Chapter One.

The smell of fire clung in the air, black plumes of smoke rose from the destroyed homes and screams, filled the distance. The once quaint and beautiful village that was best known as the Souths Riches with their agriculture. It sat on the outskirts of the capital that was now ruined and nothing but a graveyard. Their lord of the South now gone. Whether he was still fighting, dead or had fled it was unknown to them. And now the, last two members of his family were fleeing, the rest dead.

Footsteps, there was so many following the young man who was running through the trees, dodging the branches and pulling the hysterical little girl behind him having her keep up with his long strides.

" AKI! ONI-SAN! My feet h-hurt. I don't want to run anymore. ONI-SAN! " The girl wailed, tears running down her cheeks, her breath coming out fast and known as the air was chilled this winter. Her cries pinched at the young man's heart, but he knew that her safety was the most important. And that he had to get her across the border where the west met the south. Demon territory.. The lords of the western land would take his people and he was sure that they would keep her safe.

Turning a quick look towards the five year old, the young man Akihiko, smiled his charm her way to reassure her. "Keep up Rin- I promise we are almost to safety – please just keep running!" Up ahead the trees started to clear and gaps showed in between." Look ahead Rin, just a little further, that is the western lands our new h-" but it was in that moment that time stood still as an arrow pierced through the young mans back, halting their escape.

Letting go of the young girls hand , losing his balance and kneeling, the young man's vision came in and out. His life source staining the ground around him. The wails of his sister now fading quickly. This isn't how it was supposed to be…

"Akihiko! Please don't leave Rin alone! Not like everyone else." Mustering up his strength he cupped her cheek with his hand and gave a half smile.

"Don't worry Rin –I'd never leave you alone. I'll be right behind you. But I need you to go ahead please. Run and don't stop until you reach Castle west, or troops that hold the Western Lords crest. C-can you d-do that for me Rin?" In her heart she knew that she had to, and she also knew that he would not be behind her.

With fresh tears falling she nodded, aware of the rapidly approaching footsteps. "You are a liar Oni-san, why were you always dishonest with Rin?" She hiccupped hearing a gurgled laugh come from her brother. An arrow whizzed past them, bringing the young man into action.

"RUN RIN NOW. GO! ALWAYS REMEMBER WHERE YOU CAME FROM AND WHO YOU ARE. " And with one last look and nod at her older brother, she ran.

She didn't know how long she had been running, she only knew that the clearing and scarcity of the trees meant she was close to the borders. Her lungs burned and her legs ached and even though the footsteps had slowed and become a distant sound she kept going, she would not stop until she reached the people whom carried the crest of the West. Demon territory, could she, the daughter of a Human Lord, actually live here? Would they take her? Or would they kill her. It wasn't until her foot caught onto the root of a tree that she felt her energy diminish as she fell towards the frost covered surface. Chilled, tired, and now bleeding, she could not stand, and could only allow the sobs to wrack over her tiny body.

"Oni-san…" her last coherent words before the darkness took her mind, sending her into a deep sleep that she did not know if she would wake from.

"Father it seems the south has been raided, by the Eastern Kingdom- both human and Hanyou villages have been destroyed" the monotone voice reported, hands clasped in front tucked under his sleeves, gaze staring out of the window over the courtyard.

"I know Sesshomaru, it seems I was not quick enough in sending our troops out to protect the people. Our trifle between the Eastern Demons has caused many deaths." Sighing, the Lord Inu Taisho, the great dog demon of the Western Kingdom, stood and walked towards his son.

" I will be sending their men back that we have imprisoned." Turning sharply, his own son snapped at him. "Father you should not."

"Do you intend to stop me Sesshomaru?" His father asked, challenge twinkling in his eyes. Golden eyes stared back, narrowing before turning his attention back to the window. "Then you shall release them alone. I will do no such thing to a traitor, and someone who is a spy."

"That's what I assumed, now come let us do a perimeter check. They are getting closer, I would rather we not be infiltrated here. Without another word, Sesshomarus father turned and left him standing there alone still watching out the window, only, minutes later did he followed.

The air was crisp, and as dusk was approaching earlier and earlier these winter nights, the less Sesshomaru preferred to go out. As a demon it did not faze him as much, but none the less the frigid air was more so of a nuisance than anything. Hands tucked within his sleeves, he silently trailed a step or two behind his father, who walked casually hands in the same position as his.

Both of them could feel the death in the air, their senses on higher alert. Blood travelled within the wind, creating a pungent smells for them. It was not enjoyable to say the least. As they walked, Sesshomaru could hear footsteps. Not very loud and he knew that the body running was tiny, but the pace of them meant they were approaching fast.

"Father.." Nodding, his father headed towards the treeline where he could hear the feet pounding against the forest floor, but suddenly as soon as it was in their range, it stopped. Curiousity filled Sesshomaru, he wanted to know who dare seek the border of their home, knowing that it was dog demons who lived there.

As they approached the scent of a human assaulted their noses, his father stopped for a moment, before rushing beside the body that was laying on the ground surrounded by the shrubs. As the great demon lord shifted, picking this life up, Sesshomaru could tell it was the body of a young girl - a child.

Eyeing the girl, he noticed her Kimono tattered but made of fine silk, and surely not something that would keep her very warm during this cold. It was in that moment though he spotted the crest on her sleeves.

"She belongs to the lord of the South?" he asked staring at her fully now. A silent nod followed his question from his father.

"So it seems, it is a surprise to see her here of all places, well and alive. Exhaustion seems to have taken over her, but she should be grateful that is what has ailed her. I can scent another's blood on her, although she was not alone it seems that whoever had accompanied her, is gone now." Wrapping the girl in the fur pelt he wore, InuTaisho held her close shielding her from the air,/ quickly making his way back to their fortress leaving Sesshomaru clueless as to what he intended to do.

He was sure he knew, but he didn't want to believe it, just as he couldn't believe it when his father took a human woman as his mate and produced a child with her.

Standing against the wall, Sesshomaru could not help but stare at the tiny form laying underneath the quilted blankets a top the large bed. He stared at her with a bored expression, but on guard as if though she were to spring to life and attack. Even if she was only a child, he trusted none of the humans.

Watching her start to stir, he noticed the distressed look on her face as she started to mumble he couldn't help but feel the need to ease her distress. But knowing that it was not his place, with grace, he walked into the hall nodding at the woman silently standing there.

"Miga, the child is in distress, I will leave you to attend to her." And with that, with the utmost grace he left.

"Father. "

"Sesshomaru."

"…. Are you trying to punish this Sesshomaru? Do you think so lowly of your eldest, to place a human child in my care?" He snarled at his father.

A laugh emitted from Inu Taisho but it did not ease the tension raging within the room.

"This is exactly why I have placed her well being in your hands Sesshomaru. Tell me this, do you have someone to protect?"

Silence.

"She will be staying here protected under the West and that is final Sesshomaru. If you plan on succeeding the west when I am finally gone, you will learn this lesson."

With those words, his own father walked out on him, leaving him glaring at the door.

What he did not realise would be the fact that in fourteen years, would he be courting the one he despised the most right now.

TBC.

Just a drabble at the moment, we will see if this develops into something more! Im hoping it does!

R&R