Disclaimer: This story is based on "Inuyasha," copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement of copyright intended or implied.

To Forge Tensaiga

Totosai should have known better than to grumble about a lack of proper challenge to the Inu no Taisho. How else, could he have ended stuck in the middle, between his boasts, and a near-impossible request?

It usually took him three days to forge a sword from a youkai's fang or claw, to transform the youki into a suitable blade.

It took him three times three days to forge Tessaiga, to wrestle control of the enormously-potent youki of a Daiyoukai, to forge not just the youkai's imcomparable strength into a blade that would have almost unlimited power, but to forge in his compassion and will to protect as well.

Tensaiga took three times three times three days.

One times three days to control and bind the wild fury of the Meidou Zengetsuha, which had threatened to tear the young Tessaiga apart.

Three times two days to add the second fang, and then cleave the blade in two, leaving one blade a perfect match for its original form, the other hiding the subdued, alien attack within its heart, crackling with equal potential to its twin.

Six times two days to find a way to transform the blade into the form the great youkai desired. Not a blade that reflected what a youkai could have created from his very being, had he the sheer power. But, rather, in this instance, something near to a mirror of its twin. One sword to protect the weak by destroying the powerful. Its twin, to protect the weak by saving life itself. One blade that could cut through almost anything. The other which could not cut physically, at all, save for the spirits of the other world.

Two swords, unalike in appearance, unalike in powers, but each the other's equal…

... ... ...

The two blades, his finest work, lay before the exhausted smith. Kneeling on the other side, the Inu no Taisho studied the two dissimilar blades for a long time, before reaching for the tattered one. He drew the rusty, pitted blade from its sheath. It transformed, into a glittering, golden fang. Eyes narrowed, the dog youkai concentrated. Nothing happened. The black, starry blade did not appear. With a grunt of satisfaction, the youkai re-sheathed the blade, and set it down.

With a flicking glance at the smith, the Inu no Taisho took up the second blade; that in appearance was the very perfection of the sword-maker's art. Gently, he drew the blade, and closely examined it. It reflected his face, having the seeming of the highest quality of a human's steel blade, with the edge honed beyond razor sharpness. Pulling a single hair from his bangs, the youkai carefully balanced the white length on the upturned edge. It hung there for a brief moment, and then fell to the earth, still in one piece, as if the sword had never been in its path. Cupping the back of the blade with his other hand, the Inu no Taisho closed his eyes. The sword pulsed once, flickering with a pale, blue light for several seconds.

Re-sheathing the blade, he set that one down, next to its twin. "I will not test Tensaiga on you, Totosai," he said, smirking.

Totosai only gave him a level look. "You are satisfied, lord?"

"Very." The Inu no Taisho took both blades, and slid them through his sash. "Name your desire, sword-smith—I will fulfill it, be it within my power."

Totosai snorted. "I beg you only to never present such a challenge to me again. I cherish my life, and do not wish your desires to be my death."

The other youkai chuckled. "I would never do that, when the first challenge is not yet finished." He stood up. "Now set up your fire, you old flame-breather. I've brought a pair of young boars as token payment—surely those will enliven your wilted countenance?"

And so they did.

Author's Note: I'm on a Totosai kick this month (December 2010). I've written three drabbles so far, so I decided he deserved his own collection. (Also check outo chapter 39 in "Little Bits.")

This piece was originally written for the Issekiwa community, for the prompt "Middle." The short version, which included only part one of this longer piece, was originally published on December 8, 2010.

To a certain extent, this was written in response to different views of Tensaiga expressed in the manga. Early on, when Tensaiga is introduced, and we see how much Sesshomaru doesn't care for it, an angry Totosai is telling Sesshomaru that the blade is his finest work, maybe better than Tessaiga. Late in the manga, during the Meidou arc, Shishinki is sneering at Tensaiga as only a castoff of Tessaiga-a view which Sesshomaru seems uninclined to dispute. Well, that hardly makes sense to me - Shishinki would be unlikely to know the truth about the two swords, and any sword which can heal itself after being broken ... well ...

So this basically continues what I started several years ago, with "The Once and Future Black Tessaiga."

(posted 12/14/2010).