Last of my clan - rewrite

Chapter 1

I don't own InuYasha, Sesshomaru, or any other cannon characters. The only ones I own are my OC's.

This is a re write of the first, unfinished version of this fanfiction, which I have not updated for a long time. I first started writing Last of my clan when I was much younger, and at the time I had little writing experience. I am now older and more experienced, and I really want to continue my fanfiction, but I also want to go back and write the whole story again, fixing mistakes and filling out the story as a whole. I started re writing on my 22nd birthday, and I hope you all enjoy reading my updated work.

I would like to thank everyone who read, Favorited, followed, reviewed, and enjoyed this story over the years. I hope this rewrite does not disappoint!

There are very few times that all of nature quivers in fear for miles around. Great battles that rain rivers of blood, energy flares from the greatest of men and beasts, the opening of gateways to other planes, the actions of the Kami. And the birthing of the most powerful of youkai. And that was just what was happening.

For miles around small creatures and large alike had fled and hid, and plants leaned away from the yokai energy that crackled and rolled in a thick invisible fog away from a cavern. Youkai of lesser power fled and cowered, terrified for their lives. Some of these youkai had lived through the births of these powerful higher youkai before, many in the area had experienced it only a few years before. This birth was not as powerful as the last, but still one to flee.

Into this oppressive silence tore a pained scream, followed by a string of colourful curses in a variety of languages. Outside the source of the scream and oppressive aura, a small cavern, several other youkai paced and waited. Their own energies were in flux, aggravated by the pained screams, and yet unable to do anything about them. Two of them looked almost human. One paced outside the entrance to the cave, his long dark hair whipping around him from the moving energies as if on an unseen breeze. The second sat further away on a log, face in his hands and tension in his shoulders. Around them several dogs, black as night, phased in and out of existence in a dark mist, whining and seeking comfort from their more human looking masters.

As another scream echoed from the cave, the bronze eyes of the pacing youkai flashed red, and his hair swirled higher on a black misty aura. The sitting youkai looked up to glare at the aggravated pacing youkai.

"Pacing will do you no good Kazuhiko, sit down, and reign in your dogs." Kazuhiko stopped pacing, and his hair's swirling calmed. He returned the other man's glare.
"Michio, I'd like to see you do better were that your mate in there, and your pups coming into this world."
Michio sighed.
"Brother, were it so that we both were welcoming pups, I would rejoice and be forever thankful to the Kami, for we are the last of the Shadow Inu clan, and without pups our blood will die with us."

Kazuhiko turned away, growling lightly under his breath to tell his dogs to behave, and twitched his tail in agitation.
"I am well aware Michio. But it pains me to put my mate through all this. Selene is a Ryuu, and should have laid eggs in her true form. But as I am Inu, and the pups would not survive in an egg, she had to birth them in this form. It is more painful, and more difficult for her and them, but it is necessary."
How Kazuhiko wished he could stop her pain. And how he wished it was not necessary…

Inside the cave, Selene lay panting and groaning in agony. Her steel blue hair clung to her damp face, her pale yellow eyes darting around in panic. Her pupils contracted into slits, and she scrunched her eyes closed as another contraction hit. Her deep red facial markings glistened under a layer of sweat, and her long ebony horns clanked against the wall each time she threw her head back from the pain.

Her three midwives, a young Inu and a pair of Tanuki, scrambled around her. She could hardly hear their instructions to be calm, and the thick energy coming from her made it difficult to do their work. The Tanuki, an elder and younger females, were professional midwives. The elder had birthed several mixed race births before, and knew they were not pretty affairs. She had never even heard of this particular mix in daiyoukai before though. It was proving even more difficult, as the mother was not only another youkai type, but was also a reptile as well as an egg layer.

The young female Inu, apprentice to the elder Tanuki, had come along mostly to learn, but also because most of her knowledge was based on her own race. That knowledge would surely be useful in this situation.

Kazuhiko had finally settled down next to his brother, and with one of the dogs laying at his feet. The others had dispersed to patrol the area. Although he tried to focus on the soft yips and barks they made to keep in contact, he was unable to block out the sounds of Selene's pain, or the smell of her blood. It was taking more control than he had ever needed to stop his beast from taking over, and if it gained control it had every intention of charging in there and stopping its' mate's pain. It would in all likelihood slay the poor midwives in there.

He had become distracted by trying to contain his beast, and almost missed the introduction of a new sound. His head snapped to the cave entrance as a crying, whimpering sound rang out like sweet music to his ears. The sound of a newborn pup. As the seconds passed, the cries of his mate died down, and the cries of his pup grew stronger. His pup. He was a father!

Michio slapped him heartily on the back, and Kazuhiko turned back to face him, mirroring his brother's stupid lopsided grin.
"One down, four more to go, eh Daddy?" Kazuhiko's grin grew even wider as his small pack of dogs started to howl in welcome, and gave a silent thanks to the Kami. Soon, he could hold his mate, and his pups.

Back inside the cave everything had calmed down. The labour had finished and the last pup had been cleaned, checked and returned to its mother, who had moved them all from the birthing room to her nest. As the two Tanuki finished cleaning up after the birth, they told the young Inu to fetch the males waiting outside, then retreated to the back of the cave to watch. This would most certainly be interesting. While both Inu and Ryuu males cared for their young from birth, an Inu female would allow the male close quite soon after the birth, while a Ryuu male would not be allowed close to their clutch until several weeks after their eggs had hatched.

Kazuhiko slowly entered his den at the Inu midwives' beckoning, his brother following just a few paces behind. As he peered into the dark back room, he quickly spotted his mate laying with her back facing him, curled up inside the nest she had made. He chuckled internally as he remembered her making it, dragging the branches inside and shaping them into a nest, then lining it with things such as wool, straw, cloth, and for some unknown reason, treasures. She had gone on a small rampage late in her pregnancy, gathering every shiny object she could find, from jewellery to coinage. Then she put them carefully in her nest.

"Selene?"
His mate's eyes opened and stared groggily at him for a few seconds, before she snarled and curled protectively around her litter. Kazuhiko whimpered, and lowered himself to the ground. He moved vary slowly towards her, wary of being seen as a threat. She tilted her head to watch him again, and growled a warning, before shuffling forward slightly to allow him closer.
Moving even slower this time, Kazuhiko slid up behind her, and settle down with one arm on her shoulder, and the other propping himself up. He looked over at his litter, and smiled.

Three dogs and two bitches. Better than he could have ever hoped for.
Like all Inu, they all had tails of various lengths. Two of the dogs had tails of a longer length, as did one of the bitches. The other two had much shorter tails. Three also had hair his own colour, and two had the steel blue of their mother. One of the dogs even had horns.
Their markings were truly a blend of his own and Selene's. His own markings were a pair of large teal stripes beneath his eyes and defining his cheekbones. Selene's were four red stripes under her eyes, pointed at her jawbone. The pups had a mix of these markings, and also showed the body markings that he and Selene both possessed.

Kazuhiko lowered himself down, and pressed himself against his mates' back. He laid his long fluffy tail over her, to encircle the pups. He had his family now, and for the first time in years he was content.

Michio leaned against the doorway, watching with mixed emotions his brother's new family. He truly was happy for them, but at the same time he was longing for a mate and litter of his own. With his mind and his beast both tuned into this train of thought, a scent that had previously been insignificant had a whole new meaning. Michio inhaled, and looked sideways at the young female Inu who had aided in the birth of his nieces and nephews. She was very young, not yet of age. A forest Inu. Not the most prominent or powerful clan, but they were known as excellent healers and had a reputation for being more in tune with nature.

His eyes followed her as she left the room, and a wicked grin grew on his face.
"I wonder… could it be that she is unspoken for? I will soon find out."