"I don't understand!" I yelled.

"Kakayu," Father said in annoyance "stop your whining."

"No! You need to explain to me why I'm not as strong as you are." I was always envious of my father's power. I knew that probably being his daughter, I would never amount to the same greatness as he. I couldn't help but dream though. My father was Lord Bushou, the lord of the northern cat demon tribe. He was given the title of being the strongest demon in existence, because he was able to tap into the cat demons true power without losing his self being. In the past, there was only one other demon able to do that. It was rumored that my father was the reincarnation of that demon.

Father would tell me wonderful stories about his life. He and his twin brother, Baiyou, were born into what they call a pure blood family. This means he was not born of parents who had a human form, rather he was born to parents who were of cat form. They had siblings that looked like cats, like our servant and protector cat demons. Their family was taken in by a human lord, and they became the village guardians. It was the lord who gave my father and uncle their names. Until one day, the village was pillaged and my father and his family had to leave.

They were happy, though, living in the wild. One day, once father and uncle were older, they encountered three dog demons. A father, and twin sons; the twin sons were named InuTaisho and InuTachi. The father of the two was monstrous, and ordered his sons to attack father and his family. Father and uncle fought in defense, and the dog demons disappeared.

Later in life, the twins became dog rulers of the west and east; InuTaisho ruled the west and his brother ruled the east. It was at that time, father lived in the northern cat tribe with half of his siblings and mother while uncle lived in the southern cat tribe with the rest of the family. InuTaisho approached the lord of the cat demon tribe, asking for an alliance in a war against the wolverine demons.

"I was confused," Father would tell me "at that time, there was no war. But Taisho definitely had intuition, and knew that the wolverines would strike soon. And our alliance was powerful, no doubt. The two dog demon tribes, and three of the cat demon tribes; the cat demon tribe of the east would never go into battle, they were peaceful and kind. But those demons were not born to fight, they are weak."

The battle against the wolverine demons waged for centuries. The leader of the wolverines would capture, torture, and kill any cat or dog demons he could get his hands on.

"I knew he was just waiting, waiting for the lords to have children so he could capture them as prisoners. But that wouldn't be for another century. He was willing to wait that long though."

"Are you listening to me?!" I screamed "Tell me why you have all the power and I have none!"

"Kakayu, you are plenty powerful. Just look at your sister," He looked over to my sister, KaLa. She looked too different from me to be considered my twin. Her ears were a different color than mine, and she had a tail. She always walked around with a smile on her face…and was a complete pansy when it came to battle. "Compared to her, you're the most powerful demon."

"Anyone compared to that pathetic excuse for a cat demon is more powerful! Compared to you, father, I'm nothing!"

"Don't be so cross."

"It's the truth! One day father, I'll prove to you that I am just as powerful as you. No matter what it takes."

"Kakayu," His expression becomes serious and he deepens his voice "Your conquest for power will destroy you, and hurt the people you care about."

"That's impossible," I mumble "I don't care about anyone."

"We'll see about that, daughter."

"What exactly do you think I'm going to do? It's not like I'm going to kill my family to prove I have power."

I started to daydream again, about father's stories. It was in the middle of the war, times were hard and the cat and dog demons lived together for support. Food was running scarce, and demons were dying because of the war. The cat demon leader had been slain in battle, and the cat demons were in debate about who should take over.

"Taisho would tease me, say that I should volunteer. But I knew I wouldn't pass any kind of test they would put me through. I got scared easily, and had nowhere near the power my brother had. He was always stronger, faster, and wiser. That's why he became the cat demon leader of the southern tribe. I was envious of him, but I was more proud of him than anything.

"I had a strange feeling one day, like something bad was going to happen. And it did. A mountain demon came, and when I say mountain demon I mean it literally. He was enormous, and the size of a mountain. He was a plant demon, somehow mutated into some homicidal being. I pitied him; he had no control over what was happening to him. My tribe fought him, but he was ruthless. He slaughtered one after the other. I joined in the attempt too, and he struck me hard and fast. Taisho came to my aid as I lay half-dead on the ground. Then my pulse started racing, and I blacked out. When I came to again, I was in my demonic form. But this wasn't my normal demonic form. I had unleashed the cat demons true power and defeated the mountain demon. The tribe was watching me, preparing to attack and kill me as needed. For, you see, any person that ever unleashed the cat demons true power lost themselves and would kill until they are killed. All except for one demon, thousands of years ago. But I hadn't lost myself, I was aware of what I was doing. I saw something shining in the corpse of the mountain demon, and I relieved myself into my usual form. Everyone in the tribe watched me in awe as I somehow was able to bring myself back to normal. I didn't take the time to talk to them, because in the corpse of the mountain demon what the infamous Shikon no tama."

It was a unanimous decision among the tribe that father would have the power to be the cat demon leader. And everyone was happy with that, but father was overwhelmed. He had ultimate power right underneath him, with a tribe and a powerful gem. He didn't know what the best was for his tribe.

I noticed at this point, I was walking in the woods although I don't remember ever walking away from my father. I didn't mind though, I was lost in my fathers' memories.

Father and InuTaisho were very good friends. There was a time of peace during the war for about fifty years, and they spent time apart. When Taisho returned, he had sons; twins of course. They were named Sesshomaru and Itsuyu. Itsuyu was a special demon, one of the few chosen at birth to be elemental.

"Taisho told me how it happened, when he found out his son was an elemental demon. He said there were no words to describe what happened. It was a ritual, and all he could see was a yellow sphere like the sun entered Itsuyu's body. And a voice inside his head, that told him the truth behind his sons' existence. He was such a wonderful father to those boys, and it made me realize how much I wanted children of my own."

Father never expected to find a wife, but that was the last thing on his mind when he found my mother. The war had taken a turn for the worse, and as the tribe leader my father was under a lot of pressure to act. He performed well under the pressure, and succeeded many times in battle.

"The one thing I was never prepared for was when I fell for your mother." He would always stop to smile at me, and he would always have tears in his eyes "I fell for her hard. And when you and your sister were born, I felt it was the greatest accomplishment of my life. And I was happy, despite the war still waging as strong as it was. "He would then pause, and his smile would vanish "And the day she died was the worst day of my life. And I promised myself, as well as your mother, that I would be a great father."

As me and my sister grew older, we were prepared to go into battle. Taisho and his sons trained with us, and I grew close to Sesshomaru. He and his brother were wonderful to be around, always fun and making us laugh. But they knew when it was time to be serious, and they proved to be a good match in battle. And in our first battle, we were very victorious. Taisho managed to capture the wolverine leaders' sons, but unfortunately Sesshomaru was captured too. Unlike the wolverines, we did not torture our prisoners; we simply contained them as a means to get back our prisoners.

I was there the day the war ended, and the prisoners were exchanged. The wolverine leader came to us with a peace statement, and we had won. The younger of his two sons, however, refused to return to his father; he claimed that as being prisoner among us, he was treated better than living among his father. He was gladly accepted into our tribe, under my fathers' rule. When Sesshomaru returned to us, he was never the same. He wouldn't smile, he wouldn't talk, he lost all emotion; I can't even imagine the horrors he must have gone through for him to act this way.

Father remained in possession of the Shikon no tama, mainly because he didn't want any other demon to abuse it. Father would never use it himself because he knew of its destructive power. He found a good solution to this problem, and he had me travel with him to the human village of the demon slayers. Father then entrusted the jewel to the lord of that village, and offered an alliance between the cat demons and demon slayers. Father assured them that the cat demons would never attack humans. To build that trust, we gave them a few of our servant cat demons.

I've heard since then the jewel has been in different hands. The demon slayers gave the jewel to a priestess, and when she died the jewel was burned with her. Her reincarnation brought the jewel back, and then shattered it.

"The jewel…" I said out loud, unaware I wasn't alone"If I had just a piece of the jewel, I would be stronger than father."

"Is that what you want?"

"Who said that?!" I jumped from where I was sitting and took a fighting stance. The voice sent chills down my spine, I didn't trust whoever this person was.

"If it is power you seek, I can give it to you."

"Yes I am seeking power; I will not be given it!" I snapped back "Show yourself!" A man in a white baboon pelt approached me, and from under the pelt his hand reached out and he held nearly a dozen jewel shards. I stared in awe, and unknowingly walked closer to the man and lowered my arms out of fighting stance.

"You say you wouldn't have me give you power, so how about you earn these jewels from me?"

"How would I do that?"

"Serve under me and you shall receive these gems as you accomplish tasks." I stopped to think about his offer. It was fair, but I still wasn't sure if I could trust his intentions. After all, what does he need me for?

"If you have so many of the shards, why don't you use them yourself?"

"Because I want to help you…Kakayu is it?"

"Why?"

"Does there have to be a reason?"

"Of course!"

"I need someone with power to defeat my enemies, and you have more power than all my servants combined. And with you at my side, we will be formidable."

"We? I don't want team power."

"You will have your power, and I will have mine. Think about my offer, and give me an answer tomorrow at this time." With that, the man disappeared into the darkness of the forest. I attempted to follow him to ask more questions, but it was almost as if he vanished into air. I figured it was better off that way; I wasn't in the mood to kill some lowly demon that needs other people to achieve greatness.

On my way back to the village, I ran into my sister. I decided it was best to ignore her, and I needed to speak to my father again. By then I pretty much decided that if someone is truly great they achieve it on their own, not with the power of jewel shards. I would just need to ask father how long it would take before I would be able to unleash my true power just as he had. Once I can do that, I will surpass his power.

"Father?" I questioned as I walked into the hall of the castle.

"Kakayu," he smiled at me "I hope you're feeling better. Don't be discouraged just because you're not as strong as I am now. One day you will be."

"One day?!" I realized he was right, it would probably take me centuries before I could amount to the power I wanted. But I knew there had to be a trick to get to where I wanted. "Father, you need to tell me how I unleash the true power so I can be strong now."

"If you try now, the demonic form will devour your soul. You're plenty powerful when you transform anyways, you don't need to reveal your true form."

"Everyone is plenty powerful in their transformation, but we're all the same degree of powerful. Except for you, why do you get to be so special?" He didn't answer me, but he shook his head and began to walk away "You don't have an answer, do you?!" He stopped and glared at me.

"You are selfish, and ignorant. If you really want the power, you find a way to get it. Maybe on your quest you will learn a thing or two about the real pursuit of power."

"I will find a way, and I won't find it by staying here!" With that said, I ran out of the building and into the forest. I hoped that the strange man was still around, and maybe would hear me. I started screaming as loud as I could, still running, and I started crying. I tripped unexpectedly, and landed hard onto the ground. Still crying, I raised myself up; he was standing there.

"Kakayu, why are you crying?"

"Shut up freak!" I screamed as I stood up. I quickly wiped my tears and sweat and stood in front of him. "I've decided to accept your offer."

"That didn't take much thought." I glared at him, and I saw him grin from under the pelt. He then raised the head of the pelt to reveal his face. "My name is Naraku."

"Well, Naraku," I said as I regained my composure "I now serve under you."

"Good. Come with me to the castle, and I will give you your first assignment."