For the longest time, people cowered at the mere mention of the Inu no Taishō - and with good reason.
The Inu no Taishō was a daiyōkai to be feared. He ruled over the West, merciless in defending it. He never hesitated when he killed. He did not care much for his wife nor his son. He was selfish and cruel, to the point that his own allies never approached him, too fearful of his wrath.
Stories of his temper reached the ears of a very powerful priestess, and Midoriko decided to test the great Inu no Taishō. Surely this was all a jest, wasn't it? Some demons had tainted souls, but all of them could learn to love. Everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt.
And with that in mind, Midoriko took off for the Inu no Taishō's large castle.
It was a cold winter's night when an old, weak demon knocked upon the Inu no Taishō's home. Grumbling, the Inu no Taishō went to answer the call himself, for his wife and son were being annoying and he didn't feel like dealing with them. At seeing the weak demon, he demanded, "What do you want?"
"Can your kind soul offer a demon like me one night of shelter?" the demon asked, with a raspy voice. "In exchange, I'll give you this." She lifted up a jewel shard - one that glittered pink. "It's a shard of the Shikon no Tama."
The Inu no Taishō wrinkled his nose at her and turned around. "As if I would let someone like you into my home. Get lost."
"Don't let appearances dissuade you, Inu no Taishō," the old demon warned him. "Please—"
"I told you to get lost!" the Inu no Taishō grabbed the hilt of his sword, snarling silently in warning. The demon sighed, as if disappointed, and pulled off the cloak she was wearing. And before his very eyes, the ugliness melted, leaving in place the beautiful Midoriko, who put a hand on the hilt of her own sword.
The Inu no Taishō's eyes widened, for even he had heard of the powerful Midoriko. He began to pull out his sword, but stopped when she sighed again.
"There is no love in your heart, Inu no Taishō." She spoke slowly, eyes closed before they were snapped open, revealing eyes that seemed to burn.
"Demons don't love." He spat out the word, disgusted at even the thought of it.
"They can learn to love, like your wife has learned to love your son," Midoriko corrected. "You won't even give love a chance." All of the sudden, she took out a sutra, throwing it on to him. The Inu no Taishō howled in pain, and fell to his knees, gripping himself. The demons in his home rushed to him when they heard it, and to their horror, he began to change.
At first, he seemed to be only morphing to his true form - but he did not grow into it. In fact, it was as if Midoriko had seen his true form and tweaked it to make him stay at relatively the same height, and giving him an uglier, ragged, humanoid appearance - complete with thumbs.
Midoriko waited until he finished screaming, and when he looked up at her she tossed the Shikon no Tama shard towards him. It clattered, and then stopped innocently in front of his face.
"I am placing a curse onto your castle," she spoke. "Everyone living here other than you will be unable to leave. But I do not think you'll be wanting to go outside like this, are you?"
The former Inu no Taishō snarled at her, but she continued on as if she hadn't heard him. "The shard is enchanted. It will slowly grow over the years. If, somehow, you can learn to love another, and earn their love in return before the jewel is completed, then the curse will be broken, and you will turn back into your normal self. And if not, you'll be doomed to stay this way forever."
The priestess turned around to walk away, before stopping and pulling something out of her armor. Turning slightly, she tossed it at him, and by pure reflex he caught it. Looking down at him, it was revealed to be a mirror.
"That mirror is your only window to the outside world. Use it well…Hellhound."
And with that, she was gone, and everyone looked at each other silently.
"We're doomed," the Inu no Taishō's son, Sesshomaru, said bluntly. And his mother sighed and rubbed his head, silently agreeing.
For who could ever learn to love a hellhound?
###
If Izayoi didn't find him herself, she was going to kill her father.
Grumbling as she rode on her father's horse, she looked around. This was a part of the forest she was unfamiliar with, so why on earth had her father gone this way looking for her?
"Where is my father, Hana? Why is his horse here but he isn't?"
"…Shoichi-sama left a few hours ago to look for you, Izayoi-hime. The horse came back without him."
"Honestly!" Izayoi muttered to herself as she pressed forward. "Chichi-ue should know better than to go look for me, I always come back…"
But, Izayoi thought guiltily, this had been the longest she had been gone. It was no wonder her father had gotten so worried, but with his constant urging of getting married to Takemaru, she couldn't help it.
Takemaru was a fine samurai, and a good childhood friend. But Izayoi couldn't bring herself to think of…to think of marrying him. She wanted to do so much more with her life than be an obedient little wife to Takemaru. She wanted to travel the world, find more herbs to study, and to find more things to read.
Izayoi knew that she'd have to leave her dreams behind one day. But right now, looking for her father who had never even been into the forest in his life, that day was not today.
The horse neighed fearfully, and Izayoi frowned and looked up—
—and nearly fell off.
How did I not notice? she wondered as she steadied herself, swallowing. How indeed - how exactly did one miss a gigantic castle, one that commanded respect that was obtained by fear?
And yet, somehow…Izayoi was drawn to it. She wanted to know if anyone lived in it, and if so, why? She wanted to know the history behind it, and how many kilometers long the castle grounds had. She wanted to know everything about it.
Her father always did tell her she would die because of her curiosity.
With that cheerful thought in mind, Izayoi slid off of the horse, grabbing his reins to lead him in. She looked around, catching some plants that could very easily be medical…or poisonous. She promised herself that she'd look at them later, before pressing forward. Subconsciously, she let go of the reins, before slowly entering the castle.
Izayoi knew it was rude to enter without alerting the people inside, but judging by how jumpy the horse had gotten the closer it got to the castle, she just knew that her father was in there. And damn her if she was just going to leave him here!
"Hello?" she called into the dark space. There were no candles lit, and all of the windows seemed to be covered with tapestries. "Anyone here?"
Wind blew in from the open door, and Izayoi automatically closed the door as she was accustomed to doing back in her own castle. She even forgot to take off her zori, so distracted she was.
"Chichi-ue? Are you here?" she called, jumping as a tapestry brushed against her arm. Glaring at it as if it had offended her, she took out two rocks from her bag and spotted an empty torch on the ground. Kneeling down while thanking Kami that she hadn't changed from her latest escapade to the forest (multiple layers of kimono would've just made this harder), she began to rub the rocks over it, and smiling smugly when a spark jumped off onto the torch. Quickly picking it up, she dropped the rocks to gently wave on it, giving it oxygen without blowing it out. Soon enough, she had a lit torch, and nodding in satisfaction, she continued onto her way.
"Chichi-ue? Anyone?" she called again, and this time she got a reply.
"Over here!"
Izayoi turned to look for the source wildly. It definitely wasn't her father's voice - Chichi-ue's voice resonated and demanded attention - but it was high and squeaky while still distinctly male. "Is someone there?" she asked, taking a hesitant step forward.
"Over here!" the voice called again, and this time Izayoi was able to pinpoint where it was coming from - from the open door leading off to a corridor that went outside. Izayoi rushed over, looking around for the person - he didn't seem to be anywhere, so he must've left.
"Wait! I'm looking for my father!" she called, rushing forward and opening the slide that led to the next room.
Silence. Then—
"Izayoi?"
Putting a hand to her mouth, she rushed forward before collapsing onto her knees. There, in the middle of the room, were iron bars - and behind those bars was her father, with only his haori to keep him warm from the winter chill. There was no torches lit to even give him warmth.
"Chichi-ue!" Putting the torch on one of the torch holders, she grasped his hands through the bars. "Your hands are like ice," she noticed, aghast as she frantically rubbed them to get the circulation going.
"How did you find me?" Shoichi murmured, pulling one hand away to touch Izayoi's cheek. "Never mind that - you need to leave, Izayoi!"
Izayoi shook her head, grabbing his hand again. "Chichi-ue, how can you even suggest—"
"Izayoi, listen to me. You need to leave before it's too late!" Shoichi's hands shook in hers, and somehow the hime knew that it wasn't because of the cold. Her father - her gentle yet brave father - was scared.
"Who did this to you?" Izayoi demanded, her anger flaring up. How could anyone hurt her father? He did his best to remain neutral in wars, helping the people in need - he didn't deserve this!
"There's no time! Izayoi, for once, please listen to me!" Shoichi pleaded. But Izayoi still shook her head, refusing to leave him. She was many things, but a coward was not one of them. She would never be able to live with the guilt of leaving her father behind.
"I refuse to leave you!"
And that was all she was able to get out before something was strength she didn't know existed grabbed her shoulder and whipped her around, making her back hit the bars. She gasped, looking around widely. The torch didn't give much light - only enough to see her father's terrified face…and a huge outline in the dark.
"What are you doing here?" A voice, low and deep and dark, growled out.
"Izayoi, get out of here!" Shoichi pleaded, pushing her shoulders fruitlessly to get her to move, but she stayed firm, shielding her father with her own body. She was small, something she had inherited from her late mother, but that wouldn't stop her if this…this thing tried anything.
"Who's there?" Izayoi picked up a sound of feet moving to the side, so she moved her own head to follow the outline. "Who are you?" She tried to sound brave, but the wavering in her voice wasn't really convincing anyone.
"The master of this castle," the voice replied loudly with a snarl, and she flinched momentarily before sitting up straight, hands curling into her own haori to stop them from shaking.
"I've come for my father," Izayoi said loudly, brown eyes flashing in anger. "May you please let him out? He's getting sicker the longer he's here!"
"Then he shouldn't have trespassed here." Something changed in the voice, making the voice sound more like a parent than a jail-keeper.
Izayoi gritted her teeth and yelled, "But he could die! Please, I'll do anything!" By the time she was done speaking, she sounded more like a scared child than a demanding princess, and Izayoi's eyes stung with tears.
"There's nothing you can do." This time he sounded bitter, as if there was something deeper that she wasn't understanding. She didn't have time to continue the line of thought before he continued, "He's my prisoner, and he'll stay my prisoner until his body rots."
The outline began to leave, and mind racing, and she leaned forward, letting the light of the torch fully hit her face, her mouth moving before her mind had fully decided: "Take me, instead!"
Shoichi gaped at his daughter, before tightening his grip on her shoulders and shaking her slightly. "No, Izayoi! Get out of here! You don't know what you're doing!"
Of course the first time Chichi-ue is wrong is right now, Izayoi thought bitterly. Because she knew exactly what she was doing.
"You!" The figure seemed to scoff, before he fell silent, as if thinking. "You…you would take his place?" Now he sounded hesitant, as if not quite believing his ears, but Izayoi didn't think too much about it. Right now, the only thing she was concentrated on was making sure that her father got out.
"If I did, would you let him go?" Izayoi asked, giving up on trying to sound brave. The truth was, she was angry but terrified. But she would give up the world to make sure that Chichi-ue would get out okay.
"Yes…but you must promise to stay here forever." The outline came closer, and now the only thing Izayoi could see was gold eyes surrounded by red. She looked down quickly, staring at her shaking hands now resting on her lap. She was ready to accept, but then she realized - in this entire exchange, she had never seen the captor's face.
"Only if you come into the light," Izayoi compromised, a single eyebrow raised at the figure, hoping this would work. If it didn't, she had just doomed her father to a terrible fate.
The first thing she saw was a foot covered in white tabi - but then she realized that it couldn't be tabi, because she could see claws on the tip of the toes. It was white fur, and as the figure slowly stepped into the figure, she could only take in a few details at a time. A long tail of white fur, an overall messy appearance. Ragged blue markings on his cheeks. A mouth full of fangs.
A true Hellhound.
Izayoi couldn't take it anymore - she turned around and hid her face into her father's chest as best as she could, breathing raggedly. Shoichi's hands had moved from her shoulders to her hands, and he gripped them tightly.
"Izayoi, you can't do this." His voice cracked, sounding broken, but Izayoi took another ragged, deep breath before looking up at him. She smiled at him in reassurance, before standing up and turning back around. She ignored her father attempting to grab onto her kimono, trying to stop her, and she stepped into the torchlight fully, eyes closed before she opened them. She had to tilt her head up fully to look at him straight in the eye, but she said in her best composed voice, "You have my word."
"Done!" The Hellhound talked too quickly, not giving her time to take back her word, and moved by her to open the bars. Izayoi collapsed to her knees, burying her face into her hands as she tried her best to contain her tears. There was a click sound, and suddenly her father was there, cupping her face with one hand and the other one gripping one of her hands.
"Izayoi, please don't! I'm old, I've lived my life—" Shoichi tried to say, but before he could get another word in the Hellhound grabbed him, picking him up easily and began to drag him out of the room.
"No, wait!" Izayoi begged desperately, trying to grab onto her father's hand. She had so many things to tell him - she needed to tell him how much she loves him, how sorry she was for being so rebellious, how much she wished she had listened to him, how much she was going to miss him—
She needed to say goodbye.
Shoichi was struggling against the Hellhound's grip, he, too, desperate. "Spare my daughter, please!" he pleaded. "She's done nothing wrong, she doesn't deserve this—"
The Hellhound rose the lord to be face to face with him, and he growled, "She's no longer your concern." And with that, he tossed Shoichi into the palanquin and ordered, "Take him to the castle."
Moving on its own, the old palanquin seemed to hover before speeding off, separating father and daughter, both with broken hearts.
###
When the Hellhound started to stalk back into the castle, his eye twitched when he felt something on his nose. Closing his eyes, he slapped a paw over his nose, and when he pulled back a tiny, flea yōkai drifted down onto it.
"Whaddya want, Myoga?" the Hellhound nearly demanded, stopping momentarily to glare at the flea. Myoga quivered in fear, but felt brave enough to say what was on his mind.
"Master, since the human is going to be with us for quite some time, I was thinking you might want to give her a more comfortable room than the cell!" Myoga jumped up and down on the hand, hoping that if he was moving fast enough he wouldn't be swatted away.
The Hellhound said nothing, only snarled at the flea, and the flea squeaked in terror and jumped into the fur covering the shoulder of his master. The Hellhound decided to leave him there, figuring he could swat him away if he tried anything stupid.
Coming back inside of the room he had kept the human lord captive, the Hellhound stopped and his eyes widened at seeing the human girl still on her knees, sniffling and rubbing her face with tiny hands.
Her bloodshot eyes flickered upwards to see who had entered, and anger began to bubble up in her chest. "I'm never going to see him again!" Her voice broke, and she looked down again and rubbed her face. "I'm never going to see him again, and you didn't even let me say goodbye."
The Hellhound averted his eyes, his nose twitching at the smell of tears, and said nothing. Seeing Myoga jumping up and down on his shoulder, the Hellhound cleared his throat and turned away, saying, "I'll show you to your room."
Izayoi's eyes widened, and she stood up, her legs shaking. "I thought—"
"What, you wanna stay in here for the rest of your life? If you do, then be my guest!" the Hellhound snapped, turning partially to look at her before his stomach flipped inside of him. Standing up to her full height (which was tiny, even for an average human), her shocked brown eyes, and her long black hair and pale skin illuminated by the torchlight, the Hellhound could fully appreciate just how beautiful this human woman was.
He quickly turned back around, trying to ignore the state his stomach was in. Now really wasn't the time for staring at pretty human girls. "Come on," he said roughly, stalking out of the room, and Izayoi hurriedly followed him.
They walked in silence, with Izayoi looking around the castle as they walked. It was a strange layout - it seemed to have multiple floors, with staircases leading up to what must be storage rooms…or something else. It was unlike anything she had ever seen, and despite how scared she was, she was still so very curious about it.
The Hellhound glanced back at her, watching her eyes as they moved around, taking everything in. She didn't seem so terrified anymore - scared, maybe, but not terrified - and so Myoga jumped up to the Hellhound's ear and whispered, "Talk to her!"
"I...um...hope you like it here." The Hellhound bit the inside of his cheek at just how nervous he came out. Why was he so nervous of a tiny ningen? She was a human! She could do him no harm! With that in mind, he continued on. "The castle is your home now, so you can go anywhere you wish…" He trailed off, remembering exactly one place the human couldn't go to. "Except the West Wing."
This place was making it really hard to not be curious. Izayoi couldn't stop herself from asking, "What's in the West Wing?"
The Hellhound stopped in his tracks, and before he could think twice about what he was doing he turned to her angrily and practically roared, "It's forbidden!"
Izayoi took a step back, a hand coming up and gripping the kimono over her chest. Myoga face-palmed and tugged at the Hellhound's ear, forcing him to continue walking. Izayoi bit her lip, but as the torchlight began to disappear she jogged lightly to catch up.
The Hellhound's ear twitched at her footsteps, and for a second he thought about how adorable her quiet footsteps were. Growling deep in his throat at himself, he slid open a door. Izayoi slowly stepped inside, looking around. It was a nice room - even nicer than her own. The entire room was covered in tatami mats, keeping her feet warm. It had thick wooden walls, keeping the cold out, and a huge fluffy futon with something that looked like it had been imported from the Continent to rest the head on. There was a small table with a pillow to kneel on to read or write. There was even a giant glass door that led to the forest outside, giving an undeniable good view once the snow melted.
The Hellhound, trying to be more gentle with her, said tenderly, "Now, if there's anything you need, my servants will attend you. Just yell."
"Dinner - invite her to dinner, Master!" Myoga frantically whispered into his ear, and the Hellhound's temper shook. He had never done this human courting, what was he supposed to do?
Going back onto how he used to do things, he growled out, "You will join me for dinner. That's not a request!" He slammed the door closed, and tears welled up into Izayoi's eyes. Finally letting herself go, she ran to the futon, throwing herself onto it to sob into her arms.
She didn't know how long she had been crying - it could've been hours - but all of the sudden two things happened: one, she felt something stinging in her neck. Two, there was a knock on the door.
Izayoi sat up slowly, calling out, "Who is it?" as she absentmindedly slapping her neck to kill whatever had stung her. Her eyes widened at hearing a squeaky groan coming from the thing she had just attempted to kill.
The door opened, and a female inu daiyōkai entered. "I see Myoga already made your acquaintance," she said in an amused voice. Izayoi looked at her and her breath caught.
She was beautiful. She had pure, silver-white hair that was picked up into two high pigtails - something that Izayoi had always characterized for children, but on her she made it elegant. Everything about her was regal and elegant - from her expensive clothing to the blue crescent moon on her forehead.
She wasn't just beautiful. She was more like a goddess, something out of this world.
"Who?" Izayoi couldn't help asking, before crossing her eyes at seeing something dark on her nose. The tiny flea waved, and on instinct she flicked it away.
The flea squeaked in indignation, and the beautiful daiyōkai only laughed. "Please stop swatting me away, ojou-san!"
That voice… Ignoring how in-dignifying the position was, Izayoi knelt down and put her hands on the floor, looking at the speck curiously. "You're the voice who led me to Chichi-ue!"
"That I am! Myoga, at your service, ojou-san." The flea demon - he was even wearing tiny clothing! - bowed at her, and Izayoi covered her mouth to muffle her giggles.
"Please, Myoga, stop making a fool of yourself," the daiyōkai ordered, and the flea stopped. Izayoi immediately straightened herself up, controlling her features to appear just like the hime she was in front of what seemed to be the lady of the house.
If she's the lady of the house, that means…
"I am the master of this castle."
Shaking her head quickly, Izayoi tried her best to compose herself as the lady of the house looked at her, her purple lips twisting into an amused smile. The daiyōkai knelt in front of her, and said, "You carry yourself like a hime, ningen."
Against her will, Izayoi snapped, "My name is Izayoi." Eyes widening at what she had done, she immediately tried to take it back. "I'm the hime of the Nanase clan."
The lady of the house looked at her for a moment before she started to laugh. It was a light laughter, as if amused by something else on top of this. "I enjoy the spunk of this one, Myoga," she told the flea demon now sitting on her shoulder, and then she made eye contact with the human. "I am Inukimi, lady of the house."
"If you're the lady of the house, then doesn't that mean—?" Izayoi began to ask, before pursing her lips together.
Inukimi arched a thin eyebrow at her, her lips still in that amused smile. "Yes, the Hellhound and I were once married."
Izayoi's eyes widened, and Inukimi began to laugh again. "But—how—" Izayoi stuttered, shaking her head. "He's so—"
"Beastly?" Myoga suggested, and the Inukimi brushed him off her shoulder.
"I was going to say temperamental." Izayoi frowned at the flea, before looking up at Inukimi. She didn't notice how much the curiosity burned in her eyes, and Inukimi didn't bother hiding her smirk.
"He wasn't always that way. We've been waiting for quite a while for him to change." Inukimi tapped her cheek, smirking at Izayoi. "Who knows, though? Maybe it'll happen soon."
"What do you me—"
"Inukimi-sama! You mustn't tell her!" Myoga jumped up and down frantically. "You know what will happen if you do!"
"Haha-ue knows what she's doing, flea."
Izayoi quickly looked over. Staring at her from the doorway was a teenage boy - one that looked remarkably like Inukimi. He had the same facial structure, and long silver-white hair and matching gold eyes. The only difference between them was the stripes on his cheeks and the large fluffy mokomoko resting over his shoulder. He stared at her with cold gold eyes, almost glaring, and Izayoi automatically began to glare back.
Inukimi clapped her hands together lightly. "Sesshomaru, stop glaring at her. Izayoi-hime, this is my son, Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru, this is your father's guest, Izayoi-hime."
Sesshomaru "hmm"ed before turning around, leaving the room. Izayoi rolled her eyes. "I don't think he likes me that much," she muttered, before her eyes widened as her mind processed what exactly Inukimi had said. "His—"
"I told you, he hasn't always been this way." Inukimi's eyes sparkled. "Now, how about getting ready for dinner?"
###
The Hellhound paced the dining area on all fours, two trays full of food waiting to be eaten. "What's taking so long?" he growled out. "Why isn't she here yet?!"
"Oh, try to be patient, sir." A humanoid yōkai breathed fire into the fireplace, before continuing, "The girl has lost her father and her freedom all in one day, and your temper isn't exactly helping."
"Be quiet, Totosai," Sesshomaru snapped at the blacksmith, and he quickly fell silent, all too accustomed to the temper of the teenager. Keep this up and you'll become like your father, boy.
"Chichi-ue." Sesshomaru stepped in front of the pacing Hellhound, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do you honestly think that ningen might be the one to break the curse?"
"Of course I do!" the Hellhound snapped at him, stopping his pacing momentarily to snarl at him. "I'm not a fool."
"Good. You fall in love with her, she falls in love with you, and then the spell is broken, and I can leave this infernal place." Sesshomaru rolled his eyes upwards, as if thanking Kami for his good fortune.
"It's not that easy, Sesshomaru." Totosai pulled out a hammer and began to mold a hot piece of steel into a miniature sword. "These things take time."
"But the jewel is nearly complete!" Sesshomaru snapped. "If I'm stuck here forever because Chichi-ue is incapable of love—"
"Shut your trap, boy!" the Hellhound nearly roared at him, before his shoulders slumped, his entire demeanor changing. "This is hopeless. She's so beautiful, and I'm this!"
Sesshomaru just shrugged his shoulders and Totosai snorted. "Then make her see through all of that! You were fine as a boy!"
"That was years ago! I don't know where to start," the Hellhound ran his paws through his thick fur in aggravation.
"Well, you can start by making yourself more presentable," Sesshomaru spoke up. "You're only proving that priestess right acting like that. Straighten up."
The Hellhound growled lowly at his son, but when Sesshomaru didn't budge he straightened himself out, controlling his face into a neutral expression.
"Smile for once," Totosai piped up, finishing up the tiny sword and holding it up to see. The Hellhound tried his best, but he could feel his fangs poking out threateningly and jamming themselves onto his lips.
"Are you trying to scare her?" Sesshomaru snorted, shaking his head. "Try giving her compliments, Haha-ue loves it when she's complimented."
"Be gentle and sincere with her, girls don't appreciate liars, especially humans." Totosai added, before him and Sesshomaru said together as if it had been rehearsed, "And for the love of Kami, control your temper!"
The door slid open just a crack, and the Hellhound's head snapped towards it, eyes wide and expectant. But with a quick sniff, he could immediately tell that the human wasn't with his former wife even before she fully opened the door.
"Well, where is she?" the Hellhound growled, stalking forward to tower over Inukimi. Inukimi just looked up at him with her usual amused smile - the one that he constantly wanted to slap off her face. It was so infuriating.
"Oh, Izayoi-hime?" Her smile widened. "She's not coming."
Silence. Then—
"WHAT?!"
Before anyone could stop him, the Hellhound ran to Izayoi's room, his blood boiling in anger. How dare she - to just refuse - she had no idea who she was messing with—
Sliding to the door, he knocked on the wood of the doorway forcefully. "I thought I told you to come down to dinner!" he roared.
"Not hungry!" Izayoi called from inside, and his fur began to stand in anger.
"You'll come out or…I'll knock the door down!" the Hellhound snarled, eyes flashing in fury.
"Feel free!"
The Hellhound wanted to shake her for her impertinence but Totosai knocked onto his head with his hammer. When he turned to glare at the yōkai, Totosai just gave him a look and said, "At least try to be nice."
"But she is being so…difficult!" Hellhound directed the last bit towards the door, but whether or not Izayoi heard or not didn't matter.
"Be gentle," Inukimi advised, only smiling innocently when her former husband turned to glare at her.
Dejectedly, the Hellhound turned back to the door and muttered, "Will you come down to dinner?"
"No!"
The Hellhound turned to look at the group surrounding him, pointing to the door accusingly. Inukimi, who was reminded very much of her son when he was younger, just made a 'go on' motion with her hands.
Sighing, the Hellhound tried again. "It would give me great pleasure if you would join me for dinner." He didn't hide the annoyance in his voice very well, and Sesshomaru buried his face in his hands, groaning.
"Don't forget to say 'please'!" Myoga piped up from Totosai's shoulder, and the Hellhound nearly growled before he said through gritted teeth, "…please."
For just a moment, the Hellhound could practically see the human turning her nose away and huffing, before saying, "No, thank you."
That was when his temper snapped, and he yelled at the door, "You can't stay in there forever!"
"Watch me!"
"FINE!" The Hellhound turned and stalked away, leaving the others behind. Totosai sighed, as if he had been expecting this to happen, and he turned to look at Inukimi. "What now?"
"I'll go talk to her," she suggested. "You can come inside to meet Izayoi-hime. Sesshomaru, do you want to clean up the dinner or watch over the door with Myoga?"
"I'd rather clean than talk to her." Sesshomaru practically stomped away in anger, and Inukimi shook her head at how similar he really was to his father before sliding open the door to see Izayoi's surprised brown eyes.
"That went well, don't you think?" she said brightly.
###
The Hellhound ripped tapestries down onto the ground, growling as he paced in the dark. Letting out another roar, he stomped on a wooden table until it snapped in half.
"I ask nicely, she refuses," he snarled to himself. "What does she want me to do - beg?" He rushed over to the small elevated table with a cover over a hovering jewel, snatching the mirror that rested on it. "Show me the girl!"
The mirror glowed green, before revealing Izayoi sitting up on her futon, her arms curled around one of the bigger pillows as she steadily refused to make eye contact with Inukimi.
"Just give him a chance, Izayoi-hime," Inukimi was asking, not pleading, but in a more tired voice - the one she had when Sesshomaru was being an impatient little pup.
Izayoi shook her head vigorously, her shoulders still shaking from her screaming match with him. "I don't want to get to know him. I don't want to have anything to do with him!"
And with that statement, the Hellhound's anger faded away, and he shut his eyes tightly. "I'm such a fool." His voice was different - gentler, filled with hopelessness. "She'll never see me as anything...but a monster." He turned his back to the table, somehow knowing even as he spoke that another shard of the Shikon no Tama joined the jewel. "It's hopeless…"
Meanwhile, Izayoi was dragged out of her room by Inukimi, who had 'suggested' (more like ordered) her to take a tour of the castle, led by the flea demon Myoga and the humanoid yōkai Totosai. Izayoi blinked and Inukimi seemed to be gone.
"That's not strange at all…" she muttered, looking around. "Well, it is my first time in an enchanted castle," she mused, mostly to herself.
"Wha- this isn't an enchanted castle, hime! Who told you that?" Myoga jumped up and down on Totosai's shoulder, glaring at him. "It was you, wasn't it, Totosai?"
"No it wasn't, you buffoon—"
Izayoi laughed at their antics and said amusedly, "I figured it out for myself, actually."
"Oh." Myoga fell silent, and Totosai just shook his head and began to show the young human around. He liked her - she was feisty and wasn't afraid to talk back, even if the person she was talking back too was genuinely terrifying.
Izayoi listened to Totosai talk about the castle with one ear, mostly just looking around. Instead of her curiosity being sated, it only grew the more she walked. What did the Hellhound do to get all of this? Why was it so brightly lit and yet look so creepy? How did it stay so warm without any wind chilling her feet?
Through the corner of her eye, she spotted a darkened staircase. Interest piqued, she turned to look at it, and approached it slowly. What could be up there?
She only took a few steps up the stairs before Totosai suddenly appeared in front of her, and Myoga began to jump frantically. "Not this way, hime!"
They really weren't curbing her curiosity.
"What's up there?" Izayoi asked suspiciously, sidestepping the yōkai and continuing up the stairs, before he appeared in front of her again.
"Nothing!" Myoga told her frantically. "Absolutely nothing of interest at all in the West Wing. Dusty, dull, very boring, you wouldn't want to go there, hime—"
"Oh, so that's the West Wing." Izayoi smirked, remembering how fiercely the Hellhound had told her that the West Wing was forbidden. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him…
"Nice going, Myoga," Totosai muttered to the flea, flicking him away momentarily to block Izayoi's path once again.
"I wonder what he's hiding up there…" Izayoi mused, mostly to herself, forgetting the two yōkai with her. She couldn't help her curiosity - her curiosity had caused her to discover important things, even if it did drive her father crazy.
"The master is hiding nothing!" Myoga squeaked, and Totosai rubbed his face of how obvious the flea was being.
"Then it wouldn't be forbidden," Izayoi retorted, now determined to go up there to see what all the fuss was about. They clearly knew what was up there, and if Izayoi had money she would've bet that Inukimi and Sesshomaru would know too. She tried to go up the stairs again, but Totosai was surprisingly agile.
"Perhaps Izayoi-hime would like to see something else. We have a great forge right on the castle grounds…" Totosai piped up, trying to distract her from her curiosity of the West Wing.
"Maybe later," Izayoi answered distractedly as she tried to continue forward, but then Myoga piped up, "The gardens, or maybe the library?"
Izayoi's eyes widened and sparkled when she looked directly at them. "You have a library?" she asked eagerly, momentarily not thinking about her goal to to the West Wing. A real actual library? She didn't even have this at her own home!
Totosai seemed to sigh in relief at finding something that interested the human princess. Kami, humans were a handful… "Indeed we do, hime."
Myoga nodded in agreement eagerly. "More books and scrolls than you'll ever be able to read in a lifetime! Books that came from the continent, scrolls every author who ever set brush to paper…"
Totosai began to lead her to it, with Myoga still rambling on his shoulder. Izayoi began to follow them eagerly, before turning back to look at the staircase. Maybe if she took a quick peek then she could catch up with Totosai and Myoga and they wouldn't notice…
She practically skipped up the stairs as best as she could with a kimono on, looking around in excitement. It died the minute she entered the hallway leading to a great set of doors.
Everything seemed to be broken or clawed. There were torn pieces of tapestry everywhere, and as she walked past there was a broken mirror still partly in their frame. As she passed, each shard showed her shocked expression.
She reached the end of the hallway, right in front of the door. For a single moment, Izayoi hesitated. Should she really do this?
Too late to back out now… Taking a deep breath, she slid the two doors apart with difficultly, but when she did, her eyes widened dramatically.
If she thought that the hallway was bad, it was nothing compared to this. Everything was so destroyed that she could barely tell what it was anymore. She looked around, shivering when cold air blew in from the open window. She wrapped her arms around herself, still looking, and then stopped at seeing a painted scroll.
She approached it slowly, drawn to it. It was shredded, right over what seemed to be a face. The only thing she could see was serious gold eyes and silver hair pulled up in a high ponytail. She reached out, about to pull up the shredded part back up to reveal the entire face, when she noticed a pink glow.
Izayoi turned to look at what was causing the glow, and she gasped softly. There, on the elevated table, with a bell case over it, was a hovering jewel. It glowed pink, innocently, and she approached it, transfixed. As she came close to it, she noticed how the jewel seemed to be missing shards. Brushing some of her hair away from her face, she took off the case and reached out to touch it.
A shadow fell over her just before she could touch it. Snapping out of the trance she had been in, she turned to look at who was causing the shadow. Deep in her stomach, she knew who it was.
The Hellhound's breath caused a mist in the cold air as he breathed heavily, gold eyes shrouded in blood red, and Izayoi scrambled back. He snatched the jar back over the jewel, holding it there protectively for just a few moments, and then turned his attention to Izayoi.
"Why did you come here?" he growled lowly, and terror pierced Izayoi's heart.
"I-I'm sorry!" Izayoi leaned against what seemed to be a broken mast of wood, trying her best to hide from his view. "I-I didn't mean too—"
"I warned you never to come here! Do you realize what you could have done?" The Hellhound released the anger that had been building up on his chest, and he began to trash the furniture around them even more. Izayoi scrambled back, heading towards the door.
"Please, stop! No!" Was she crying? Izayoi couldn't tell. All she could concentrate on was how much anger he had in him, in how his claws could very easily tear into her next—
"Get out! GET OUT!" he roared at her, and for once in her life, Izayoi did what she was told.
The Hellhound's chest heaved, slowly calming himself down, before his eyes widened. What have I done? he though mournfully. He covered his face with one hand in despair, knowing without any doubt that he destroyed any chance he could've had with her.
Izayoi was rushing down the staircase, grabbing a haori she spotted nearby and pulling it on. Fumbling, grateful she had never bothered to take off her zori, she headed towards the main entrance.
"Promise or no promise, I can't stay here another minute!" she muttered to herself in despair, opening the door, ignoring Myoga's yells for her to wait.
Grateful that the horse had stayed where he was, she quickly mounted him, and took off into the forest. The snow was making it hard to move, but she pressed forward, determined to just go back home with her father and brush off this experience as a dream. The horse suddenly stopped, and as soon as Izayoi looked up she discovered why.
Wolves. Wolves with excessive amount of froth in their mouths with the fangs for the viewing. And she knew who they wanted for their next meal. Urging the horse forward, she ran from side to side, making the wolves hit the trees. She looked back momentarily to see how they were going, before the horse fell into a lake covered with ice and snow. The weight of both the horse and the princess made the ice break, and the wolves dove in. Some began to drown, but most of them continued coming.
"Come on, come on, come on!" Izayoi began to chant as the horse pulled himself out and continued to run into the forest. They had managed to make it into a clearing, but the wolves had seemed to anticipate that and had been waiting. They jumped out, slowly surrounding Izayoi and the horse. The horse nickered in fear, and bulked, making Izayoi fall off.
Pulling her face away from the freezing snow, she looked at how the wolves began to surround the horse who had somehow gotten his reins tried to a tree branch. Snatching up a nearby stick, she jumped over them, beating the wolves away with the stick. It was going pretty well before a wolf caught the stick in its mouth and snapped it in half.
"Oh boy," she muttered to herself, pressing herself even more into the horse, as if doing so would prevent the wolf from pouncing her. But it did, and even though she wanted to close her eyes, she just couldn't. She let out a mangled scream, and then—
The wolf was caught mid-air, by something whose fur was just as white as the snow. And the Hellhound roared.
The Hellhound threw the wolf away, making it slam against a tree. Another wolf, determined to avenge his comrade, jumped at him, and the Hellhound swatted it away as if it were Myoga. He cracked his neck, positioning himself between Izayoi and the wolves.
Izayoi could hardly believe what she was seeing. Wolf after wolf went after the Hellhound, and he took it all in stride. None of them were getting a scratch on him, but when one wolf's claw caught the Hellhound's arm, making it bleed red through the fur, they concentrated on that spot. The Hellhound didn't let that deteriorate him, and finally he managed to throw them all off, and they ran away, whimpering.
The Hellhound turned to look at Izayoi, his eyes glazed as he struggled to look at her. When he saw that she was unharmed, he actually looked relieved - that was, of course, until he swayed in spot. He obviously wasn't unaffected by the wolves, and he let out a whimper before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed against the ground.
Izayoi pressed a hand to her chest, trying to take everything in. She was alive? She could go back home now? Eagerly, she turned to mount the horse, before stopping at hearing a soft whimper, as if it were coming from a kicked puppy. Her shoulders slumped down at the sound, and her eyes widened.
He…he saved me. He was so angry before, and he scared me, but he saved me. He got injured because of me. He risked his life for me…
And with that thought in mind, Izayoi pulled the horse closer to the Hellhound to mount him on top of the horse to take him back to the enchanted castle.
###
The fireplace crackled, radiating warmth all throughout the room as Totosai constantly blew fire into it. Myoga hovered around him, eyeing his master sitting on the chair he had gotten from the Continent with claw marks on his arm. Inukimi and Sesshomaru stood nearby, not saying a word, although they both looked just mildly concerned.
Izayoi didn't notice any of that, only concentrating on soaking the rag with hot water that Sesshomaru had given her. She turned to the Hellhound, noticing how he was beginning to lick his wounds like a dog would.
"Oh, don't do that," she immediately said, and the Hellhound only growled at her. She ignored him, determined to clean the wound. She tried to do so with the rag, but the Hellhound kept moving his arm. "Hold still!" she ordered, using what her father had deemed as her princess voice, which made the Hellhound stop for just the right amount of time for her to press the rag to his wound.
The Hellhound roared, and both Totosai and Myoga moved back. Sesshomaru just flinched slightly, and Inukimi mourned the last chance she had of being able to return to her sky castle.
"That hurts!" the Hellhound roared directly in her face, only making her close her eyes against his breath, but that didn't stop her from snapping her eyes open to glare at him.
"If you'd hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much!" she retorted, eyes narrowing at him.
"Well, if you hadn't run away, this wouldn't have happened!" he growled back smugly, convinced that he had won the argument.
"Well, if you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't have run away!" Izayoi gestured with one arm to the door.
The Hellhound opened his mouth to retort, but closed it as he found nothing to say. What to say, what to say…suddenly remembering, he raised an eyebrow as he said, "Well, you shouldn't have been in the West Wing!"
"Well, you should learn to control your temper!" Izayoi snapped, hands curled into fists as she stared him down. The Hellhound raised his hand to bring up another point, but then he slowly realized he had none, so he lowered it and his head. Maybe she was right…maybe he really did need to learn how to control his temper.
Inukimi raised an thin eyebrow, impressed at seeing how such a tiny human managed to shut up the Hellhound. Totosai and Myoga felt braver to come closer now that Izayoi had controlled their master, and Sesshomaru let out a small sigh of relief.
Once again, Izayoi didn't notice them, and only grabbed onto his injured arm, biting her lip. "Now, hold still. This may sting a little," she warned, but her eyes conveyed worry for him as she pressed the rag onto his injury as gently as she could. The Hellhound gritted his teeth, closing his eyes tightly, only allowing a surprised hiss go through them. Her angry suggestion was still very much on his mind.
Izayoi bit the inside of her cheek, before daring to say, "By the way, I never said thank you."
The Hellhound opened his eyes, looking surprised. "What for?" he asked gruffly.
"For saving my life." And for the first time, Izayoi met his eyes with no fear or anger in them. "Thank you."
The Hellhound stared at her, in awe of everything that she was. The only thing he could manage to say back was, "You're welcome."