SessKag; Breath of the Wild

FORTY-SEVEN

The Beast ran through the red haze, pain forcing his limbs to move in a futile attempt of outrunning it. The two friends...his pack...he need to get away so he won't harm them. The wound from the lowly animal slowly fester with infection as blood trailed behind him.

Pain...

...so much pain...

But he need to protect pack, his mind told him so. He mustn't hurt them. He remembered, through painful red haze, how he had hurt them once because of the pain, because of the giant that tried to kill her...the one that that takes the pain away...her blood...

'Don't think about her blood!'

His voice scolded him. Yes, the blood was a forbidden temptation. His mind told him that she's willing to sacrifice but he would not take her by force. It is a dishonorable act especially after all she had done for him. He's anything but dishonorable!

The Beast roared as the crimson light of the Blood Moon intensified and he can feel his mind splitting, a battle of will raged within between sentience and instinct. And then....

...he was falling...

...Sesshoumaru opened his eyes to see himself lying against nothingness, heavy fogs blanketing him from his mysterious surrounding. Grunting, he staggered to his feet and found himself once more dressed in his familiar armor and his boa of fur draped over his right shoulder as it should instead of hidden inside his enchanted travel pouch. But last he recalled he was dressed in his usual travel wear in Hyrule which consisted of his royal kimono and the Gerudo Voe set.

Suspicious of his surrounding, Sesshoumaru looked around and for a moment feared that Ganon had taken control of his person when the sound of soldier greaves clunking towards him. Turning his head in the direction of the sound, a figure slowly formed from within the fogs. His eyes barely widened at the sight of a skeleton in armor walking towards him, the helm hiding its skeletal feature bore three horns with the left and the top horns cut off or broken, leaving only half attached to its base. As it moves closer, Sesshoumaru's sharp eyes caught sight of the probable killing wound; a stab through its right eye socket with the width of the blade cutting through the bone above and below the eye socket.

It was a ghost of fallen warrior. Sesshoumaru can smell its violent death and the stagnant soul it has become. The warrior had died in a violent dishonorable battle, an ambush that had rendered it incapable of defending itself only to be killed in a cruel manner. Whoever killed them had done it in a way that he can see the face of its murderer. Worse, the sight of its appearance show signs of neglect and unburied; a disrespect for the fallen.

Leaves and evergreen covered the rusty armor and exposed weather beaten bones. The apparition stared at Sesshoumaru before speaking despite its lack of tongue and lips [You have traveled far, Divine Beast of a Distant Land]

The fact that apparition know of Sesshoumaru's bloodline didn't surprise him at all but he instead take the chance to ask, "Are you the one who brought me and the Priestess here?"

The warrior shook his head, for the voice and stature of his figure suggest a male origin [No...]

Sesshoumaru can sense no deceit so instead he asks, "Who are you?"

The warrior stays silent for a moment before answering [I am no one but a Shade]

Sesshoumaru studied his host for a moment, taking in the aura that surrounded him. The Shade lack malice but a strong sense of regret lies heavy around his person. At the same time, a heavenly feeling exude from him further cementing the fact that this Shade was not one of evil but for some reason lingered behind despite heaven's claim on his soul.

The Shade suddenly said [Evil claws at you, stripping you of your divinity]

Sesshoumaru scowled, "It seemed to this Sesshoumaru that I have fallen far..." He does not like the idea, of his body being manipulated by Ganon's Malice. He further disliked the idea of being used to attack his...pack...

Sesshoumaru looked at his clawed hands, distaste rising in the back of his throat like vile vomit at the idea of having their blood staining his pristine claws. The image of Kagome, who had proven her worth to him as comrade over and over, disregarding her weakness and her short coming to give him aid the best she could. To the point that she gave him her holy blood and accepting him in his deranged state of mind, standing before him despite her fear...to see her fall before him like a puppet that had its string cut...

Link would defend her, he will hate himself for the burden that Sesshoumaru's bestial state will place upon his shoulder...but like the soldier he is he will fight Sesshoumaru, disregarding his heart and their bond....

Had he been closer to Inuyasha...would they have shared the same bond he had with Link and Kagome?

Kagome's promise...he can see her running towards him, disregarding her life to 'bring him back'. She will sacrifice herself for her promise to him...and in the end destroy herself...

"I don't want to disappear..."

I don't want to hurt them...

"He will blame himself,"

She too...she will hate herself...

"I refuse to disappear..."

Ganon will not have him!

[I can help you]

Sesshoumaru blinked and looked at the Shade, unlike before this time his bony hands held two masks. One in the shape of a heart, with horn-like spikes running along the edges in a rainbow of colors that discolored by the elements, giving it an off-putting appearance. The bulbous eyes reminiscent of Jaken stared at him that's very much unlike his blasted self-appointed retainer. Intelligence lurked behind the carved eyes, one that betrays ill intention.

Displeased and quelling the sudden desire to slash the mask into bits of woods, Sesshoumaru cast his flame-like eyes to the other mask and almost staggered back. It was carved into a life-like face complete with moonlit hair to frame it. But that wasn't what took him by surprise. Rather it was the face that stared back at him. It was him...but not. The markings on its face almost mimic his but differed. The deep blue marks that painted its temple were not the moon but a simple design that pointed to its nose. Its empty eyes stared by at him, but there was something lurking behind it.

Power...and a hint of madness...

[Control in exchange for power...]

Sesshoumaru frowned, "Power?"

The Shade nodded [One carry the heart of a demon born of the twisted faith from a desolate world. The other locked the power of a deity born from the fierce memories of warriors from a fallen nation. Which will you carry within you; the madness of a demon or a fierce deity driven to insanity? Each carries power that can break Ganon's control over you, but in exchange you must house their power and quell their madness. Control for clarity, power for divine purity]

He offered both mask to Sesshoumaru [Now choose]

Sesshoumaru stared at the masks. It seemed that in exchange for giving immunity from Ganon, he must share his conscious with that of another being. But since he will be constantly in a battle of will with Ganon, those two types of madness will cancel each other out. Resolving his will, Sesshoumaru reached out....