Disclaimer- All rights go to Rumiko Takahashi. All characterizations in this story are merely speculation on my part and I claim no part of this story to be originally mine in any way. Please don't sue me!
Chapter 1- Inu no Taisho's Promise
Her name was a chant in his mind. Izayoi, Izayoi, Izayoi.
Over and over he said it in his mind, hoping that it would gift him with more speed so that he might reach his love sooner. His gigantic paws thudded against the forest floor, but not making as much noise as one would expect a larger than life dog to make. Dark blood splattered the stark white snow covering the ground in his wake.
A panicked voice from somewhere in his tangled mane called to him, "My lord! I beg you to not do this! Please reconsider, my lord. Your wounds from your battle with Ryukotsusei have not yet healed! This is sheer madness!" Myouga, a flea who had been a loyal vassal to his lord for years, wailed at the top of his lungs in order to be heard.
"That doesn't matter!" Taisan snapped in response. "I cannot afford to lose her." Air whipped along his massive body, whistling sharply and tugging at the great dog general's fur and ears.
"Please, my lord!" Myouga protested again, his voice high with fear.
"Besides," Taisan continued harshly, "I am not long for this world."
"Master!" Myouga cried.
His heart pumping wildly, he picked up speed, ignoring his vassal's pleas all the while. He was like a devil in his determination and nothing could stop him. He would have defeated Death Himself if it meant reaching Izayoi in time.
The general paused for only a moment to survey the castle where Izayoi was giving birth to his child. Pride mingled with fear, before he leapt down onto the ground and took off running again.
His body curved effortlessly around the densely packed brush and trees. As he came closer to the castle, he acknowledged that Myouga had (as expected) abandoned him in an attempt at self-preservation. The awareness made him smile faintly, for just an instant. It was good to know that when everything else had gone to hell, servants remained unchanged in their ways. The great dog general morphed from his true form, a giant dog reminiscent of Cerberus, to the form of a human man. He slowly unleashed his sword, the Tetssaiga, in an effort to calm his rapid heart. It beat now only out of fear that he was too late.
He shook his head vigorously (looking probably not unlike a dog after it's bath) and chastised himself. "Izayoi, I'm coming for you. Hold on." He whispered to the wind.
He unleashed a blast from his loyal sword upon the humans attempting to keep him from Izayoi, and they scattered like toy soldiers. He paused only for a moment to contemplate the irony that he was using a sword which meant man… against men.
Then without any further lingering, he released another blast on them, sending more parts of the castle to rubble. He sprinted forward his sword ready to launch another attack. Soldiers from inside the forte spilled out and without warning fired a flurry of arrows at him in an attempt at retaliation. Some landed in his armor and stuck, one grazed by his cheek leaving a scarlet line in its wake. Contrary to the belief that this would slow him down, all it did was make him feel more alive. Pain was proof that he existed, and that the small pain was nothing compared to what Izayoi must be going through.
With that thought in mind, he spun and unmercifully attacked again. This time the humans were wise and ran away. Taisan jumped with ease over debris and called out, a little frantically, "Izayoi! Izayoi!" He ran forward searching for any sign of her.
From within the castle emerged a man in red armor, "At last you've come, demon. You're a little late, though."
Taisan's eyes narrowed threateningly, "What?"
The man responded without pause or fear, "Lady Izayoi is in a place beyond your reach now. I dispatched her myself."
His lips curled in a snarl, "You bastard!" Then dashed forward.
The man ran to meet him and the two faced off in a split second. The sound of a sword slicing through flesh seemed to echo in the courtyard along with the thud of a limb hitting the ground, and then Taisan continued past the injured man into the mansion. The man screamed as the pain of it hit him. "Set the mansion afire! Burn it along with that demon and everyone else inside. Burn it to the ground!" He shrieked the orders to his remaining soldiers.
He clutched at his gushing wound as his vision blurred. "I will have my… revenge on you… and your bastard son." He whispered before passing out, leaving his men to drag him away to relative safety.
Inu no Taisho burst from room to room calling out to Izayoi. Just when it seemed hopeless that he would find her in time he crashed through the paper separation into a new room. "Izayoi!" He called again, and upended a tent in the middle of the room.
Izayoi lay there, covered in blood, even beautiful in death. "Izayoi." He whispered with grief, as he felt his knees weaken. Swallowing he unsheathed a second sword and held it firmly in hands that wanted to tremble with weakness. He waited for the site of the spirits which stole the soul of the recently departed to show themselves before the power of his sword of heaven. But none did. It meant that he was too late, that the spirits had come and gone. With the soul of his beloved in their grasp.
"No." He whispered, "This can't be. How could I have failed you, Izayoi?" He fell to his knees before her, sorrow consuming him. He had failed. He had failed her… and after he had promised…
He had every intention of dying there with Izayoi, to join her in the afterlife. That was his intention till he heard the squalls of an infant from within the folds of Izayoi's robes. Tentatively he reached toward the moving bundle and picked it up carefully.
He pushed aside a part of the blanket to reveal the pinched features of his son's crying face. He took in his son's soft downy tuft of white hair and sensitive dog-ears and that through his tear filled gaze were the Taisan's eyes staring back at him. He could see tiny traces in his face that were a replica of Izayoi's. From the shape of his chin to the shape of those luminous eyes. The infant stopped crying and hiccupped pitifully, then a tiny fist freed itself from the confines of it's blanket and reached up to touch the great Inu no Taisho's chin in a soft punch.
Taisan's breath, which he had been holding, released in a reverent sigh and held his son to his chest in a mixture of pride and grief. He glanced over to Izayoi's still form and his eyes closed with the pain of it. He leaned over and gently brushed his lips against her cool brow. "Our son will live a long life, Izayoi. I promise."
His son cried in another outburst of temper at being held so tightly and it was then that he realized if he was going to try to live then now was the time to leave. He brushed a stray strand of hair out of Izayoi's closed eyes then stood and ran out the room. Only when he and his son were safely beyond the burning wreckage that was once Izayoi's home did he look back to lament the fact that he had not been quick enough to save her life.
Myouga appeared on his shoulder suddenly, only when the danger was clearly gone. "My lord, I'm so glad you're alive! I was- wha? W-what is this?" He asked, his gaze taking in the slumbering form of the infant in his lord's arms.
"This is my son, Myouga." He said simply, defying him to mention his son's obvious half blood appearance.
"O-of course, my lord! And what a handsome young lord he is, too." The flea responded nervously. "Praytell, master, what is his name?"
After a pause, the Taisan responded with, "Inuyasha. His name will be Inuyasha."
A/N- I would like to clarify some names real quick, to make things easier for everyone. For Inu-papa- Generally I think Taisan is most appropriate. It means General in Japanese. If you want to get formal you could say Inu no Taisho, which literally translates as (and please correct me if I'm wrong, because I've only had one year of Japanese) the Dog General.
Also, please note that is an alternate reality of the Inuyasha story, and that in my version Sesshoumaru is much younger when Inuyasha is born. So don't send reviews saying, "Hey, n00b! I've watched the 3rd movie liek, a hundred times and almost the whole series so I know more than you and Sesshoumaru wasn't that young when Inuyasha was born!11 -spaz-." I realize this, okay? I've changed it. That's the definition of an AU.
I claim the right to make up whatever the hell I want till I learn otherwise and even then, I'm not changing nothing. Yay for double negatives and bad spelling.
