Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.

11 Changes in POV

22 Time lapse

Title: Crystal Clear.

Chapter 1: Recruiting

Sesshoumaru knocked him back once again and suppressed a smirk of victory, if he knew his half brother at all, this spare was far from over. Inuyasha got to his feet and staggered from the dizzying rush of blood to his head, shaking it until his eyes focused, he then charged at his sparing partner, intent on serving him some pain.

"Give it up mate; you know you can't win against him!"

Inuyasha stopped and turned towards the doorway and began telling them to shove it when he was suddenly sliding, face down, towards them. He slid to a halt at the feet of two women, one tall and lean with brown hair and brown eyes, the other slightly shorter with black hair and bright blue eyes.

The blue-eyed woman stifled a giggle, knelt down next to her mate, and patted his head. "See?"

He looked up at her and frowned. "That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't distracted me! And what do you mean I can't win against him?! Your suppose to be MY mate, and support ME!"

She helped him up, dusted him off, and tried not to bruise his pride too badly. "I am YOUR mate, and I do support you, but you have never won against him and he's still holding back. Am I right?" Kagome looked past him, directing her question at Sesshoumaru.

He brushed past them as he nodded, not really wanting to hear them fight. It wasn't the fight that bothered him, it was the making up that bothered him; they had no problem displaying affection in public. Sango soon followed suit, knowing what was coming, as they left the dojo Miroku came jogging towards them. "Lord Inutaisho wants to see us. All of us." Sango reentered the dojo for a minute then exited once more with Inuyasha and Kagome in tow.

"What does he want?" Inuyasha asked, not really wanting to see his father at the moment, they had a fight almost a week ago and had yet to resolve it. "A small kingdom in the south is calling for warriors for some special mission. He didn't exactly elaborate."

…

"This kingdom is more important then any of you know, it is home to a very powerful force, possibly more powerful than the Shikon no Tama and no one knows the range of its power because it has been well hidden. King Takahiro has been at war with another kingdom to the east for a little over six months now." Inutaisho sat at his desk as his most powerful warriors, two of them being his sons, stood before him.

"Why are they at war? What started it?" Sango couldn't but ask because generally the south was very peaceful. Every war that waged on their land had been void of their soldiers; it was just a battle that had crossed the border. They would always be on the side of peace when the council came to order, it was in their nature, they were peacemakers.

"Because King Takahiro killed their prince." they all took in this new information, no longer trusting the King. "The reasoning was that he was betrothed to one of their princess', but only to get information for his father, on the wedding day his true identity and intentions were revealed, thus sentencing him to death." He looked over the grim faces of his warriors, noting that Sesshoumaru had yet to look remotely interested in anything he said.

"So what is the mission? Do we need to intercept and put an end to it?" Which was one of Sango and Miroku's specialties; they were often resolving issues that would bring battles and wars.

"I do not know all I know is that they are called for the best of the best, and that is you. So go to them and be victorious in whatever they have you do." They bowed one by one out of the room, leaving Sesshoumaru alone with his father and their silence.

"I am not sure what exactly is going on in that kingdom, but I know its something ominous. They have always been so good to us; it would be an awful loss of an ally if this war goes badly for them." Sesshoumaru nodded, understanding his meaning, that failure was not an option. He stiffly bowed and left the room in a rustler of silk and armor.

"That boy needs to find a mate."

22

The group set up camp for the night, having already traveled two days straight, they were approaching the border. As Inuyasha hunted for food Kagome and Sango built a fire and rolled out pallets for everyone to sleep on, Sesshoumaru refused one, saying that he would not be sleeping tonight.

"If your not gonna sleep then do us all a favor and make sure nothing ambushes us?" Inuyasha grunted as he placed two small hares on a spit over the fire. He had skinned and washed them already, trying to get on Kagome's good side by not skinning them in front of her.

Sesshoumaru nodded and sat down at the base of a large tree, leaning his head back; he closed his eyes and meditated for a while. Ever since he came of mating age, almost three hundred years ago, his father had been pushing princess after princess onto him, each one more vapid then the last. He couldn't stand it any more, so he told his father that he would find a mate on his own. However, he could see that his father was getting impatient with him for he had yet to take interest in any woman, youkai or otherwise.

The problem was they were all the same, the same powder caked faces, the same overly perfumed necks, and the same empty heads. He wanted to be able to have an intelligent conversation with his mate, maybe that was asking too much from a demoness nowadays. He had tried to discuss politics with the last princess his father brought to him, but she just stared at him with a vacant expression. He was quickly learning that woman no longer worried about politics and war treaties and things not concerning themselves, with the exception of a handful of females.

Golden eyes opened and locked onto Inuyasha and Kagome, he watched as they whispered to each other, smiling and laughing every so often, and something sparked in him. He never thought it would happen but it did, though he would never admit it.

He was jealous of Inuyasha.

He sneer at the thought pushing it back and away from his conscious mind, standing from his resting place, he turned and stalked into the forest that surrounded them. He walked for a little over two hours, until he noticed the trees to his left started to clear away into a valley.

He stepped out past the tree line and scanned the valley; it was pitch black and even with his superior sight he couldn't see much. He turned to head back to camp when the wind suddenly changed direction and the smell of death hit him full force. Sesshoumaru took a slight step back, trying to block out the smell so it wouldn't affect him, it was a bit difficult for his nose was much stronger than most youkai's.

As he blocked out the stench he took notice of the southern flags that still waved in various places in the valley.

They were too late.

…

"Did you smell it too?" Inuyasha stood with his sword at the ready as Sesshoumaru entered the clearing; nodding to his brother, he turned and gestured for them to follow. Soon the camp was packed and they were heading towards the valley.

They arrived just as the sun peered over the treetops, showering the bloody vale with light. Covering there noses they made there way through the carnage and destruction, hoping for some shred of life. They found none.

As they neared the middle of the valley, Kagome noticed people were digging holes on the other side. As they walked, a castle came into view from behind a wall of great oaks, and people digging graves and placing the dead in them. This was no longer just a valley it was a graveyard.

The group moved toward the diggers, hoping to get some answer for the blood bath that obviously took place. Sesshoumaru took the lead, coming to a stop in front of them. The servants, only definable because of their garments, stared at the band of newcomers. One tall older male jogged over to a female that was digging by herself near the wall of oaks, she was more elegantly dressed, even covered in dirt, her rank was clear.

The man spoke to her and pointed to Sesshoumaru; she set down her shovel and followed the tall older man towards them.

"So these are the warriors I sent for?" She spoke as she wiped dirt from her hands onto her dress, she was young, and petite, looking like she was in the dead center of adolescence, but her eyes were guarded and wise.

"I am Sesshoumaru, Son of Inutaisho, he offers you his condolences and his best men" Sango cleared her throat loudly. "And women." The girl looked them over warily and tilted her head towards the castle, she lead the gang up to the castle.

11

She lead us into a great hall, sparse of any decorations or garlands, this was no time for parties and banquets. "If you will wait here a moment I will freshen up and formally introduce myself and explain why you are here. My servants will attend you, should you need anything." She bowed and climbed up a stairwell to the far left.

I looked around as I thought over the girl, she was well versed, obviously well schooled, yet she seemed so young. I shook my head of such thoughts, I was only here for the mission, and I needed to keep my head clear. I dismissed the hall quickly, not caring what their décor was like, until something caught my eye.

I walked to the back wall, so focused on that one detail that I didn't hear the others calling me. It was a sword hanging on the wall; its sheath was elegantly carved into ivory vines and leaves, the metal of the handle almost shimmered. It was a beautiful sword; I imagined that the owner was a great swordsman.

"Its elfish metal, very light, but deadly sharp. You see how its glitters?" I side glanced at the girl that now stood beside me and nodded. "They infused it with magic, ensuring that it would strike true. It was a gift from my mother before she died." She turned away and stood in front of the others.

She face was now free of dirt and grim, as was her clothing, but even now she looked wary and tired. "I'm sure your all wondering why you're here, you probably thought you were coming to help us in this war but that is not so. The sight you saw on your way in was just a distraction, a pointless waste of human lives just so our enemies could invade our walls and take something precious."

"Great so were doing a rescue mission? I hate those!" Inuyasha groaned, only to have his mate elbow him in the side. The girl looked sharply at him but continued anyway.

"No. Nobody was captured. It was a precious item that my family has protected for centuries. I am Princess Hana" She bowed her head, but as she raised it I could see something in her eyes, something dark and sorrowful. "And your reason for being here is to accompany me on my mission. If you wish to. I am asking for your help, if you accept than I am eternally grateful, if you choose to decline than I shall bare no hard feelings."

She stood there waiting for our answers, looking to young to understand what happened in that valley, yet too grief ridden not to. There was a long pause before she decided to explain the situation further.

"Please follow me. A group of priestess' originally built this kingdom; they looked after a crystal that was said to have extraordinary powers, such as the ability to open portals to other world and alternate universes. They kept the crystal safe for many years, but they soon fell prey to bandits and thieves, so the high priestess took on a husband with an army, so that the crystal would be safe. Since then, guardianship of the jewel has been passed down through the many generations and now falls to me." She had led us to a small room that was down a long twisting hallway.

We now stood in front of a fountain with a golden ring hovering above the water, it was flat and roughly the size of an apple; she reached up and grabbed it, making the water in the fountain fall still. "So you're responsible for it and it got stolen? Good job!" Inuyasha held his thumbs up, I was about to reprimand him for being an idiot but the girl, Hana, beat me to it.

"It was hardly my fault; I was a little busy watching my family being slaughtered!" She got two steps from him and held out the ring. "Besides, we had assurance that it could not be taken be anyone outside our blood line." Holding out his hand, she dropped it onto his palm and almost immediately, the smell of burning flesh filled the small room. The golden ring clattered to the floor as my idiotic little brother nursed his wounded hand.

"No one outside of my bloodline could have taken it, not without the ring and that doesn't leave the castle unless in the possession of one of us." She placed the ring above the fountain once again and the water sprang to life. "When my ancestors put that spell on the ring, I guess they didn't think about someone in this family being corrupted." She sighed and watched the fountain for a moment before brushing past us and walking out.

11

22

As night fell, the group took Hana up on her offer of some r & r, Sesshoumaru, once again, could not sleep, so he decided to look around. As he walked outside he could smell the princess near by, he followed her scent, not really knowing why. She smelled of sweet vanilla and hints of mint, it was unlike any other scent he had ever come across and it was definitely not a normal human smell.

He finally caught sight of her; she was once again by the wall of oaks, standing in front of seven graves. He walked silently toward her, only slightly surprised when she turned his way. As the moonlight seeped through the leaves, it caught her face and stopped him dead in his tracks.

Her golden hair tumbled down her back in waves, stopping just past her hips, it caught the light and almost glowed, making him wonder how he didn't notice it before. Her skin was a warm honey color with freckles dotting her cheeks and nose, for lips full and pink, her eyes large and green.

She was beautiful, but as he looked into her eyes, he saw that she was worn, weary, and almost…broken.

"This is where my family lies, my father the king, the queen, and five of my brothers." She turned back to the graves as he stood next to her. "If you are the last, how could the crystal have been stolen?" he knew the answer he just wanted to hear it from her. "I'm not the last of my bloodline, my twin brother was not found in the wreckage, and my older sister has been in exile for the past six months."

"Who do you think took it?" They walked away from the graves, towards the castle. She stopped and looked at the moon, and with a long sigh, she whispered "My dear sister, Haruka."

22

Morning came and the gang was sitting down to breakfast when Hana came in, she looked angry yet tried to hide it as she sat down. A servant came in and whispered in her ear, only making her look angrier. She excused herself and walked back out of the room, not knowing that Sesshoumaru was following her. He couldn't help himself, there was something about her the made him curious.

"What do you want? I told you that I was done talking about this." She spoke to an older servant; she was plump and graying but had a motherly look to her. "I will not let you go. You are a princess, not a warrior, not a priestess. You are still a child! I will not let you do this." The older woman's face became red as she spoke.

"You have no say in the matter! It's my responsibility, and I am going to do what's right! I'm eighteen for Kami's sake; you are no longer my nanny!" He could see that Hana was close to tears but all he saw was anger. It didn't make sense.

"Your mother, your real mother, told me to look after you and that's what I'm trying to do but you keep pushing me away!" the woman tried to come closer to Hana but she backed up, her eyes were guarded, no longer readable.

"You leave her out of this. Look, Mai, I'm going, don't try to stop me and don't try to convince me otherwise. This is my mission, and I didn't bring those people here so they could do it for me. I brought them here so that I could make sure that the crystal is returned safely, so leave it be." She turned towards the door and Sesshoumaru stood still, he would not run and hide, that was below him.

"But your highness-"

"Leave it!" Hana snapped at her old nanny before she stormed out only to stop when she came face to face with Sesshoumaru. She looked up at him, almost a foot and half taller then her, and sighed, rubbing a hand on the back of her neck, trying to rub out some of the tension. "I suppose you heard all that?" He nodded as she started walking down the hall; he easily kept up with her.

"She seems to think that I'm not prepared for this, even though I've been well trained, and I know how to handle myself." She stopped at the door to the dining hall and turned to him. "Why did you follow me?" Her eyes locked with his and he took notice of blue flecks in her green eyes.

"I was curious."

She smiled, it was small and lasted only a second, but it was true and it reached her eyes. "Curiosity killed the cat you know."

"Luckily I'm a dog."

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A/N: Ahhh it's nice to have a fresh story, I just hope ya'll like it! Yes, this will be another Sesshoumaru/OC even though I Love the Sesshoumaru/Kagome pairings, I'm just not good at them. Well enjoy and please review!