Disclaimer: Don't own Sesshy, or Inutai, or anyone else affiliated with the show. The world is just cruel like that, but I guess I have to deal. (Don't you just love that word? Affiliated…lmao.) By the way, I'm only saying this once, so if you sue me, sorry to say you won't get very much money out of the deal.
(That made sooo much more sense in my head…)
A/N: I said I was going to be moving the chapter I first wrote for this story farther into the plot to make it understandable, so this is this 'official' first chapter. Enjoy, and review dammit!
Sesshomaru sat behind the large oaken desk in his study, poring over a treaty that had been suggested to bind the coyote and wolf tribes as allies. He had read the damn scroll seven times before now, correcting any mistakes in the writing and searching for any loopholes the two clans might be able to use against each other.
A silver strand of hair fell over his face as he read the page, again, and he brushed it away furiously, again.
He returned to scanning the page and smirked when he found a mistake he had yet to correct. Just as he went to fix it, the same piece of hair fell in his face again, making him lose his place on the page, and the mistake.
Growling in frustration, he tossed the treaty onto his desk and grabbed the offending piece of hair, glaring at it menacingly as if wanting it to suddenly burst into flame.
"I hate you." he grumbled angrily before once again flinging it over his shoulder.
Not finding the idea of returning to studying the treaty very welcoming, Sesshomaru stood from his seat and stretched, soothing the aching pains all over his body from being seated for too long.
Making his way to the large window beside his desk, he stood staring out at the wide expanses of the vast garden that backed the stone castle. The plants rippled and bent lazily as they were pushed by the wind, and everything in the world seemed to on the verge of sleep, despite the fact that the sun was high in the liquid sky.
Sesshomaru felt like taking a nap himself, he hadn't slept for nearly two weeks, and though demons really didn't need much rest, he had spent all of his free time trying to get the treaty passed. The wolves were getting anxious about the close proximity of the coyotes to their main den, especially with mating season so near. Sesshomaru sighed and picked the treaty off his desk, scanning it, for the last time, for errors.
"Jaken."
The little imp scurried through the door, hurrying to come to Sesshomaru's call, nearly tripping over himself in his haste.
"Y-yes my lord?"
"Take this treaty to the council, they need to sign it, copy it, and send it to the lords of the North, East, and South lands so they know it is done."
Jaken nodded his vile little head quickly before grabbing the treaty from Sesshomaru's hands and rushing out the door, muttering a "Hai, master Sesshomaru."
Sesshomaru sighed; finally, there will be peace throughout all of the four lands of Japan. The wars that had been breaking out between the two tribes had been dividing the northern lands from the other three cardinals, gradually fraying the alliance between them. If this treaty was passed, there would be no more wars, and though Sesshomaru didn't mind the bloodshed, he found it quite tiresome after a while.
'Peace at last.'
Sesshomaru stared outside for another few moments before turning on his heel and striding out the door that Jaken had left open, he needed to find his father.
---
Inutaisho stood at the main entrance of the village in his castle walls, watching as the demon inhabitants went about their daily lives. Though many of them stopped to make small talk with him, they passed by fairly quickly, busy with their own chores while their lord simply watched.
Looking up to the sky, he smiled lightly at the purity of the color. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky as the wind blew gently through the village.
Inutaisho's brows knit however, when he delicately scented the air with his powerful demon senses. Though the sky was clear, the scent of rain hovered thickly in the air.
"Odd." He said aloud, causing a leopard youkai to look at him curiously as he walked by.
Shrugging his shoulders, Inutaisho strode to the main square of the town and sat down on a wooden bench under a cherry tree. Several of the children in the village immediately ran up to him and bowed their greetings. These were the children of a few of the wealthier families in his estate, and they seemed to be quite fond of their lord.
"Good afternoon my lord. I wonder, have you seen my father lately?" a young blue jay youkai asked in her chirping voice.
"No I have not seen him, but he is most likely very busy with important matters to bring our lands back to peace, it would be wise not to question your father."
The other children watched the conversation closely, and all of them turned their heads back to the jay demoness to hear her answer.
"I apologize my lord, I was just a bit curious."
She fidgeted a bit under the fierce golden gaze of lord Inutaisho, and he chuckled lightly, though not loud enough for any of the children to hear.
"Why are you young ones in the village, shouldn't you be with your guardians?"
The higher ranking of youkai lived within the castle while the lower lived in the village at its base, surrounded in the safety of the massive stone walls protecting all of it.
"We were bored." piped up a tiny deer demon, who, as soon as she had spoken, slapped a hand over her mouth frightfully as though her bravery had startled even herself. The rest nodded eagerly in a positive as she stared up at the lord timidly.
Inutaisho laughed out loud at the innocent faces and patted the little deer warmly on the shoulder as he stood up.
"Well then of course you would come to the village to find some fun."
The children smiled, glad that he wasn't going to tell them to get back into the castle.
"I must be going now, lots to do." He said with a grin.
The children bowed and scurried off, one by one calling their good-byes to the lord over their shoulders as they ran.
Inutaisho chuckled as he watched them and looked up into the boughs of the cherry tree above him. He could see patches of the blue sky through the delicate leaves, but the unnatural scent in the air put him a bit on edge.
Making his way through the village, Inutaisho walked to the very rear of the village, where the residents had built their dwellings and shops right up against the surrounding walls of the castle.
It wasn't as though his village was entirely composed of slums in the rear of the settlement, it was simply the insecurity the area had, and the types of demons usually found in the area so the higher ranking demons avoided traveling there.
Loyals were rarely ever seen in this part of the village for this reason and the few demons who spotted Inutaisho as he tread through the narrow dirt streets, immediately scurried off to alert their friends of his appearance.
His proudly poised shadow passed over the doorways of the small homes and those within their interiors emerged from their dwellings, curious of the lord's presence. Inutaisho didn't slow his stride as they stared at him and made his way toward a staircase built into the side of the thick stone wall.
Inutaisho made his way past many lesser youkai dwellings, and more demons emerged from their depths. All but one.
As his shadow brushed over the doorway to a crooked hut, the figure within drew away from the outside, and made its way to the back of the small home.
She was an old seer youkai, centuries old and nearing the end of her sanity. Her wispy gray hair was pulled into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck, and her thin quivering frame looked about to blow away in the wind. She sighed sadly as Inutaisho passed her doorway, and slowly shuffled her way to a mirror on the back wall of her home.
She stared into the mirror without seeing, and as she stood before the decoration, her eyes slid out of focus, leaving them glazed over and wide. Drawing a shaking breath, she pressed her hands together, and took a step away from the mirror.
As her mouth opened in a silent scream, an eerie vapor curled from her throat and shimmered dangerously as it settled on the surface of the seeing stone.
An angelic voice, unlike the rasping of the old seer, sounded from the shining smoke and began to sing, beautiful and smooth as though serenading the moon:
---
When the four lands join together,
And peace and silence blankets all,
Then shall the demon queen rise to honor,
Born to make the great lands fall.
---
Of her birth the great shall fear,
The offspring of the lightning storm,
Fearful are those who know too much,
When she comes in demon form.
---
On her breast the sign of hatred,
Covering her missing soul,
Sister to her only weakness,
Running rouge shall take its toll.
---
Stalking unseen under cover of light,
She requires no other to fulfill her command,
Born of the great enemy below,
In the clouds shall she make her stand.
---
The daughter of Satan,
Clever and sly,
Her identity obvious,
Unseen to the naked eye.
---
An unbalance of the elements,
The fault of the immortal,
She protects her powers fiercely,
To guard the power of the portal.
---
The ultimate weapon to fight the wrong,
The goddess of life who lives for the song,
The only savior to those who live truly,
Upon meeting the past shall be seen newly.
---
Her abilities distrusted,
Her appearance scorn,
Allies go unneeded,
When her enemy's reborn.
---
When her foe steps from behind the cloak,
The true dance shall begin,
That of elegance shall confront evil,
To thwart the ultimate sin.
---
Sacrifice shall be her destiny,
Even as her power shatters the sun,
The truth of life revealed in battle,
Despite her pain, she has her fun.
---
Pup of the stars ever after,
Her fate will be fulfilled,
In the after battle, trust shall spawn,
No longer shall innocent blood be spilled.
---
Goddess of the elements forever more,
Around her neck a single blood pearl,
The true queen upon the throne of the lands,
Until born the tiny goddess girl.
---
The seer gasped violently as she forced herself to breathe again, and as her eyes cleared, the shining vapor dissipated, leaving the old woman alone. Swallowing painfully, she gasped when she looked into the mirror once again and saw the surface dripping with blood, a black symbol just visible under the, once clear, surface. Tears began to leak from her eyes at the deadly knowledge she had just been given, and the visions of the future that would soon come to pass.
Moving as fast as she could on her elderly legs, she made her way to the door of the hut and tried to pull the door open, but it was sealed shut tight. She tugged harder, growing desperate to escape the bonds of the inevitable, but the door didn't budge, if anything, it fought against her.
Now sobbing, the old seer released her hold and stepped away from her only escape. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed openly. A soft laughter filled the hut as she mourned the fate of her demon comrades, and the dark sound sent a chill down the old woman's spine. The eerie ring continued as the old woman tried to collect herself, and it only grew louder the longer she fought, deafening the seer and threatening to blind her in fear.
Finally lifting her head from her hands, the old demoness dried her tears and looked out the small window of her hut tiredly, trying to ignore the looming laughter. From where she stood, she could scent the heavy aroma of rain through the small crack in the glass. Her spirit dyed in that single moment, and as she stared out of her prison she murmured to herself.
"It's begun."
Behind her, thick drops of violently red blood dripped from the mirror, landing on the wooden flooring with soft taps, spilling off the mirror's smooth surface to reveal the sign.
Shining from the stone, a black dragon wrapped around a sword, the simply decorated hilt clenched between its teeth as its eyes glittered frightfully white in its dark head.
---
Reaching the top of the stone stairway, Inutaisho looked out over the vast spaces of his lands. The shy shimmered in its bright blue color and the grasses rippled under the light breeze. Nothing about this picture was out of place, or odd in any way, but when his gaze fell onto the mountains in the distance, Inutaisho doubted the normalcy in the sight.
Though the sky above and around the castle of the west was clear and pure, the air above the mountain was heavy with thick black clouds, swirling angrily around its peak. Even stranger than that was the wind. Instead of blowing away from the storm it blew towards it, confining the violent storm to remain at the peak of the mountain.
'Then why do I scent it? If the wind is blowing towards the storm, it would be downwind from me, I shouldn't be able to scent it if that's the case.'
Sighing in frustration, Inutaisho watched the clouds build up from his post on the borders of his castle. Flashes of lightning periodically lit the dark clouds, but never touched down. No thunder was heard, and though he could scent the rain, Inutaisho could see that not a drop had fallen yet. The strange circumstances of what was supposed to be a 'natural' occurrence seemed anything but and the prospect of dealing with a rouge storm didn't seem very appealing to the demon lord.
If this storm was the creation of the small band of sky demons in the north, Inutaisho didn't much want to confront them, though if it came down to it, he knew he would have no choice. Sky demons were particularly hard to handle when in battle with them. With the powers of hailstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes at their fingertips, it wasn't the easiest of jobs to confront them.
Inutaisho was pulled from his thoughts when a familiar scent passed through the air, causing him to turn and face the young man.
"Good afternoon Sesshomaru." He greeted warmly, and without waiting for his son to reply, Inutaisho put an arm around the younger demon lord and turned him to face the storm.
"Tell me, what do you think of that?"
Sesshomaru scowled slightly, peeved he hadn't been able to pass on his information and be done with the older man, but obeyed and looked out at the ominous clouds.
"It is a storm." He said simply.
Inutaisho huffed a bit and shook Sesshomaru's shoulder slightly.
"Of course it's a storm, but look at it. It holds every cloud in miles, it smells of rain, yet not a drop has fallen, and the wind is blowing towards it. Odd isn't it?"
Sesshomaru delicately removed his fathers arm from around his shoulders and took a step away from the man, replacing his personal space.
"Indeed, but I did not come to talk to you about the weather. I came to inform you that the treaty has been written and is currently being read and signed by the counsel. They are going to need your signature before nightfall so I advise you do so now before they decide the alliance unobtainable."
Inutaisho nodded vaguely, listening and understanding his son's words, but still staring out at the storm.
Sesshomaru sighed quietly and turned on his heel, silently departing his father's presence. Inutaisho followed behind him after a moment, still convinced there was something odd about the clouds over the mountain.
Yay! First chappie done! I'm surprised how short a time that prophesy thing took to write, considering I'm kind of winging the story. (Writing story outlines is DEFINITELY not my strength) Anyway, I really need reviews for this story considering my English teacher somehow found out about my writings on this site and is on my ass almost everyday asking how it's going. Quite frankly, it's getting a bit annoying… So please review and ease my pain of a nosy teacher.
Love to my reviewers! (Seriously, thank you!)
-Laveda-