Which is why a description of such is a bit mundane. The rare upgrade is much more extraordinary, especially when it follows the complete loss of everything. And when I say everything, I'm not talking assets.
In the dark forest, a group of wolves surround something on the ground bearing a tiny motionless arm, growling. The wolves look up at Sesshoumaru as he enters the scene, looking down at the corpse they were chattering around.
I lied, it doesn't even come close.
The wolves start growling again, at Sesshoumaru this time, and that expression changes real quick. He whips out an intense glare and the wolves bark in alarm. They run off, casting nervous glances behind them as they go. Jaken literally pops up (if I'm to take the SFX translation seriously) to praise Sesshoumaru's amazing ability to get rid of wolves with a single warning look. Funny how that doesn't seem to work on Jaken himself, but I suppose in order for it to have any effect, one would have to have a sense of self-preservation. And brains.
Jaken steps up the to little girl's corpse and talks about how she's dead as a doornail, killed with one chomp, like he's talking about the weather. Though when you're out and about with Sesshoumaru, it's probably always raining gore. Jaken looks over his shoulder and asks Sesshoumaru if he had anything to do with the human, and Sesshoumaru whips around, denying such a notion.
And yet...
Sesshoumaru feels a surge of power run through the sword and gives the scene a sharp glance when he sees something for the first time.
Sesshoumaru resolves to test out Tenseiga as he swings at the dumpy little creatures surrounding the girl's body. It practically dissolves upon contact with the blade, which is handy. I wish I could get rid of pests with such efficiency. Jaken, more confused now than ever, wonders what the hell Sesshoumaru cut, as Sesshoumaru kneels next to the girl's body and pulls her onto his knee to cradle her.
Instead of being speechless, Jaken is sputtering that's she's revived in disbelief. He asks for clarification on the fact that Sesshoumaru saved the girl with Tenseiga, but Sesshoumaru doesn't answer because she's moving again, right there on his knee. Can't get more concrete than that, dude. Jaken quiets down again, thinking how UNLIKE Sesshoumaru this is, and I can't help but think he's being a tad too specific in this characterization.
It's unlike EVERYONE, Jaken! How many people do you know that even CAN bring people back from the dead?? I know you guys were pretending Sesshoumaru brought Inuyasha's mom back to life way back in his first appearance, but make-believe and seeing these things happen in real life for real are two totally different things, I hope you understand.
Anyway, Sesshoumaru looks pretty smug in the next panel, a little smirk planted on his face. He thinks that Tenseiga will have its uses after all. He also estimates that Inuyasha will come to regret the fact that he wasn't able to kill his elder brother. I'm sure you're right, Sesshoumaru, but your constant pissing and moaning will have much more to do with it than you being an actual threat.
Enjoy being an angst-ridden dipwad with daddy issues for the next 400 chapters!
Back in the village, Inuyasha and Miroku gape at the wolves that have overtaken the place, chewing on the remains of villagers littering the ground. Miroku in particular expresses his dismay that this village has also been ravaged. Shippou clings to Kagome's sailor blouse, stuttering about the man-eating wolves, and Kagome looks far too horrified for words. Sango simply says that this is awfully cruel, with a somewhat angry look. The wolves themselves seem to be just as aggressive as ever, because they've turned their growls on the newcomers.
Inuyasha scoffs and says they're only animals, holding up a hand to crack his knuckles in a very showy way. The wolves leap at him and he of course tears through four of them with one swipe. Very clean. Sango throws her Hiraikotsu at them, and it plows through a whole line of the things. The rest of the wolves freak out at the sight of the rolling heads of their pack-members, and start booking it, much to Miroku's surprise. What, wouldn't YOU start running if a chicken nugget started ripping apart your fellow humans in front of you?
Anyway, the wolves run up to the top of a nearby hill to howl at the sky. Miroku automatically assumes this is a call their comrades, and yet phrases it as a question as though he's responding to the statement of someone else. It's super weird. Also, Kagome continues to look weird, although a lot less weird than she did before. She finally appears back to normal again when she warns everyone that a Shikon shard is coming at them really fast. Like, incredibly fast.
So fast as to create a whirlwind that Inuyasha sees headed their way. It's the dust kicked up by a sprinter running in front of it, someone who looks awfully familiar. Decked out in his fur skirt that is ever-so-recognizable, Koga skids to a stop before an alarmed Inuyasha, then listens to the whimpering of the wolves that gather around him for a moment.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I had forgotten how disturbing this chapter could be, and I'm always somewhat alarmed how much of the brutality RT was willing to show, especially early in the series. I was going to leave out a lot of the images of the little body there in the forest, but I changed my mind halfway through doing the review. Unlike with a lot of the images of Kohaku's brutal death, I felt like these images were half of the emotional structure of the scene.
They weren't gratuitous or gory for gore's sake - they were somewhat integral to the contrast in Sesshoumaru's mind. All the deaths he's caused thus far have been cold, impersonal acts of brutality upon strangers. They weren't people that he knew (he generally gives up when it's someone he knows), and they CERTAINLY didn't smile at him. Up until now, he was only really acquainted with the brutal ends of peoples' lives, where they're afraid, angry, or sad. This little girl showed him that there was a bit more to it than that, that even the midst of obvious adversity, there could be beauty and happiness.
But when he sees her body lying there, just like the reader, he's undoutbtedly struck by how there's nothing there anymore. There's none of the pain of active death, but none of the unexpected happiness either. And the part of him that Tenseiga worked to save along with the rest of his ungrateful ass wanted to bring that part back.
Also, the metaphor of bringing about life with a phallic object and the fatherhood that it entails is pretty heavy-handed here. Say hello to the new Dr. Frankenstein, friends.
Something else interesting I feel I should mention is how Sesshoumaru refers to Inuyasha's failure to kill him almost as if he realizes it was a choice. Not that Inuyasha COULDN'T kill him, but WOULDN'T. His understanding that Tessaiga's Kaze no Kizu would have killed him if Inuyasha hadn't deliberately held back is yet another example of Sesshoumaru's weird sense of self-awareness. This guy is an odd person.
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