(Warning : There is very strong language in this storyline, and down the road the rating may become higher because sexual scenes may happen. I am not completely sure where the ending will go at this point. Character views also change, to at times my OC characters and the Inuyasha Characters. Please be patient if you start reading and do not run into your favorite characters right away. The first chapter is my own OC, and chapters after that will contain other characters we all know and love. Enjoy!)

Chapter One

He walked down the path that he had been following for days now. His eyes hidden under his hair as he walked, tired and unseeing as his body moved for him. He didn't know how much further he would walk down this path, when it would part into a fork and he could change course, but he did know he wouldn't stop until he reached the end.

As he walked his mind was cloudy and he didn't seem to notice as the occasional animal ran across his path, fearing his presence. He was lost in his mind, in an horrific memory that played over and over torturously, never giving him a break. At first he had been angry at the memory for not leaving him alone, for making him relive the worst moment of his life again and again. Later he felt nothing but grief as he begged the gods to show mercy for one of his kind just this once. And then, he finally looked closer at the memory, looking for clues so he could finally solve the mystery of it.

He closed his eyes as he allowed himself to, once again, fall into the scene.. Mikula's fist clenched as he tried to keep his anger in tact this time.

He ran down the path towards the river where he had last seen his brother. He had heard an explosion just a few seconds ago, a tell tale sign that he had been attacked, he would have never released his power otherwise.. He feared it too much.

Mikula had been distracted heavily in the near by village, where his brother had sent him to get a few answers. They were here looking for their youngest niece, who had fled to Japan within this last year. Mikula had never quite liked his baby niece, she was a fire mage like himself, and when she had been born, everyone pulled away from him and started to show affection to the new family member. Even his own son had pulled far away from him, losing touch as he day dreamed about his play dates with his cousin.

No, Mikula had never liked his niece, and in fact never wanted to come on this mission to begin with. She was a mage who had run away from her master, ignoring the law. In his opinion she deserved whatever came to her out here, whatever happened would have been entirely her own fault. She was after all nineteen years of age, if she hadn't accepted the fact that their race was doomed to be enslaved to the youkai masters of the world, that was her problem not his.

He picked up his pace wishing the river was closer. Even at his speed it was taking a few minutes to get there. He felt sorry for the poor sap who tried to mess with his older brother. He was an explosion expert.. And the best out there. His abilities had never been found in any other mage, and this is what made him so deadly to both youkai and mages alike. Thankfully, on top of being one of the more deadly mages out there, he was also one of the kindest, and fairest. He would not kill someone unless there was no other way to spare their lives, he showed mercy to his opponents and often left them alive if his master hadn't directly ordered him to kill them. The only other exception to his mercy rule was if they had personally attacked one of his family members.

Mikula had often told his brother that he would fall to his own mercy one day, that allowing someone to walk away would be the death of him. His brother had simply replied, "How can we speak of right and justice if we take a possible innocent creature and shed its blood without questions? How can we pray to the Gods for mercy if we ourselves show none?"

Mikula had been taken aback by his brothers words and after a few moments, he cleared his throat and looked him in the eye, his voice soft as he spoke "Too much mercy... often results in further crimes which were fatal to innocent victims who need not have been victims if justice had been put first… and mercy second."

His brother had blinked once at him, and then laughed and pulled him into his chest hugging him tightly, "Mikula! So you have been listening to my lectures after all… such pride you make me feel for you…" Mikula had flailed to get away as his brother kissed his forehead "… You are turning into a great man again Mikula… even after all you have been through, you are recovering and emerging like a great phenix among its own ashes… never let anyone tell you that you are forever lost, fore all you have to do is find your way again."

As Mikula rounded the corner, he shook his brothers words from his head attempting to focus as he came upon the river. He called his brothers name, "Collin!"

He was met with silence as he looked around. That was odd, his brother answered him within a few seconds every time he called for him. Maybe his hearing had been deafened slightly by the blast, that happened sometimes. Mikula wandered the area for a few moments before a splotch of red finally caught his eye in the river.

He stared at it for one heart beat, two heart beats. Then he was rushing toward it, panic in his chest and voice as he called out, more frantically this time "COLLIN!"

He came into the water ignoring the sickening feeling that rushed over him at touching his natural opposite. He grabbed for his brother's shoulder losing his footing at the same time, and yanking them both under. He struggled to hold his breath as his metal shoes dragged him downward. He pulled his brother to his chest and held him there. 'Just hold on a little longer Collin, please. I'll get us up and you can tell me how stupid I was for panicking.'

He kicked at the water pushing himself upward as best as he can. Who knew rivers could be so deep. He grabbed the side of a rock as they began to rush past it, his metal claw digging into it easily. At least now they weren't moving down stream anymore but they were still drowning underwater, something he would have to fix and fast. He lifted his legs, forcing them to cut through the current and placed them on the rock he was desperately clinging to. Then he began to climb out.

Once he finally got up on the rock with his brother he jumped to shore and collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily and coughing some water up. He looked around to see how far they had moved down stream. It wasn't as far as he had first thought, it had felt like they were underwater for a while.

He turned and flipped his brother over to examine him, and froze. His eyes were open staring up at him… but unseeing. He lifted his hand away from him slowly, in shock for a few moments only to notice his hand was covered in a water down red color. He looked at it and his breath caught in his throat as the washed out scent of his brothers blood hit his senses. He looked down at the body numbly and finally noticed the three holes in his stomach and one in his lung. He ripped the shirt open, blindly hoping that he was just unconscious, wounds like this couldn't take his brother down… he was a hanyou… and on top of that, a mage. Surely he could have over come these wounds.

When his bare chest was exposed to the younger brother, he noticed the wounds were much deeper than he had thought. Then he noticed the X carved into his skin over his heart, deeply embedded in his skin and perfectly etched. He stared at it for a moment, frozen as he watched the X. He couldn't hear his heart beat, he couldn't hear anything.

His brother was dead. And he knew how it most likely went down. He had been ambushed by the river, and probably easily subdued the attacker. His brother probably then preceded to ask his attacker the cause of his actions, receiving an answer that led him to release him and show him mercy… at which was the moment the attacker struck, and Collin in panic let lose one of his explosions. But somehow the attacker avoided it and tossed his brother into the water, where he quickly bleed to death or drowned, whatever came first.

Mikula snarled loudly and tilted his head back to let lose a scream of anger and agony at his fallen brother, clutching him up to his chest.

He yanked out of his memory with a snarl causing a handful of birds to take to the skies near by. He turned in mid step and slammed his metal claw into a tree, causing it to crack and shatter under his strength. He stood there as the splinters rained down around him, panting softly.

If only his brother had listened to him, if only he had kept his mercy to himself a little longer. He had to wonder who was the wiser of the two, his brother had always been calm and collected, full of "words of wisdom" and able to figure out most anything, while Mikula was the brash one who never thought anything through and tended to need his brother to save him often. But, Mikula was still alive… and Collin was not.

Mikula stood straight again pulling his shaking hand back to his side and turning down the path once more. He wasn't going to stop and he wasn't going to let his anger cripple him, instead he would like it empower him. Yes, he would let it fuel his need for vengeance. He would find the creature who did this and drag the name of the man who murdered his brother from their lips. He would find him, corner him and look into the eyes of the man who dared to strike his brother down. And then… he would show him no mercy.