Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the Manga/Anime InuYasha.
Sometimes, love doesn't last forever. Time passes, leaves fall, mountains crumble, and people change. Not every love story has a happy ending. But every romance while it lasts, is a tale worthy of telling. Forgotten tales from back in the day, when happiness and fun was what it was all about, when life was about learning what you did not yet know. Back when sacrificing yourself for the safety of the ones you love was not yet part of the equation, although that was what put a full stop to Inu no Taisho's failed life...
The colour of navy blue blending softly into a tint of yellowish white was always a very magnificent sight, something that one could see during the few moments before sunrise, although few of us really bother to wake up so early just to see it. The sky was beautifully cloudless, the air was cold and the earth was damp from many days of rain, which was typical of the season. Most people were still sound asleep in their houses in the many remote villages scattered across Japan.
Beneath a tall, green mountain, clearly visible, was a great castle, surrounded by colossal stone walls. Inside the big gate, leading up to the palace within, were a set of long, stone stairs, inside a large, paved square. The stairs were lined with a deep red carpet. The entire place looked luxuriously laid out and extremely expensive to live in. But this was no ordinary castle. It was well hidden away from the sight of most people, because this was the castle of a demon.
Something wasn't quite right, either. Although it was barely dawn, there was a bright glow of lighted torches right outside the castle gate, moving quickly.
"Charge!" A loud, piercing female voice broke through the silence of the night, "Today, we shall take over this castle!"
The huge army of yokai furiously started to attack the castle. The guards were, of course, immediately alerted, but by then the gate was already severely damaged and the castle wall was crumbling.
A servant dashed into the bedroom of the lord of the castle.
"My lord!" He shouted in panic, "The enemy is attacking!"
The young lord sat up in bed, still half asleep. He shook his head, opened his eyes slightly and peered at the distressed servant.
"Huh?" He mumbled, "The boiled eggs are cracking?!"
"No, no, my lord! The dog demons from our neighbouring kingdom are attacking our castle!"
"What?" The young lord cried out, looking out the window at the barely rising sun, "Already? I haven't even had breakfast yet!"
Before the servant could say another word, the young lord scrambled out of bed. He charged across the bedroom, his long fluffy mokomoko trailing behind him.
"My lord!" The servant barreled on, "I understand that it has only been two months since you took your father's place as the lord of the castle, but you must lead us in battle and protect your people!"
"Yeah, yeah, I sure will, don't worry!" The young lord said back while pulling on his socks and shoes and armor. He may have been young and inexperienced, but his sense of responsibility for his people was incomparable. He had dressed, washed his face, tied up his silver hair and drank a whole huge pot of tea in 30 seconds flat. He was about to barge out the door when he suddenly stopped.
"Oh, I forgot!" He wailed, as he ran to his bed and pulled out a sheathed sword from under it, "Tetsusaiga! I can't fight without you!"
The sun had risen by the time the young lord made it to the watchtower at the front of the castle.
"My lord!" The soldier on the watchtower called out, "You must be careful!"
"Keh!" Was the reply he got from his lord. Although he acted cool and confident, the young lord was quite amazed at the sight in front of him. From the watchtower, he could get full view of the battlefield in front of his castle.
The dirt and dust was stirred up into the air and formed a thick mist, which glowed orangey yellow under the light of the rising sun. The young lord could see his men desperately battling the enemy, as the different coloured demonic auras swirled around in a mess. All he could smell with his sensitive nose was dirt, blood, dirt, blood, more dirt, and more blood. There was a mixture of different battle tactics. Suddenly, from somewhere a huge bolt of fire flew out and hit the castle wall just below the watchtower, jerking the platform terribly and making the soldier fall flat on his face.
But that was by far not what truly caught the young dog demon's attention. Shrouded in the mist, but clearly distinguishable, was a giant, pure white dog. The sheer size of it was terrifying, and it was tearing through the guards and soldiers of his castle like meat on a cutting board. The dog seemed to have no fear, and seemed to be determined in doing just one thing - kill. Its jaws and claws were covered with gore, and its pure white coat was stained scarlet, matching its bright red frenzied eyes. But the huge dog's most unique and eye catching feature was the deep blue crescent moon upon its forehead.
"Well, I usually don't slay my own kind, but..." The young lord stopped. Then suddenly, he leaped right out of the watchtower. Pulling out the sword well known for being larger than its sheath, he flew across the battlefield with amazing elegance, aiming the blade of Tetsusaiga straight at the neck of the white beast.
"Kaze no Kizu!"
He cut through the wind scar with great accuracy, unleashing five huge storms of golden light which lit up the gloomy battlefield. As he landed on the moist ground, the young lord put his sword back in his sheath and looked around him. The dog was nowhere to be seen.
"That was it?" He questioned, "Not much of a lethal beast..."
He should have known better. Because right then, he felt claws on his back.
"Argh!"
He jumped away, bleeding slightly, to find the beast behind him.
"You ugly old piece of ****!" He yelled at the dog.
Somehow, his words enraged the huge dog more than he expected, since a yelling battle of insults was what usually comes before a proper fight, and hardly anyone really gets offended. He was soon to find out why. The oversized canine spun around in a whirlwind, and shrunk to become a beautiful young woman. She had perfectly straight silver hair just like his, and she seemed thin and agile. The woman wore a set of delicate, light blue armor that shone in the morning light. Her claws were, in some interesting method, painted a dark red. Her shoulders were framed with fur, and the blue moon stood out on her forehead. Her eyes were fixed unmoving on his, her glare so cold and emotionless it seemed to freeze the very air around her.
"Oh, you're...uh...not old...or ugly..." The young lord mumbled, "Well, in that case...I shall not play easy on you!"
With that, he whipped out Tetsusaiga and charged in her direction. She, too, drew out her sword, which was much smaller and shinier than his. But she stood there unmoving, not making a sound. No emotion was shown on her face. No fear, no panic. Her face was a mask. This surprised the young lord to the point of uncertainty. But he wasn't the type to stand there and wait for his enemy to move.
"This is for my broken castle!" He yelled, as he swung the Tetsusaiga at her face. She barely dodged the blow, but her speed certainly surprised the young lord, who was used to beating enemies to a pulp with ease. He didn't give up.
"This is for my smashed gate!"
He swung the Tetsusaiga to her left side and missed.
"This is for my dead guards!"
He swung the Tetsusaiga to her right side and missed.
"This is for my lost sleep!"
He swung the Tetsusaiga at her feet and missed.
"This is for scratching me!"
He swung the Tetsusaiga at her head and missed.
"And THIS," He howled, "Is for the breakfast that I never got to eat! Curse you to hell!"
He swung the Tetsusaiga, and cut through the wind scar. Once the dusty, choking cloud of dirt had cleared, the young lord saw the woman, surprisingly, in one piece. She had stuck her sword into the ground, and was now panting heavily.
"That served you right!" He taunted.
"You..." The woman muttered under her breath, speaking for the first time.
"What was that?"
"You...make too much noise!"
She pulled the sword from the ground and with uncanny speed she leaped into the air and aimed her sword straight towards the young dog demon lord. He was once again surprised, as he thought she could no longer move. They slashed at each other violently. Awful orange sparks flew everywhere as their swords crossed. Then, suddenly, both of them froze, and stood on the ground, not moving a muscle. This was because they found that they both had a blade at their neck.
"A draw?" The young lord said loudly.
The woman smirked, not moving her sword from his neck. Nor did he move his.
"You fight well...for a woman," said the young lord.
"You fight well, for something that whines about childish matters on a battlefield," The woman replied coldly, "What is your name?"
"Toga'o, lord of the Inu Daiyokai of the west," He said, "But most of my people call me Inu no Taisho. I hope you have a name too?"
"A general and a lord, I see. My name is Inukimi, I am the eldest daughter of the eastern dog-demon kingdom's king."
"Princess Inukimi. How nice to meet you." Inu no Taisho said ironically. He sensed that their brief conversation was at an end. Then, as if they could read each other's minds, both of them removed their swords from each other's necks at the same time. It was quite amazing how they could have had a conversation with blades at their necks in the first place. Inukimi signaled her soldiers with a simple hand gesture, and they all withdrew from attacking the castle.
"Today, we retreat," Inukimi said formally, looking Inu no Taisho in the eye, "But this is not the end. I will be back another day to claim your castle. Until then, stay alive. I will be the one to kill you."
She stopped, about to leave, but turned back again.
"Uh, what are you doing?" She questioned.
Inu no Taisho stood there dazed, staring at her with a seemingly mindless grin on his face. Inukimi did the only thing she could think of. She marched up to him, and gave him one huge slap across the face. That certainly snapped him out of his daze, and of course, made him snap in anger. But just as he was about to yell, "What did you do that for?!" in her face, he saw that she was already gone. He sighed in disappointment.
"My lord!" The annoying servant who woke him up yelled, running out onto the battlefield, "The enemy has retreated!"
As if I don't already know, huh? Thought Inu no Taisho.
"My lord!" The servant rambled on, "What should we do now? Persue and eliminate them?"
"No," replied the general, "Now, we have breakfast."
He slapped the man on the back, hitting him just a fraction too hard for an ordinary congratulatory back pat, to pay him back for being so unbearably annoying. Inu no Taisho then walked back to his castle, his blood stained but still fluffy mokomoko trailing behind his magnificent figure.
~~End of First Chapter~~