A/N: I wanted to write a Kagome/Sesshomaru that didn't totally depend on Kagome, and any and all decisions that she seems to make. I wanted it to be Sesshomaru's fault, you know? So, I came up with this. It was a total last minute thing- I really have no plans for it. So, the continuation of this (I do hope that it ends up happening) totally depends on the amount of reviews that I get. Okay? Okay.
Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.
Learning To Love – Prologue
ancient-relic
"Do you have someone to protect?"
No.
That was the truth.
As a taiyoukai, he had no reason to lie, anyhow.
And of course, it was now of all times that he just had to remember his father, and his rather… well, stupid parting words.
"Lord Sesshomaru?"
Sesshomaru ignored the annoying voice. He was tired of listening to the ridiculous drivel of the council. He'd much rather be spending his time beating the shit out of his little brother; his favourite stress release.
"Lord Sesshomaru?" the voice prodded again, with much more insistence the second time around.
"Yes? What is it?" he replied, distinctly more irritated than usual. The one trying to capture his attention flinched slightly, before another moved to speak.
"Ahem," the elderly council member cleared his voice. "As I was saying, you're soon to come of age- when all young demons step up to take the throne."
"I already have the throne." Sesshomaru pointed out bluntly, effectively cutting off the elder.
"But according to youkai law, you are not the proper heir. You may be the son of Touga-sama, but-" the elder was abruptly cut off again when Sesshomaru's head whipped around, and a glare that would have surely killed anyone lesser was sent his way.
"Ah...um... What I meant to say was InuTaisho-sama... You are the eldest, pure-blooded son," he spat with distaste at the thought of someone who wasn't pure, "of the last lord. Where you are the direct heir, there is a possibility of an older and more experienced taiyoukai taking it from you." The demon clarified, looking to gauge Sesshomaru's reaction. The other members of the court did so as well, all turning their heads from one end of the long table that everyone was seated at to the young demon lord, who sat in a raised throne at the other end of the table.
Though Sesshomaru's face remained stoic, he was everything but. Thoughts ran through his mind at dizzying rates – possibilities of disaster running first and foremost through his mind.
What if Naraku learns of this demon tradition? Even the council would not be able to deny him – it will be simple enough for him to conceal his true heritage, half-demon or not. Such a thing would be unacceptable, putting my father's legacy and my lands at such a risk.
"Is what you say true?" Sesshomaru demanded, settling a fierce glare on the elder.
"Y-yes, Sesshomaru-sama. Since your father is no longer here, he was not able to complete the ritual that gives you all entitled power to the land."
"How do I complete this ritual?" Sesshomaru questioned, looking to the other members of the council that still sat silently before him.
"Well, as the higher youkai council, we have the power to input our judgment, and to perform the ritual, in cases such as these." A younger youkai spoke up, his deep black eyes meeting Sesshomaru's fierce golden ones with no fear.
Sesshomaru instantly recognized the demon as one of the more powerful members of the council- despite being a few hundred years younger than the elders. His name... what was it again? Ritsuenko? Ritsunonji? Ah- he remembered. Ritsenenji.
He was half a dozen centuries older than Sesshomaru, but the taiyoukai had no need to fear him. He was more powerful, after all. The dark demon was a mix between an ancient shape-shifter clan, and lightning kumori- as the leathery wings on his back and the jagged mark on his cheek foretold. The last of his kind...
"Yes. Ritsenenji is right, Sesshomaru-sama." Another council member spoke, encouraged by Ritsenenji's boldness. Sesshomaru sent a quick glare in his direction, which effectively dissolved any and all courage that the council member had amassed.
"W-we can perform the ceremony for you, but you are still missing something vital."
"And what might that be?" Sesshomaru drawled, his voice dangerously low. They dared to question his ability and prowess?
"A mate, milord." The oldest elder spoke up. Sesshomaru turned his head to the far end of the table, where a wizened old eagle youkai sat. He was the head of the council, being the oldest, and the most powerful member of all those that sat assembled at the table.
Solaris was from a race said to be direct descendants of a sun god from the continent- and his native language was a strange version of the Latin that Sesshomaru knew.
His whitening hair was still long and elegant, and at the ends some of his natural blond clung stubbornly. Feathers- whether intentionally or otherwise- hung throughout his hair, woven in-between the pearly strands. His hairline stopped right at the top of his head in the strangest manner- not due to a receding hairline, but rather due to the fact that his hair melded into sharp feathers that framed his face, right around to the back of his neck.
Weathered lines of time stretched across his face- not in wrinkles, but in faint lines of colour. Blue eyes that were once crisp and sharp had faded to an almost milky tone were another sign of the bird's age. His wings were tucked neatly behind him as he sat with his back straight, so as not to bend and feathers. White and golden robes adorned his form- another style that he and his family had brought over from the continent.
What I would have given, Sesshomaru thought for a moment, his mind turning from the matter at hand yet again, to see Solaris in his prime.
"Fear not, Sesshomaru. I'm not so old," Solaris chuckled. Sesshomaru refrained from rolling his eyes. He forgot the old bird was physic. "But back to the current problem."
Sesshomaru straightened, his mood sobering. "I see no reason as to why I need a mate. I have no use of one!" he insisted, a slight scowl forming on his face.
"We are sure that it is possible that you could rule by yourself, Sesshomaru. Do not think any otherwise. That is not wherein the problem lies." Solaris said frankly, the sharp lines of his face hardening.
"It is because you are so distant, that we fear for the lineage of the inu-youkai." Solaris sighed, rubbing his forehead with a clawed hand. "We need to ensure that one of the most powerful demonic lines- the silver-inu youkai, flourish, as they used to."
"What are you talking about?" Sesshomaru found himself growling. "There are still many more of my kind! Two clans to the north- the snow-inu and the ice-inu, and to the south, the wind-inu!" he protested.
"Your father was the last remaining male of the poison-inu youkai." Solaris began. "Your mother was the last of the wind-inu; the rest of the clan has since disappeared with the last fifty years. The snow-inu were massacred, during a surprise joint attack from the bears and the wolves, and the ice-inu are scarcely found around anymore. You are one of the last members of a dying breed."
Sesshomaru slumped into the cushion of his chair, disbelief clearly etched across his face. Where had he been while all of this was happening? Had he really been away from the castle for that long?
The hunt for Naraku certainly was time consuming... but even still. The inu weren't pushovers... Inu, above many other races were known for their raw power, their senses, and their stubbornness. They were resilient!
Solaris had either read his mind, or guess correctly about what was going through his head. "The Inu are certainly resilient, but there are many things that can be the downfall for any clan. They don't have the same adaptability as some of the other youkai- many need specific conditions to flourish. There is a reason why the snow and the ice live in the north."
"Though the wind has nearly impenetrable fortresses, once the walls are breached, the people are trapped- with few ways to exit the cities. The wind are best at distance fighting, due to their aerial attacks. The snow and ice are powerful in almost all types of melee combat- being able to make their own weapons from water. But in the frigid north, their senses have greatly dulled, and they do not have the same instincts for attack and defense as the other clans do, due to the natural defense of the terrain and the temperature that they surround themselves with."
"Many downsides..." Sesshomaru muttered, his head threatening to fall further into his hand.
"This is why," Solaris continued, "You need to find a mate, and soon. Whether she is inu or not, we need to know that your methods of securing an heir are definite, so that the lost lineage of the poison-inu and the wind-inu will be carried on."
"We plan to give you five months, Sesshomaru-sama." Ritsenenji spoke up. "Five months to secure a mate, and thus your position. If you cannot, then the Western throne will be given to someone more… deserving."
Sesshomaru bit back a growl. It didn't take a genius to know that Ritsenenji wanted the throne for himself- but he could make no move for it without endangering his position on the council, and the majority of his power.
"You will have until the first flower blooms again in spring. When that time arises, this council will meet again, to judge you, and your choice." Solaris said, and rose from his seat, flapping his wings. "Until then, this council is adjourned!"
Sesshomaru watched from his seat as the various members of the council disappeared, in various blasts of youki, or by more convention methods.
When only he and Solaris remained in the hall, he rose. "Walk with me?" Sesshomaru questioned, turning without a response to the gardens on the other side of a shoji door.
Solaris followed- Sesshomaru could hear his wings dragging lightly on the ground. Sliding the door shut softly behind him, Solaris spread his wings wide- the mere span of them stretching just over ten feet on either side.
"What is it, Sesshomaru?" Solaris asked, his eyes softening perceptively. He had known Sesshomaru since when he was born- and he knew his mother and her father before that. This being so, he knew (telekinesis or not) when something was troubling Sesshomaru.
"It... well...!" Sesshomaru went in circles, not knowing what to say. Solaris just smiled knowingly.
"I don't need a mate!" he concluded, spinning around to face a Sakura Tree, and away from Solaris.
"Is it you don't need one, or you can't get one?" Solaris asked, clearly bemused.
"Stop reading my mind, you old bird!" Sesshomaru huffed indignantly. Solaris kept smiling. He knew Sesshomaru better than anyone else- and it only with Solaris that Sesshomaru would drop any and all pretence and guises.
"I could get anyone that I wanted, if I so pleased! Women practically drool all over me." Sesshomaru said, frowning. "That's not the problem."
"I know that." Solaris replied easily, walking forward towards the sakura tree and catching a blossom from mid-air.
Sesshomaru glared at him for a moment, before he wiped all emotion from his face- as if bracing himself for what he knew was coming.
"Your problem is that you have no idea what to do around the other gender- nothing about how to properly woo them, nothing about how to pick someone suitable to produce an heir... I assume I don't need to give you a lecture on mating rituals, right?"
Sesshomaru growled low, turning his head away in what seemed like embarrassment. "Of course not!" he said.
"I know what everyone says I need... but I don't want it- or need it! I just don't know... how?" he finished pathetically- looking more like the young pup that followed Solaris around centuries ago, and not the supposed full grown taiyoukai that stood before him moments ago.
"To get what I want- need? Damn it all!" Sesshomaru cursed, letting out a string of expletives that would make InuYasha double-step. "This is so frustrating!"
"You are still a child…" the bird chuckled, stretching his wings and preparing to fly. "Might I give a few words of advice?"
"What?" Sesshomaru sighed in defeat.
"I think, young lord, that you need to learn to love." He chuckled, before taking a mighty leap into the air, and soaring on unseen currents that floated through the trees, and Sesshomaru's long silver hair.
"Learn... to love? What a preposterous notion." Sesshomaru scoffed, and turned abruptly on his heel to head back inside. However, he just couldn't ease the tiniest of nagging feelings that remained in the back of his head...
He was already losing time.
tbc.
EDITED: 05/16/11