Disclaimer: I do not own Rumiko Takahashi's Inu-Yasha or the Brother's Grimm's "The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich," which served as inspiration for this little fanfic. I do, however, own my computer, which served me well during the hours I spent toiling over this story.
AN: The reason this prologue is written in story-tale format (as in, "once upon a time" with no dialogue) is because it is the prologue. Keep with it, and you'll find all the dialogue and action your heart desires in following chapters.
The Hanyou Prince
Prologue
Truth Fades to Fairy Tale
Once upon a time, in a far away castle, there lived a princess. The princess was considered to be the fairest in all the lands, not only for her astonishing loveliness, but also for her spiritual powers and fighting skills. For all these reasons, the sacred Shikon no Tama was entrusted to her in the hopes that she may some day be able to purify its powers.
As she came of age, the princess was encouraged to entertain suitors from neighboring kingdoms. If a strong match was made, the two lands would be able to combine their respective resources in the troubled times of demons and human warfare, and ensure an heir to the throne. It was then that she met the second son of an adjoining royal family, and a proposal of marriage was agreed upon. The lady's lands would gain the strength of the army of her fiancée's homeland, and he would come into a royal title he would not otherwise obtain, being a second son.
The kings and queens involved were pleased…
But one royal adviser was not.
The adviser had appreciated the position he had in the castle, if only for the benefit of being close to her. While he told himself that he studied her movements and habits for the sake of obtaining the Shikon no Tama that would grant him all his wishes, his hidden heart also lusted after the pure maiden. For years, he made no move to take the jewel that would grant him the strength and immortality he wanted so badly. While reasoning that the princess was still too powerful to take on, the tainted adviser could not admit to himself that the power the princess held over him was not just that of spirit or strength, but in his base wishes. However, time was catching up to him. Upon the announcement of the engagement, the adviser succumbed to his desire for power and invited the demons of the land to feast upon his body and soul, making himself stronger in the face of the adversary he had observed for years. Though he lost much of his humanity, this hanyou retained his former human self's goals. The newly transformed adviser would destroy the princess who had made him wait so long for what he wanted.
The engaged couple were in the habit of taking walks through the royal gardens in their time of rushed courtship. While waiting for his intended on one of these days, the unsuspecting prince was suddenly attacked by the adviser. The adviser, not wanting to risk his own newly acquired body, performed a spell on the prince to turn him into a vassal. His long black hair faded to white, his ears changed shape while sliding up to the crown of his head, and claws were where nails had once been. The adviser ordered the newly transformed hanyou to attack the approaching princess and steal the Shikon no Tama. However, the prince felt the pull of his humanity stronger than the new demon blood coursing through his veins, and refused. Believing the power of the Shikon no Tama to be close at hand, the adviser used the last vestiges of his power to take control of the prince's recently endowed body before stepping back from the scene.
The princess was greeted to the scene by her hanyou fiancée, struggling for control of his mind and body. But when she reacted with disgust and fear towards this newly transformed man, the prince's despair cost him the internal battle. He felt his claws tearing through the flesh of his intended just before returning to his own mind. The princess, not understanding that it was an outside force and not the new hanyou body that caused him to act with such violence, drew an arrow and cocked her bow. The hanyou, shaking with fear of his own self, did not stop her. She shot the arrow, sealing him to the large Goshinboku tree they had used as a common meeting point
The adviser may have expected the princess to kill her fiancée and then use the power of the Shikon no Tama to heal herself. This would have pleased him greatly, as the purity of the jewel would then have been tainted, making it that much for powerful for an evil being to wield. However, that is not what happened.
When the princess saw the grief in his eyes, she realized he had not acted of his own accord. In the few moments they had left before the sealing spell took hold of the inu hanyou, she told him that if someone was able to wake him from the spell and form a love bond with him as he was, that he would be free from the spell created by the adviser. As his eyelids slipped closed, the princess felt a strange sense of grief for instinctual rejection she had delivered just a few minutes earlier.
The princess retreated to the castle, trailing blood along the way. Knowing her time was short, she requested that the Shikon no Tama be burned with her body. As the life force ebbed out of her body, the spiritual power she had harnessed all her life revealed itself in a new and final way: the princess prophesied that a girl would be born in her likeness, bearing the Shikon no Tama in her body. This girl would be the new heir to the throne. With that, the fairest princess in all the lands closed her eyes and allowed the darkness to take her.
In the decades that followed, the kingdom fell into a sort of disrepair. Without an heir, a succession of royal advisers ruled the lands, waiting for the prophesy girl to be born. It is said that the royal advisers had all been very much alike, with cunning souls, each one appointing the next before mysteriously disappearing…
~+~
Glossary:
Hanyou – Half-demon
Shikon no Tama – Jewel of the Four Souls
[A/N: Whoa! Never thought I would ever write a fanfic, basically because I knew I would never live up to Thunk or Rurouni Star (shameless plug!). But, desire won out over self-doubt, and here I am. Please review! I would like to improve my writing skills, so be as critical as you like. But feel free to stop just before outright flaming ;) Anyway, the reason that there is no dialogue in this chapter is because this is simply a prologue, the back-story for the story to come. And with dialogue comes character development, fun with scenery…shivers yeah! Longer chapters, too!
See you next time!