Dreams of a Demon by Myuki-chan

Fear and Dreams Collide

Chapter 1 – Fear and Dreams Collide

The great Taiyoukai of the Western Lands was sleeping.

He rarely did so, for several reasons: one, his stamina allowed him to go without sleep for long periods of time; two, he didn't really take pleasure in the idea of being in a vulnerable state regardless of the abilities of his heightened demon senses; and three... the dreams. If someone were to name the feeling that was roused in him due to these dreams, it would be fear. Sesshoumaru thought otherwise. Fear meant weakness and Sesshoumaru did not consider himself a weakling. He felt that this so called 'fear' was actually a severe loathing at being unnecessarily inconvenienced; the inconvenience being a human body.

The dreams were the newest addition to his list of reasons for not sleeping. A few years ago his rare moments of slumber were peaceful and uninterrupted but one evening when he closed his eyes, his mind became plagued with dreams that would not cease until he awoke more exhausted than if he had not slept at all. At first he brushed the incident aside, certain it would not happen again, but when it did happen again, the same dreams every time he ever slept, it began to worry Sesshoumaru ever so slightly. This was not something that should be happening. Eventually, he stopped trying to find a way to rid his mind of those dreams, reluctantly accepting, but accepting nonetheless, that he could not change the circumstances and would be forced to endure them for however long they continued to return.

This night of slumber would be no different that the others... or so he thought. The moment Sesshoumaru's eyes closed, his mind and subconscious body were thrown into the dream world that by now he was all too familiar with. The dog demon examined his surroundings with little interest, the same dark trees and bushes silhouetted against the same sapphire night sky.

Stuck in this pathetic human body once again...

He took a step towards the pond in front of him, expecting to stare down at human characteristics like he always did. What Sesshoumaru did see managed to break his usual calm composure as an expression of shock flashed across his features.

It was simply him. Youkai markings still graced his forehead and cheeks, his hair was still a waterfall of silver flowing down his back, and his eyes were still two golden glowing orbs.

He had grown so accustomed to seeing human features every time he looked into the pond that seeing his unchanged self was entirely unexpected. Sesshoumaru immediately glanced about suspiciously, eyes narrowed, wondering what else would be different this time. Smoothing his features back to the usual emotionless mask, he started to walk in the direction he typically travelled in the dream as if nothing had changed.

Nothing else seemed to have changed as he continued walking; finally reaching the clearing that was always present at the end of his dream. Sesshoumaru paused at the edge of the treeless area, remembering all too clearly what occurred here every other time.

Fangs. Blood. Pain. Fear.

That worthless human body reacted to the attacks with waves of fear for there was no way for him to defend himself. He always managed to awaken moments before the demon moved to close its jaws around his neck to end his life.

But this time he would have no need to fear. If anything, he would make that demon pay for those 3 years of sleepless nights, melting it into oblivion. The thought made Sesshoumaru smile slightly inwardly.

The dog demon stepped into the clearing, listening to his surroundings, expecting to hear the sounds of a large youkai racing towards him intending to slay him. Instead, he heard laughter.

Female laughter.

Sesshoumaru's golden eyes darted about searching for the source of mockery but the laughter seemed to come from all around him. He calmly examined the shadowy trees, his expression remaining stony and cold.

"My dear Sesshoumaru... you really have no idea what you've gotten yourself into, have you?"

Although the reprimanding tone irked his inner composure, Sesshoumaru let nothing show on his face, simply standing in the center of the clearing, refusing to allow this invisible adversary the pleasure of making him speak.

The laughter came again, irritating him yet at the same time seemed to blanket over his senses like a heavy fog.

"Aww... you refuse to let me hear you talk? Well, that's too bad. I think I can make you..."

Sesshoumaru blinked. Was this female reading his mind?

"I wouldn't necessarily call it 'reading'. More like... hearing it loud and clear as if you were shouting it to my face."

He could practically hear the grin plastered all through the sentence.

Where is this bitch?

"My, my, what language Sesshoumaru. That is no way to refer to a lady."

"Cease your incessant intrusion!"

If Sesshoumaru had been annoyed a moment ago, it was nothing compared to the flare of rage that burned inside him when the laughter returned, clearly delighted at having made him talk.

This female was truly infuriating him, causing the end of his tail to twitch back and forth. More so than his worthless half-brother Inuyasha could ever make him, for this wench somehow had access to his thoughts and Sesshoumaru did not want anyone rifling through them without his consent.

"Oh my, am I irritating you Sesshoumaru? Your tail is twitching... a definite sign when you're bothered." The voice clicked her tongue. "You should really learn to keep your temper. It's a wonder how everyone seems to believe that you're some cold, emotionless bastard when clearly you're a petulant bastard. They are right about you being a bastard though."

A slender silver eyebrow rose above a slit-pupil golden orb. Since there was no point in remaining silent anymore, Sesshoumaru felt that he might as well figure out what was going on.

"Why such hostility towards me, woman?" He asked coolly, regaining his composure.

The voice sniffed. "Of course you don't remember me. I am far too below you for you to have any reason to commit my existence to your memory." Sarcasm dripped heavily from her words as the voice spoke. Before Sesshoumaru could say another word, the voice continued.

"This brings us to why you're here. To put it simply, I despise you. I hate how you treated me and want you to suffer for it. Suffer then perish in the worst way possible." The last sentence was practically snarled, but the voice seemed to gain control over her emotions as she continued, "So... naturally I decided to take a peek into your mind in order to discover what you feared. Of course, it did take me quite some time to crack through your barriers... I do commend you for that, Sesshoumaru. I have never seen such a maze of locked thoughts... but I still got past them nonetheless."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes slightly, a barely visible furrow marring his pale brow. His fears? He had no fears... did he?

"Oh of course you do, dear. As much as you might hate to hear it, everyone does... even you. Now your greatest fear... was quite interesting, allowing me to have great pleasure manipulating your dreams."

He froze. His dreams.

"Yes, your dreams. That was my doing. Did you like them? Of course... your fear didn't exactly include a massive demon coming to rip you limb from limb but I thought it would be more fun that way. You refuse to accept that you fear being trapped in a human body. You fear a human life, human abilities... why, you would be even worse off than your half sibling. But I didn't come here to explain all this and let you go free as a bird. I'm here because you no longer fear your dreams because after all, they're just dreams... and that is exactly the problem. After all, if my dreams no longer bother you, I won't have anything to entertain me and you won't be suffering anymore."

"I am not a source of amusement, wench." Sesshoumaru replied frigidly, cracking his knuckles as he glanced around the clearing again.

"Well you could have fooled me. I'm more amused right now than I've been in ages! But now and later are completely different things. So... I've decided to change my little form of torture on you. Instead of human dreams plaguing you..."

Sesshoumaru uncharacteristically started as he no longer felt the familiar weight of his tail upon his shoulder. He noticed that his surroundings grew darker and less clear as well as the sounds around him becoming muffled. Unfortunately, the female voice remained as clear as ever.

"...you will have a human reality. Take a look." The voice was layered in satisfaction as an area in front of him shimmered into a makeshift mirror.

He stared at himself in shock. He looked like he had every other time the dreams came but this time he just knew it wasn't a dream. The bitch had somehow moved him from where he had gone to sleep, during the beginning of the dream, to a place that looked exactly like the clearing in his dream so that he wouldn't notice the change from his nightmare to reality. His youkai markings had disappeared leaving only smooth pale skin behind. Dark chestnut instead of silver-white hair flowed down his back and framed his face. Golden orbs were replaced with deep purple eyes that stared back at him in utter disbelief. Letting all self-control go, Sesshoumaru broke out into as best a snarl he could make with his new human vocal chords.

"What is the meaning of this?! I demand you undo whatever spell you have cast and return me to my former self!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that for you, my dear. This is all just too much fun. Oh! And look who decided to join in the festivities!"

The sound that reached Sesshoumaru's ears required no youkai hearing abilities in order for him to realize what was standing behind him. A low hiss echoed throughout the clearing as the enormous snake youkai from his dreams slid slowly towards him. Cruel laughter rang out as Sesshoumaru darted from the clearing, the youkai striking with dripping fangs at the spot he had stood only moments before. He ran blind, fear radiating from him like he had never felt before with anger boiling underneath, for he knew there was very little chance he would survive yet at the same time despised the idea of letting the demon bitch have her revenge upon him. He still couldn't remember where he had heard her voice before yet it pestered him at the edge of his memory. If only fate was on his side...

Unfortunately, fate seemed to want to give him a good kick as well, as Sesshoumaru went sprawling after tripping on an unseen rock. He scrambled up hastily, damning human reflexes to hell as the snake youkai came upon him, wrapping its tail tightly around his torso. He felt a few ribs break and his vision swam with black spots as his airway was constricted. A sharp pain in his shoulder, then a dull ache spread through his body as the poison raced through his system. Expecting to be eaten, Sesshoumaru almost didn't feel the pain, from total disbelief, as his broken ribs were jarred from being dropped abruptly. But then the pain washed over him, clouding his vision and causing his face to break out into a sweat as the face that went with the female voice that had mocked him the entire evening came into his view. He could barely make out a pair of stripes upon each cheek underneath dark eyes that laughed at him. Her midnight black hair tickled his face as she leaned forward.

"I'm not letting you off that easy. Having you eaten would ruin the whole purpose of my efforts. I'm going to simply let you lie here and die from the poison from my dear snake friend. But, if by some miracle you survive, I have a backup plan for your demise." She patted his cheek affectionately, before standing up and in turn moving out of his line of sight.

"Two months, my dear. If you live, I look forward to it."

Sesshoumaru struggled to remain awake as he tried to drag himself away from the place he had fallen. He felt his human body cry out in pain and his mind shout out in something close to joy as he could see a light in the distance grow brighter with every crawl forward. The last thing he managed to see before his world blacked out into blissful darkness was a pair of blue-grey eyes staring at him in surprise.