Legends

Chapter 1: Trowa Barton, Lord of the Western Lands

A man stood at the height of a cliff, looking around as if everything within his sight was part of his domain. But he had no domain, not for many years. Not since he and the other lords were forced to abandon their holdings by the ever increasing population of humans. He was a deposed monarch, one could say, even though at the moment he looked nothing like he once did. He truly doubted that anyone would recognize him as Sesshomaru, former Lord of the Japanese Western lands.

Silver white hair was cropped short, a stark contrast to its former length. He was dressed in loose khaki trousers and a deep red turtleneck, with sunglasses hiding amber eyes. The left sleeve of the shirt was pinned in half, announcing to the world that the man had no left arm from slightly above where his elbow was. The markings on his face where easy to hide under a layer of make up. Finally, the tips of his pointed ears had an illusion cast over them, making them appear like a human's. The only thing that had remained unchanged through the centuries was that the Tenseiga was still at his hip.

Sesshomaru looked down to the traveling performance troupe that had settled at the foot of the cliff. A circus, he thought it was called. They had been kind to him, and given him food. A small fond smile caressed his face as he remembered the one family he had interacted with the most. A father, mother, and two children, a girl and a baby boy; the girl, Catherine, reminded him of Rin. They both were compassionate to a fault.

In return for the circus' hospitality, Sesshomaru had helped with taking care of some of the carnivorous animals, specifically the lions. He had amazed little Catherine by sticking his hand into the lion cage, and after saying a few soft words, the growling animals calmed down and let themselves be pet.

Sesshomaru turned away from his vigil from the cliff, satisfied that the group was safe. Then he heard the bombs, the screech as they fell from the bellies of many man-made metal birds. The explosions were all around the circus camp, the people hurriedly running from the strike zone.

He saw that the family had gotten on a horse drawn cart. Sesshomaru ran parallel to it and was able to see when Catherine and the boy were thrown from the cart seconds before it was hit by a bomb. He leapt from the cliff, landing next to the baby, as he couldn't smell Catherine's blood in the smoke filled air. The baby boy was bleeding heavily from the landing.

The Tenseiga pulsed twice, telling its master what had to be done to save the baby's life. Sesshomaru drew the sword, its aura giving of a pale blue light that pieced the smoke.

"Child," he said. "I can at least promise you that this will not hurt."

A flash of blue light came from the Tenseiga, but was hidden by another explosion. When the air cleared, where there were once two figures was only one. The baby boy stood unsteadily, his body not yet compatible with what his mind knew it could do. He flicked his small hand, teleporting the sword and the sheath to a safe place. He looked down at himself, and wondered what new batch of problems he would be getting himself into. With one last look at the wreckage, the merged human and youkai walked off.

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Trowa Barton was bored; completely, depressingly, utterly, and indefinitely bored. He hadn't been this bored since the humans had fully usurped his lands in his former existence. Seventeen, no eighteen, years ago he had thought that no one would recognize him. Now that statement was even more a fact. Who would believe that the great youkai Lord Sesshomaru was now a human? And one that worked in a peace keeping organization, no less?

Let's see, Jaken would be nothing short of shocked and dismayed, Rin and Sesshomaru's mother would be proud, and Inuyasha … would be rolling on the ground laughing his ass off.

After the Eve war, Trowa had retrieved the Tenseiga and returned to the circus and the doting care of his sister, Catherine. But, all was not peaceful. The former Gundam pilot and taiyokai had a continuous feeling of anxiousness. It was like an itch that he couldn't scratch, like there were unseen eyes that were always watching him. The feeling was alleviated somewhat when he performed, but otherwise it was nigh unbearable. He knew that it wasn't from his monthly demonic transformations, Trowa could prepare for those easily enough.

So the youkai turned human joined up with the Preventers and, for the most part, his anxiousness was relieved. But there was still something that always managed to by at the back of his mind, teasing him with warnings of danger.

"Duo, unless you have something very important to say, leave." Trowa said to a seemingly clear hall.

"Damn, you're good Tro," responded Duo, who somehow had managed to crawl along the ceiling, without his braid trailing under him, in his latest futile attempt to sneak up on Trowa. "Besides, you can't really kick me out. This is my office, too. Besides, I also know that you won't really use that katana of yours on me."

The first time the rest of the pilots had seen the Tenseiga, it caused quite an uproar. Duo teased him for being like Wufei, until he was pinned with three glares and wisely shut up. Heero was a little miffed, an ally had a possession and possible skill that had never been calculated into past battle plans. Wufei asked for a spar, but Trowa turned him down, claiming that the sword was very old and would not cut, not matter how many times it was taken to a blade sharpener. That was true, but the real reason was that then Trowa would have summoned the Tokijin, he did not want to do that.

"So which one of your magical powers helped you sense me today?" asked Duo as he went to his desk. The office was large, but not unnecessarily so. Trowa had gotten the desk that had his back facing the door, while Duo could easily see the doorway and the hall beyond it.

"You were upwind." Duo blinked, normally Trowa didn't answer his question about how he could always sense Duo.

Duo smacked his forehead, "I almost forgot, the boss lady wants to brief us on a new mission in the sub-conference room, like, now."

"…" At Trowa's silence, Duo bounced his way back out and, presumably, to the sub-conference room. Trowa glared at his desk, the elusive anxious feeling was back in full force. Also, was it just him, or did Duo's eyes flicker from its usual deep purple to a clear blue?

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Lady Une cleared her throat, calling attention to her as Trowa finally got himself seated between Quatre and Duo. "There is a small group of terrorists that are attempting to find nine legendary weapons to destabilize the Unified Nation and the Preventers." Zechs, Noin, Sally, and the five gundam pilots, minus Trowa, gave Une disbelieving looks. "Yes I know that it is hard to swallow, but this group is serious. They call themselves The Onigumo, and our reconnaissance reports cannot get any more information on the group, but a lot on the weapons that they are hunting.

"These weapons are the Tenseiga, the Tetsusaiga, the Sounga, the Tokijin, a pair of steel claws that once belonged to a member of the Band of Seven, the Jakotsutou, the Banryu, the Raigekijin, and the Hiraikotsu. The folders on your desk give more details. As of yet we have only found the Banryu. For this mission, I'll need Agent Barton and Agent Maxwell to retrieve it. You two also have the mission specifications in your folders."

"We also have two in our possession and one that we have no need to worry about." spoke up Trowa.

Now it was Une's turn to give someone a disbelieving look, "Do tell, Barton."

"I have both the Tenseiga and the Tokijin in my possession, and have had them for many years. The Sounga we do not need to worry about."

"Why do we not need to worry about the Sounga?"

"The Blade of Hell was sealed away where it belonged during the feudal ages of Japan. If you believe the legends, that is." At this, Trowa left, leaving the others to mull over his words.