Youkai Chronicles Book ½
Kenji of the white inu (dog)-youkai. The same youkai that were allies of the white wolf youkai in the elder days before the coming of the humans. Kenji. Yep, that's me. I'm Kenji, son of one of the Great Dog Youkai's greatest generals. I barely knew him and yet his teachings made me the man I am today. Unfortunately, the son I hold in my arms will have a similar fate, but the only teachings he'll have are the ones I can fit in this stupid stone of recollections.
It may seem strange to you (who is me since I'm talking to myself) that I'm running through a forest on a world I only know by the lies told to me and the smell of the white wolves I'm tracking. It may seem stranger still that I'm holding my son while running through the forest tracking youkai. Let me assure you that Sesshoumaru has assured me that this is the right course of action considering my current situation. The part of our last conversation (probably our very last since I'll be dead in twelve days anyway) in which he gave me his assurances that I must take little Coreth with me is where I happen to be in my memory insertion thing I am doing with the stone of recollection. Gods I hate this thing.
"What do you mean I must take Coreth with me to Azeroth?" I screamed at my father-in-law.
"I mean you have to take Coreth with you." the arse wipe said quietly, his perfectly calm mask never faltering.
"Look Sesshoumaru I respect you but I can't understand why I have to take my newborn son to Azeroth. I mean that's just foolish!" I shouted.
"Okay fine Kenji you want the answer-"
"Of course I do!"
"Don't interrupt me Kenji!" roared the angry youkai lord (guess I shouldn't have done that to him). "There is something wrong with Coreth. Don't give me that look; I know what I'm talking about. It has to do with the time when Rin was little and her village was raided. When I revived her it changed something in her. It is the reason that the Pit Lord's spell hasn't transformed her yet. That, and Miroku knows his spells very very well. Anyway as I was saying, when this change was passed on to Coreth it conflicted with his mixed blood. If his blood isn't perfectly balanced when he becomes old enough, he will be slowly destroyed from the inside out."
"That's impossible! How could you know something like that and what does it all have to do with my son's being in Azeroth?"
"When Tensaiga was forged the greatest of my father's seers had a vision. He saw that the use of this sword would lead to some complications. This seer persuaded my father to allow him to cast a spell over it. When the time came the seer told my father that I would know what to do with the spell after he taught me the ritual to use it. That is what I would have done--If you and Rin were both going to live that long, but the chances of that are quite slim now."
"That still doesn't explain why I must take Coreth with me."
"The only reason the seer was able to cast such a complex spell over my sword is that he studied under an ancient race of youkai who accidentally banished themselves to Azeroth, or so he told me. I think that if Coreth could find those youkai when he is older he might be able to live."
"How did he know that they banished themselves to Azeroth. Why couldn't it have been somewhere else, huh? If these guys were so damn smart, why did they screw up so badly as to send themselves to another world"
"He was a seer Kenji. I thought you were smarter than that. And you of all people should know by your experience with Sen-maru that power can breed foolishness."
"Heh, sorry." Man did I feel stupid.
"Well time is running out. Here take this. It is called a stone of recollection, you know how to use it don't you?" he said as he handed a small, slightly glowing rock to me.
"Yeah, I think."
"Well, take Coreth and go. You can use the stone on the way."
"Okay, and Sesshoumaru?
"Yes, Kenji?"
" Do anything you must to keep Rin from transforming okay, I mean anything."
"Okay."
I then snuck into my house, (never thought I'd do that) and took Coreth and my sword to the portal the Pit Lord had recently used. I braced myself and jumped through the portal with Coreth in my arms.
Unknown to me (although I would find out in about twelve days), Sesshoumaru then destroyed the portal. But despite that, it would not be the last time it would be used.
My time is running out. I can feel my beloved mate getting weaker by the day. Come on Rin just hold on a little longer. At my best traveling speeds I'm about two and a half days behind the white wolf tribe. But it is kind of hard to go your fastest when you have to take care of your son. As much as I love the little guy he really is slowing me down. If I don't figure out something soon I might fail in this little endeavor of mine. That would suck. A lot. I can't let that happen.
On the eighth day out from the portal I get found by the green monsters. Great, like I really need a fight right now. These guys don't exactly look like they want to sit down for a nice cup of tea. They look more like they'd rather rip off someone's head, just like any one of the countless youkai I've seen. More importantly they all looked like good fighters who loved a good fight, also like any one of the countless youkai I've seen.
A smaller (than the rest) green skin stepped forward. Is that a disemboweler's edge on his sword? ...Great it is. He was dressed strangely too, with no covering on his upper body and the lower half was dressed in pants that looked like a cross between a ninja outfit and a samurai's armor. That doesn't make any sense though, the humans of Azeroth are nothing like the humans on the islands they call Nihon. Oh well I had better start paying attention--he is starting to talk.
"Hello strange warrior I greet you in the name of Durotar and the orcish Horde!" their leader (war chief perhaps?) shouted, "My name is Sanjuro. Might I ask what is yours?"
"Kenji and I really don't want a fight," I said pleadingly. Hmph, imagine the Mad Dog of the Western Lands pleading.
"Of course not, but I am wondering why you are traveling with an infant," he said with a smug expression on his face, "I hope you are not a bandit. That would prove to be very bad for you indeed."
"Hmph, I am Kenji, general and heir to the Lord of the Western Lands, no mere bandit! The child's name is Coreth and I am his father. If I was a bandit do you honestly think I would be traveling alone?"
"I guess not." ,said the orc, "Well spoken and well met, Kenji of the Western Lands, but I must ask you, where are these Western Lands and why do you have the ears of a dog?"
Took him long enough to notice the ears, " Do you understand there are other worlds than this?" I said Hope he doesn't think I'm completely nuts.
"Yes, us orcs come from a world called Draenor."
"Good then you will understand what I mean when I say that the Western Lands are on another world.
This world has creatures called youkai or demons by some. I am a hanyou--a crossbreed between youkai and human. The reason for my strange ears is the fact that my father was a dog youkai. There are more of my kind here. They were the allies of the white dog youkai in the elder days, but they have been tricked into allying themselves with the Burning Legion. The Legion plans on betraying them and I must warn them of the damned Legion's treachery!" Ugh, I hate long explanations.
The orc paused for a long moment then said, "Your story makes my heart heavy, for we too were once the tools of the Legion. But why do you bring your son on such a grave errand?"
"Well to make a long story short my mate died in a raid on her village, but my father-in-law took pity on her and used his sword--the Tensaiga-- to revive her. The magic changed something in her, as powerful magic often does. This change is part of the reason she has survived this long against the Pit Lord's curse which was placed on her because I would not cooperate and lead my fellow youkai in battle against the Legion's enemies. This change was passed on to Coreth and it will conflict with his mixed blood when his powers become strong enough. This confliction will destroy him if his blood is not perfectly balanced. The only ones who can do this are here on Azeroth. There is one problem, the only way my mate and I could be together for my whole life, as youkai have longer life spans than humans, was to magically link us. Both of us have the life spans of youkai, but if one dies so does the other."
"What can we do to help?" Sanjuro asked with a very sincere look on his face.
It strikes me as odd that this man who I just met can so willingly help me. But what could he do? Then it dawned on me. I can't believe I am about to do this. This'll be more painful than anything I have ever done.
"I want you to take care of my son."
"What!" screamed the orcish warrior. All of his men looked like they were ready to crap themselves (that would be a good show).
"I will give you all the instructions in a magic stone."
"Are you sure about this Kenji?"
"I can't reach the white wolves with him slowing me down, and if I fail in this my mate and I will die for nothing. I cannot allow that to happen! Now I need a little bit of silence to put the instructions into the stone."
"Okay then, let me now when you are finished," the orc said as he sat down on a log.
What instructions should I put in the stone? Well he must be brought up to be an honorable young man and must never forget the face of his father. He must be taught what my father taught me. Well all of those lessons are already recorded, so I guess that is it. Oh yeah, can't forget to put in the images of my family, and friends. Wait, gotta put in an image of me in there. How is Coreth to remember me face if he has never seen it. Well that's it then.
"I'm finished, Sanjuro."
"How will I use it?"
"Just will the information into your mind," I said as I handed to Sanjuro the stone as well as my sword, "Make sure Coreth gets this when he is old enough to wield a sword, it has served all of it's usefulness to me. Please teach Coreth pride about his youkai heritage and send him to find the shadow youkai when it is time."
"He will know of his heritage and of the honor and courage of his father."
"Thank you, if I lived I could never repay you enough." I said and I meant it.
"Just succeed in your task, that will be thanks enough for me."
"Good bye, Sanjuro I wish you the blood of your enemies and the glory of victory.
"Good bye, Kenji I wish you a happy afterlife and speed in your task."
And so I continued my search for the white wolves.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I opened my eyes and looked around at my surroundings. I was on the grasslands of the Western Lands again! I can't believe it! This is wonderful!
"Hello, Kenji"
I turned around and there she was, as beautiful in the afterlife as she was when alive.
"Hello, Rin"
"I missed you Kenji. Your journey went well I hope?"
"Of course, and don't worry about Coreth he will turn out just fine. I love you.
"I love you too," she said as she grabbed my hand (her moods could always be somewhat erratic), "Come Kenji, we must say hello to each others parents."
"That would make me very happy Rin"
_____________________________________________________________________________________
In the nation of Durotar a young hanyou was being brought up by an orcish Blademaster. This hanyou would raise the most powerful youkai army ever seen on any world and bring the most vile and twisted dynasty to it's knees. His empire slaughtered many oppressors of the weak, but more importantly he made his father proud and never forgot his face. But that is a story for another time.
Kenji of the white inu (dog)-youkai. The same youkai that were allies of the white wolf youkai in the elder days before the coming of the humans. Kenji. Yep, that's me. I'm Kenji, son of one of the Great Dog Youkai's greatest generals. I barely knew him and yet his teachings made me the man I am today. Unfortunately, the son I hold in my arms will have a similar fate, but the only teachings he'll have are the ones I can fit in this stupid stone of recollections.
It may seem strange to you (who is me since I'm talking to myself) that I'm running through a forest on a world I only know by the lies told to me and the smell of the white wolves I'm tracking. It may seem stranger still that I'm holding my son while running through the forest tracking youkai. Let me assure you that Sesshoumaru has assured me that this is the right course of action considering my current situation. The part of our last conversation (probably our very last since I'll be dead in twelve days anyway) in which he gave me his assurances that I must take little Coreth with me is where I happen to be in my memory insertion thing I am doing with the stone of recollection. Gods I hate this thing.
"What do you mean I must take Coreth with me to Azeroth?" I screamed at my father-in-law.
"I mean you have to take Coreth with you." the arse wipe said quietly, his perfectly calm mask never faltering.
"Look Sesshoumaru I respect you but I can't understand why I have to take my newborn son to Azeroth. I mean that's just foolish!" I shouted.
"Okay fine Kenji you want the answer-"
"Of course I do!"
"Don't interrupt me Kenji!" roared the angry youkai lord (guess I shouldn't have done that to him). "There is something wrong with Coreth. Don't give me that look; I know what I'm talking about. It has to do with the time when Rin was little and her village was raided. When I revived her it changed something in her. It is the reason that the Pit Lord's spell hasn't transformed her yet. That, and Miroku knows his spells very very well. Anyway as I was saying, when this change was passed on to Coreth it conflicted with his mixed blood. If his blood isn't perfectly balanced when he becomes old enough, he will be slowly destroyed from the inside out."
"That's impossible! How could you know something like that and what does it all have to do with my son's being in Azeroth?"
"When Tensaiga was forged the greatest of my father's seers had a vision. He saw that the use of this sword would lead to some complications. This seer persuaded my father to allow him to cast a spell over it. When the time came the seer told my father that I would know what to do with the spell after he taught me the ritual to use it. That is what I would have done--If you and Rin were both going to live that long, but the chances of that are quite slim now."
"That still doesn't explain why I must take Coreth with me."
"The only reason the seer was able to cast such a complex spell over my sword is that he studied under an ancient race of youkai who accidentally banished themselves to Azeroth, or so he told me. I think that if Coreth could find those youkai when he is older he might be able to live."
"How did he know that they banished themselves to Azeroth. Why couldn't it have been somewhere else, huh? If these guys were so damn smart, why did they screw up so badly as to send themselves to another world"
"He was a seer Kenji. I thought you were smarter than that. And you of all people should know by your experience with Sen-maru that power can breed foolishness."
"Heh, sorry." Man did I feel stupid.
"Well time is running out. Here take this. It is called a stone of recollection, you know how to use it don't you?" he said as he handed a small, slightly glowing rock to me.
"Yeah, I think."
"Well, take Coreth and go. You can use the stone on the way."
"Okay, and Sesshoumaru?
"Yes, Kenji?"
" Do anything you must to keep Rin from transforming okay, I mean anything."
"Okay."
I then snuck into my house, (never thought I'd do that) and took Coreth and my sword to the portal the Pit Lord had recently used. I braced myself and jumped through the portal with Coreth in my arms.
Unknown to me (although I would find out in about twelve days), Sesshoumaru then destroyed the portal. But despite that, it would not be the last time it would be used.
My time is running out. I can feel my beloved mate getting weaker by the day. Come on Rin just hold on a little longer. At my best traveling speeds I'm about two and a half days behind the white wolf tribe. But it is kind of hard to go your fastest when you have to take care of your son. As much as I love the little guy he really is slowing me down. If I don't figure out something soon I might fail in this little endeavor of mine. That would suck. A lot. I can't let that happen.
On the eighth day out from the portal I get found by the green monsters. Great, like I really need a fight right now. These guys don't exactly look like they want to sit down for a nice cup of tea. They look more like they'd rather rip off someone's head, just like any one of the countless youkai I've seen. More importantly they all looked like good fighters who loved a good fight, also like any one of the countless youkai I've seen.
A smaller (than the rest) green skin stepped forward. Is that a disemboweler's edge on his sword? ...Great it is. He was dressed strangely too, with no covering on his upper body and the lower half was dressed in pants that looked like a cross between a ninja outfit and a samurai's armor. That doesn't make any sense though, the humans of Azeroth are nothing like the humans on the islands they call Nihon. Oh well I had better start paying attention--he is starting to talk.
"Hello strange warrior I greet you in the name of Durotar and the orcish Horde!" their leader (war chief perhaps?) shouted, "My name is Sanjuro. Might I ask what is yours?"
"Kenji and I really don't want a fight," I said pleadingly. Hmph, imagine the Mad Dog of the Western Lands pleading.
"Of course not, but I am wondering why you are traveling with an infant," he said with a smug expression on his face, "I hope you are not a bandit. That would prove to be very bad for you indeed."
"Hmph, I am Kenji, general and heir to the Lord of the Western Lands, no mere bandit! The child's name is Coreth and I am his father. If I was a bandit do you honestly think I would be traveling alone?"
"I guess not." ,said the orc, "Well spoken and well met, Kenji of the Western Lands, but I must ask you, where are these Western Lands and why do you have the ears of a dog?"
Took him long enough to notice the ears, " Do you understand there are other worlds than this?" I said Hope he doesn't think I'm completely nuts.
"Yes, us orcs come from a world called Draenor."
"Good then you will understand what I mean when I say that the Western Lands are on another world.
This world has creatures called youkai or demons by some. I am a hanyou--a crossbreed between youkai and human. The reason for my strange ears is the fact that my father was a dog youkai. There are more of my kind here. They were the allies of the white dog youkai in the elder days, but they have been tricked into allying themselves with the Burning Legion. The Legion plans on betraying them and I must warn them of the damned Legion's treachery!" Ugh, I hate long explanations.
The orc paused for a long moment then said, "Your story makes my heart heavy, for we too were once the tools of the Legion. But why do you bring your son on such a grave errand?"
"Well to make a long story short my mate died in a raid on her village, but my father-in-law took pity on her and used his sword--the Tensaiga-- to revive her. The magic changed something in her, as powerful magic often does. This change is part of the reason she has survived this long against the Pit Lord's curse which was placed on her because I would not cooperate and lead my fellow youkai in battle against the Legion's enemies. This change was passed on to Coreth and it will conflict with his mixed blood when his powers become strong enough. This confliction will destroy him if his blood is not perfectly balanced. The only ones who can do this are here on Azeroth. There is one problem, the only way my mate and I could be together for my whole life, as youkai have longer life spans than humans, was to magically link us. Both of us have the life spans of youkai, but if one dies so does the other."
"What can we do to help?" Sanjuro asked with a very sincere look on his face.
It strikes me as odd that this man who I just met can so willingly help me. But what could he do? Then it dawned on me. I can't believe I am about to do this. This'll be more painful than anything I have ever done.
"I want you to take care of my son."
"What!" screamed the orcish warrior. All of his men looked like they were ready to crap themselves (that would be a good show).
"I will give you all the instructions in a magic stone."
"Are you sure about this Kenji?"
"I can't reach the white wolves with him slowing me down, and if I fail in this my mate and I will die for nothing. I cannot allow that to happen! Now I need a little bit of silence to put the instructions into the stone."
"Okay then, let me now when you are finished," the orc said as he sat down on a log.
What instructions should I put in the stone? Well he must be brought up to be an honorable young man and must never forget the face of his father. He must be taught what my father taught me. Well all of those lessons are already recorded, so I guess that is it. Oh yeah, can't forget to put in the images of my family, and friends. Wait, gotta put in an image of me in there. How is Coreth to remember me face if he has never seen it. Well that's it then.
"I'm finished, Sanjuro."
"How will I use it?"
"Just will the information into your mind," I said as I handed to Sanjuro the stone as well as my sword, "Make sure Coreth gets this when he is old enough to wield a sword, it has served all of it's usefulness to me. Please teach Coreth pride about his youkai heritage and send him to find the shadow youkai when it is time."
"He will know of his heritage and of the honor and courage of his father."
"Thank you, if I lived I could never repay you enough." I said and I meant it.
"Just succeed in your task, that will be thanks enough for me."
"Good bye, Sanjuro I wish you the blood of your enemies and the glory of victory.
"Good bye, Kenji I wish you a happy afterlife and speed in your task."
And so I continued my search for the white wolves.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I opened my eyes and looked around at my surroundings. I was on the grasslands of the Western Lands again! I can't believe it! This is wonderful!
"Hello, Kenji"
I turned around and there she was, as beautiful in the afterlife as she was when alive.
"Hello, Rin"
"I missed you Kenji. Your journey went well I hope?"
"Of course, and don't worry about Coreth he will turn out just fine. I love you.
"I love you too," she said as she grabbed my hand (her moods could always be somewhat erratic), "Come Kenji, we must say hello to each others parents."
"That would make me very happy Rin"
_____________________________________________________________________________________
In the nation of Durotar a young hanyou was being brought up by an orcish Blademaster. This hanyou would raise the most powerful youkai army ever seen on any world and bring the most vile and twisted dynasty to it's knees. His empire slaughtered many oppressors of the weak, but more importantly he made his father proud and never forgot his face. But that is a story for another time.