Author's Note: Well, here goes something new. I'm going to do some back story about Inutaisho's family and why he may have developed compassionate feelings about humans. It's mostly going to be about people I made up, with some Inutaisho thrown in here and there. I'm going to give it a shot, so please bear with me. As always, any suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading, let me know if its any good! Reviews are greatly appreciated!
Disclaimer: Here we go again, I do not own Inuyasha.
Inutaisho sat alone in the midst of the forest, listening to the breeze rustling among the treetops and watching the light filter down through them. It was good to sit and take a break; his search for Ryuukossei wasn't going well. Izayoi. His heart swelled just from the thought of her. She was so kind and beautiful; fragile in a way that no demon could ever be. It amazed him that humans could gain such a broad spectrum of emotion in their short lifetimes. Some were the most noble of creatures, others were the most base.
Izayoi reminded him of someone from long ago as well, but perhaps it was because she was the only other human woman he had ever really known. After all, the relationship between him and Izayoi was not the first between a demon and a human in the history of the dog demon clans. A face he hadn't seen in years flashed into his mind, a still image from long ago, smiling down at him after finding him hidden in a large garden azalea. His mind wandered farther, back to when he was still a small child, and a conversation between his parents he heard through their chamber door.
"Inukuro arrived today, he stopped on his way back to your old home in the south." he heard his father saying to his mother. "He says that it has finally happened, that the woman foretold of so long ago has been found, and your father has sent an entourage to their home to begin marriage proceedings. It seems your brother Inukatsu is to be married to a human." he finished, the disdain showing slightly in his voice.
Inutaisho smiled slightly at his father's memory. Proud and strong, his father was cut from stone. He wasn't unkind, but he was rigid and ruled with a firm hand. Everything was black and white with him, he left no room for gray areas. He felt it was the best way to rule. He had married and had only one son late into his years, and the defeats he suffered as a proud young warrior had left him wary. His overconfidence had left his clan diminished, and he was careful not to make the same mistakes again.
"You do not believe what the sage foretold all those years ago?" his mother asked. "He predicted many things that came to pass. Why should this be any different?" she asked him softly. His mother was always so full of patience. She was sweet and kind, but very quiet and reserved. Her feelings were usually expressed through a warm smile or a few short words. She had seemed ethereal to him, so graceful and delicate with her tall lithe figure and long powder blue hair.
"Anyone with common sense could have seen the things he allegedly foretold coming." Inuhide replied. "And the fact that he suggested a great demon mate with a human should have been a sign that the old man was senile, Misora." his father said gruffly.
"Well I don't suppose you could blame father for clinging to hope that our clan would finally have peace after all they have lost." his mother's voice came through the door.
"Perhaps not, but it is never wise to cling to dreams, especially ones as far fetched as an alliance with a human clan bringing long lasting peace to a clan of demons." his father said. "But, it is not my place to judge such matters. Soon, you will have a human woman for a sister-in-law." Inuhide finished.
"It would seem so." Misora agreed. "Inutaisho, you can come in now, and stop your eavesdropping." his mother called through the door.
"You know better." his father said in a low voice as he passed him leaving the room.
"Forgive me father, I did not know if I should ask to enter." Inutaisho said quietly, looking at the floor.
His father's face softened. "Its alright, now go in to your mother." he said. Inutaisho smiled and bounded into his mother's chamber.
"Mother, is it true that uncle Inukatsu is going to marry a human?" he began "What are humans like? Will she be nice, or rude and ignorant as everyone says humans are? Why would he marry a human? Did a great sage really tell him to do it?" he asked without taking a breath. It all sounded like a wonderful story to him.
His mother laughed gently. Her expression was somewhere between amusement and being overwhelmed at her son's myriad of questions all at once. "I do not know what she will be like." she began. "I have never even met a human, but I have heard they are quite different from we demons." she said. "And yes, many years ago, a wise sage told my great grandfather that one of his decedents should seek out a human woman and marry her, because it would bring a lasting peace to our clan." she said.
"Tell me the story!" Inutaisho cried in suspense.
"Well, long ago, there was an ancient sage that lived on the mountain above my father's home. One day after our family fought a long and costly battle, he came and sought counsel with my great grandfather." she continued. "He told him that though he suffered loss now, and would still in the future, that there was a way to bring peace to our clan. He said that in the year in which the moon hides the sun in the spring, and the sun hides the moon in the autumn, there would be a daughter born to a human clan in the east with a leaf shaped birthmark on her neck. He said that when that happened, a son of our clan must seek her out and marry her when she came of age, and the alliance would bring about peace for our family at last." she said. "So, that is what your grandfather has told your uncle Inukatsu to do." she finished.
Inutaisho looked up at his mother, his eyes wide with wonder. He was fascinated with the tale as only a child could be. "So, the sage's words really came true?" he asked in almost a whisper, his large golden eyes unblinking.
"I suppose so." she said, suppressing the urge to chuckle at her son's fascination. "Seventeen years ago, the two eclipses happened just as he had said. A group of your grandfather's men began the search in the east a year ago, and now they believe they have found her. It seems she was born in the correct year and does indeed bear the mark on her neck." she told him.
"I want to meet her!" Inutaisho squealed in delight, jumping up in exclamation. Though she was human, she sounded like a heroine from a story come to life to him now. He hoped that his uncle would bring her to their home after he married her.
"Now that the story is over, why don't you go and play in the gardens?" his mother suggested. She wished to write to her father and ask him to send her news as soon as it came.
"I will mother!" he called on his way out the door, and Misora smiled at her son's retreating form. It always made her a bit nostalgic to see the constant wonder in which children approached almost every aspect of life. She wondered to herself how this human girl's family would take the proposition that was being offered to them. Many thoughts ran through her mind of what kind of reaction the lord of the castle would have to a group of demons arriving and asking for his daughter. She opened the doors that looked out onto the gardens and watched her son play, her mind full of uncertainty.