Daiyu
"Black Jade"
She had always the same dream for what felt like the majority of her life, which, for a wolf demon, wasn't for very long, but definitely spanned longer than a human lifespan. She saw herself as a cub, hardly reaching the knees of most around her. She was wearing the most elaborate hanfu dress, a soft purple with a little golden bell strapped to her sash which jingled whenever she would run. She sensed that the dress was for a most important occasion, a crucial turning point that would mark her for the rest of her life, but was too young to comprehend it. She was playing in the garden as a white silhouette stood close by, but she could not see this person's face. Her child-self had taken to climbing a weeping cherry tree and the mysterious white figure came closer, coming to stand below the branch that she balanced onto. A large butterfly came to her sight and she embarked to capture it as she reached with her small hand towards it, but just as she grew near to it, the butterfly had escaped and she lost her balance with a last attempt to grasp it; slipping off the branch and fell off the tree. Before she could release a shout of alarm, she fell into something soft and her mind registered that she had dropped into a bed of fur. Her silver eyes opened from beneath ebony hair and gazed right at the person's face.
Typically, the dream would never grant her the visage of the person or a voice and she could never pinpoint who it might be since all of the wolves of her clan had black hair and wore dark clothing, very much opposing the character in her dream. However, something changed.
This time, as her eyes met into the white figure, what stared back at her were eyes of gold and his mouth moved as a deep baritone came forth, a male voice.
"Daiyu."
Daiyu snapped upwards, jolting herself from sleep as she panted heavily from the shock, appearing as if she had awoken from a nightmare. She took a large breath and exhaled slowly, slowing down her racing heart before studying her surroundings. She was in the middle of a dense, dark forest in the mountains. The fancy clothing she wore in her dream nothing like the torn and dirtied dress she wore now. The tattered dull blue silk hardly befitting for a princess of the black wolves of the north, but that kind of life had died the moment her family and clan were slaughtered.
She was the only one left.
The lone survivor.
The lone wolf.
A tiger youkai, the powerful Tingfeng, had managed to gather all of the cat families in the North to wage war against the wolves and foxes over the territory. Her families, being the strongest of all of the clans were the first to be attacked and the last to fall. Her father had died in battle while her mother died after forcing her to escape with her father's sword. Her mother's last words kept ringing in her head and somehow she knew it had to do with the white figure in her dream.
"Go to Japan." Her mother had told her and Daiyu had been on the run ever since, on her way to the far East in search of salvation. Tingfeng had sent his army in pursuit of her and the journey had become increasingly strenuous as the days wore on. With each kill she had made, the stronger the soldiers that Tingfeng would throw at her and she wondered how much longer she could endure. She wished she could just fly over to her destination; however, the form that she would need to take in order to do so would attract all of her enemies, making her into a flying target ready to be shot. She surmised that taking to flight would be her final option. When she truly had no other choice.
Voices sprung to her ear and she immediately found a hiding spot underneath a tree, burrowing herself in a hole between the large roots that seemed to slither up from the ground. Not long after, she sensed two tiger youkai coming into the area.
"Perhaps she has gone down the mountain." she heard a tiger inquire, "Besides; I'm done chasing some little she-cub all over the place."
The first tiger demon was drawing near to her hiding spot, not knowing that she was tucked just beneath, her silver eyes peaking through the darkness as she clenched tightly onto her father's broadsword. The Tiger demon's feet got within view and she knew that this was her chance.
"She's no longer a cub." the unsuspecting tiger proclaimed.
"You're damn right!" She snarled, whipping out from her cover before impaling the tiger demon. His partner burst in behind her and she used the tiger still hanging from her blade as a shield, killing him instantly as an explosion struck around her.
The tiger demon's sword swirled with energy and steam as he looked through the smoke and debris. When the dust dispersed, he found his partner's obliterated corpse but no trace of the she-wolf demon.
"Fuck!" He hissed, "Tingfeng's going to be pissed!"
Daiyu darted between the trees, her long raven hair trailing behind her like a tail whipping about as she let her instincts take over. Sweat glazed her olive-tone skin, silver eyes vibrant with inhuman light as she scanned the wilderness for enemies. As she was nearing the valley, her eyes caught sight of six silhouettes, their scent hitting her nose and she furrowed her dark brows. She recognized these demons. They were not tigers, but a group of mountain lions.
The she-wolf leapt into the air, then pounced onto a female, stabbing quickly and severing its head. The lions were quick to retaliate and attacked, sending flying crimson blades from their claws and the she-wolf dodged, causing the blades to miss their original target and slicing into the nearest demon.
"I'll kill you, you fucking bitch!" One of the lion demons roared as the she-wolf smirked, her pearly white fangs gleaming.
"You've been saying that for the last fifty years, pussy." The she-wolf chuckled from her crouched position. Another series of blades launched at her, but she deflected it easily with a whack of her sword where it then imbedded into the same lion demon whom seems to be a constant victim of friendly fire, much to the wolf's amusement.
"You should give up, wolf."
At the male voice, the she-wolf stiffened. She vaguely wondered when he had arrived; she had failed to sense him.
She looked over her shoulder and hauntingly familiar yellow eyes greeted her.
"Shun!" She snarled loudly as she faced him in a poised position, her face contorted in fury. Shun, a tiger demon and the right hand of Tingfeng, regarded her with a coy expression as he eyed her figure.
"Did you think you could run from Tingfeng forever?" Shun chuckled as he stepped toward her, a hand on the hilt of his sheathed blade.
"Bastard!" She seethed, "I'll never let you have my father's sword."
"I'm amazed you've managed to steal it back, princess, since I was the one who pried it from your father's dead hands."
The she-wolf hissed as she swung her sword in front of her and blue energy sprung forth, demolishing everything in its path, killing the remaining lion demon, but Shun evaded the blast. Shun went for an attack to the she-wolf's side where their blades collided with a spark.
"You haven't even fully mastered it, princess." Shun said through his smiling teeth, "So be a good cub and die!"
The she-wolf grunted with the amount of force Shun put into the attack, her knees buckling and thighs burning from the strain as he pressed down on her with his blade and demonic force. With a shout, Daiyu released her own energy and Shun was launched backward like he had been smacked by a wall. Shun did a flip in the air and threw his blade at her just as she morphed into a ball of light then took off into the night sky.
"She escaped, huh. Did I manage to hit her?" Shun muttered as he walked over to his sword, which was standing upright in the ground. His question was answered with blood splattered across the ground and on his sword. He grabbed the hilt and pulled it from the earth, then brought the blade in front of his face.
"It seems you are stronger than your old man. I'll have more fun with you later." He chuckled before licking her blood from the cold steel of his sword.
"How are you my son, it has been a while." a female voice, laced with wisdom and prestige, murmured with a sense of coyness between crimson lips.
"I saw you recently, haven't I?" a bemused Sesshoumaru replied with cold regard, even towards his own mother. "Why have you summoned me here?"
Sesshoumaru's mother, the Lady Inukimi, coy expression turned sour and she shifted on her throne to wave towards a youkai servant, whom was holding a tobacco box and pipe on a wooden tray. While the servant prepared the smoking pipe, Inukimi finally addressed her son's question.
"There's been a major disturbance in the land across the sea." She paused in her explanation to receive the pipe and brought it to her lips. "An uprising from a large cluster of tiger demons with the other types of cat youkai as their underlings."
"I have never heard of tiger youkai banding together, are they not solitary creatures?" Sesshoumaru inquired as Inukimi exhaled grey smoke.
"That is true," She agreed, "However, there is no mistaking it and they seemed to have set their focus on the Northern territory."
"The land of the black wolves?"
"Yes," Inukimi said, "Do you remember Lord Shoushan? Though it has been almost a hundred years since then."
Sesshoumaru was silent a moment, his pale brows furrowing and his expression became tense.
"Of course." He finally replied and Inukimi frowned.
"He's been killed," Inukimi said, "Along with the rest of his clan."
Inukimi watched her son's reaction and though his expression had not changed, his aura became dark and morbid. She took a moment to exhale the smoke she had been holding in before continuing.
"Don't let this sadden you, there is but one survivor left." She said, seeing as Sesshoumaru's golden eyes widened a bit. "She's on the run with Shoushan's sword, though I cannot tell you what condition she is in."
"In what direction?"
"She's headed this direction with several youkai pursuing her. She should land somewhere to the west of Hokkaido."
With this, Sesshoumaru turned away from his mother, his silhouette beginning to glow as he prepared himself for a speedy flight.
"I understand your hastiness to find the female, son, but do not let them take the sword." Inukimi ordered and Sesshoumaru gave a quick nod before blasting off.
The peaceful, snow covered shores of Hokkaido was interrupted as an orb of blue light streaked like a shooting star across the night sky before landing ungracefully onto the snow where it then transformed into a beautiful young woman's form. Blood splattered onto the ground, staining the pure white into a bright crimson as the girl grunted in pain. Her black hair had fallen from its high ponytail and pooled like ink down to her knees, some strands fell across her face and she pulled it away with a tired gesture of her hand.
"Damn it!" She muttered beneath her breath as she looked down at the large gaping wound in her stomach. The sword had completely gone through her while she was trying to morph into an orb. "That bastard, Shun!" she screamed before vomiting blood.
The she-wolf managed to stand up, though her balance shaky as she began walking away from the ocean and towards the hills. Her shoes crunched in the snow as she walked and the sound brought her into a trance as her vision came in and out of focus. Visions of her slaughtered clan members came to her mind and tears streaked down her cheeks. When her father's face finally surfaced she collapsed on her knees and sobbed.
"Father…" She cried, "Why?"
Why did this happen to her clan? Her family?
"Why did this have to happen?"
The only answer in return was the sound of the ocean waves, followed by water smacking against the blackened rocks.
She wiped the tears away with the back of her arm, and then attempted to get up again, but her legs refused to move.
"Finally caught up with you, bitch!" a voice called behind her and she flinched. The wounded wolf turned her head and found a group of leopard demons walking towards her. At least Shun didn't follow her.
"She's pretty fucked up, this should be a cinch." The leopard on the far right exclaimed. "We should have some fun with her to make up for the trouble of coming all the way here."
"You'd do better to kill me quickly." The she-wolf seethed through clenched teeth, her silver eyes glowing brightly in defiance. "I'll bite your dicks off."
The same mischievous leopard bounded, then pounced on her, knocking her forward and he grabbed the hair on the back her head and yanked her head back.
"Then I'll put it somewhere else instead, you little c-!"
The tip of her broadsword had emerged through the leopard's back as blood sprayed over the wounded wolf.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you to let sleeping wolves lie, you perverted piece of shit!" She snarled before knocking him off of her with a hard shove of her elbow. The other leopards bounded towards her and she summoned up the strength to get up onto her feet and face her attackers. She was panting heavily as her left hand clutched at her wound in a futile attempt to staunch the wound. Her knuckles white as she gripped the hilt of her father's sword tightly, blue energy surging from the blade which now waited anxiously to protect its new master.
"She's lost it," One of the leopard demons commented, "look at her eyes!"
The she-wolf's eyes had become alight with vibrant silvery blue, her irises and pupils no longer visible as she stood like the cornered wolf that she was. Ready to bite off her own arm in order escape the trap that she had been ensnared in.
"Are you done stalling?" She snarled with a beastly voice, "Come on! Come and kill me!"
The leopards hissed before leaping towards her, claws and weapons raised, ready for the killing blow when a foreign beam of golden light shot above her, striking the leopards as they yowled loudly in pain before disintegrating. The blast shocked the she-wolf out of her trance-like state and her silver irises turned towards the source of the foreign light.
A sudden sense of déjà vu struck her as a towering Japanese youkai stood before her, encased in white as his golden eyes bore down at her, striking her down to her very core and she trembled.
"You are on the verge of death." He said, his baritone voice shocking her with its familiarity. She felt like she had seen him before.
"W-who…are you?" She managed to say with a shaky breath, her vision was fading from the blood loss and she doubted if she was going to wake up again once she would fall unconscious.
"You do not remember, Daiyu?" He murmured, addressing her name as one whom was close to her. "I am Sesshoumaru No Taisho. We met when you were a young cub a hundred years a go."
A vision of her, much smaller than now, standing before this youkai came to mind. She was looking down into her small, child-like hands at a white peony flower before placing it in his much larger hands. She had stepped towards his crouched figure before kissing the side of his face.
Her face contorted in confusion, aghast with her own self. She knew the significance of such an act.
"What?" She said in attempt to deny the long forgotten memory that had surfaced. She crumbled as her knees hit the snow covered ground. She clutched tightly onto her wound, her chest heaving with her struggled breathing.
His black boots crunched in the snow as he came towards her. It was common knowledge that nearing a mortally wounded wolf was extremely precarious, for they will lash out at anyone, but he showed no signs of caution as he crouched beside her.
"You are Princess Daiyu, there can be no mistake." He said, his hand grasped her chin lightly, yet possessively as he turned her face to his. Before she could tear her face away, his mouth invaded hers and her silver eyes widened, bewildered beyond words. The aggressive kiss was short, but felt like an eternity to the aghast Daiyu. He pulled his face away from hers; licking her blood from his lips as his golden eyes were lit like wildfire. "You are my intended mate."
His words reverberated into her soul and the last thing she heard before her vision faded to black and collapsed into his chest.