes widening, she looked down at her paws but was met with the sight of her hands. In one of them was Lady Meioshi's golden Chen-bi. The offering that started the blood pact. She looked around to see she was no longer behind bars, but she was trapped behind scrolls with numerous grotesque and bloody faces. No longer safe behind the arctic sword, she was forced to only carry Chen-bi in her hands. Looking down at the small sun, she cried in her hands and only wanted to return to the doctor's warm embrace. She wanted to be on her boat again. She wanted to stay in her blankets and smell the flower oil in her hair. She wanted to hold the doctor's silver spear again and fight back, but she didn't know how without the sword or the spear. She didn't even have a shield anymore. Once a tear dropped onto Chen-bi, the trinket activated and produced a barrier shoved the scrolls further away from her and gave her peace. Gasping at the might of Chen-bi, she clung to the little sun until her palms hurt and walked forward.

"Doctor," she said in a small voice. "Please. Help me!"

As though Chen-bi was Meioshi herself, it radiated with warmth and formed a stronger barrier. To the naked eye, there was a little girl running forward with a shield plucked from the sun.