Foresight is 20/20
Author's Note: Huh. Never written an Inuyasha fanfic before. Toyed around with some ideas when I first watched the series years ago, but never really anything I wanted to put true effort into. Been rewatching some episodes though (especially those with the swords) and I am convinced there is no way Sesshomaru's and Inuyasha's father could have done everything that he did (mostly the BS he put Sesshomaru through) without knowing what would happen and how everything would turn out. So, this was born. It'll only be 3, maybe 4 chapters long.
Disclaimer: I am merely playing around in the sandbox that is the InuYasha universe and exploring concepts and characters.
A Proposal
"The specter of death looms before you, Lord General."
The Great Dog Demon General paused immediately and whirled to face the source of the sound. He did not let his surprise show that he'd sensed no demonic aura nor smelt the intruder so close to his person. Even now, looking at the white-robed, hooded old woman before him, he still sensed nothing.
He narrowed his amber eyes in suspicion and he eased himself into a battle-ready stance, his feet spread wide and his knees bent. "A bold and reckless statement if you have not the power nor the courage to make good on it," he declared, placing his hand meaningfully upon Tenseiga's hilt. A warning. No demonic aura and no scent meant this being had a connection to the Netherworld. There were very few yokai that had the means to defeat unearthly entities and so there were very few spirits and otherworldly beings that had defenses against such weapons. He would not fight a useless battle.
The woman's eyes were hidden by her hood, but her lips widened into an amused smile. She raised both her wrinkled hands in a pacifying motion. "Now, my Lord General, there is no need for that. I have no desire to test the capabilities of your Heavenly Blade."
The Great Dog Demon narrowed his eyes, but did not let loose the snarl that wanted to escape his throat at her slight against Tenseiga. She was mocking him.
"What are you?" he asked instead, wondering if this old woman really had no intention of fighting him.
She placed one of her too-pale hands upon her chest. "I am Atropos and I am a Moirai." He'd never heard of one of those. "I would honestly be surprised if you had heard of my kind, Lord General. My origins are known in a land far to the west beyond your western sea and the Continent it meets. The people on this island believe in the red strings of fate, yes? Think of me as one of the caretakers of those strings."
"You control the strings of fate?" the General asked.
The old woman cackled loudly. "To an extent, but that's more the job of my younger sister, Lachesis. My full-time job entails determining when it's time for those threads to be cut and those lives to end. I can either look at an individual's string or their soul and know how much time they have left."
Atropos clapped her palms together in a horizontal position and then started pulling them away from each other. When her finger tips reached each other, she pinched her thumbs to them and continued pulling, but instead of empty air, the inu daiyokai was shocked to see a shining red string stretching out in the space between her hands.
"This is your string, Lord General. And this-" Atropos brought the right end of the string to his attention and he noticed that the tip was actually a dull red, unlike the rest of the string. "-is how much life you have left. Gotta say, this is a good long string for a powerful, warlord of a demon like yourself. Very few of the strong ones make it to this age; most of the ones that do have survived by running away and hiding like your old timer friends," she said and cracked a smile that revealed even, but yellowing teeth.
No emotions flickered across the Great Dog Demon's face, but he could not avert his eyes from that small tip of darkened red string. This could be a sham, something setup to cause him to lose focus on the present and worry unnecessarily about the future.
"Is there a point in you telling me this?" he said dully. "My future will not falter by your words."
Her smile transformed from amused to wicked instantly. "No, Lord General, I will not be the cause of your death. Your actions will be your own undoing. As for why I am telling you, my sisters and I have seen that the threads of fate will soon become entangled in a messy, unworkable knot that may cause the whole Tapestry of Life to unravel if it is not handled expediently." The Demon Lord had no idea what this woman was talking about. "We have seen that your thread is the key to solving this tangled skein. Yours and those of your sons."
The Great Dog Demon could not help but visibly bristle at her tone. He did not like the idea of being used nor the insinuation of his son- son, singular – being used either. This time, he did growl and his eyes flashed red momentarily in warning. "I only have one son," he said.
That wicked, mocking smile did not leave the old woman's face. "For now, my Lord General, for now. But a lot can happen in a short ten years, yes?"
The General barely suppressed the shocked jolt that coursed through him. Ten years? That pathetic-looking little string measuring out his life declared he would only live another ten years? Ridiculous! Impossible! He was in his prime at the peak of his power and this fool of a woman dared to suggest he wouldn't even live to see Sesshomaru grow up to surpass him? He let loose an enraged snarl and leapt forward, finally releasing Tenseiga from its sheath. Just as he was about to swing Tenseiga down upon her head, she disappeared and the sword only slashed through empty air.
"Such a violent temper," Atropos cackled merrily, her disembodied voice echoing all around the forest clearing so he couldn't locate her. "If you change your mind in a few years and want to know how you can help protect your sons after your death, merely kill a spider with Tenseiga and I will come at your call."
The Demon Lord heard nothing more and it seemed reasonable to assume that the old woman had left the area for good. He gave an irritable snort that his prey had escaped him and sheathed Tenseiga who seemed equally miffed. He thought of the woman's last words and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Kill a spider with Tenseiga and she'll come. Ridiculous. As if I'd ever have any need for the likes of her," he muttered and resumed his return home.
Atropos is the name for one of the three Fates (or Moirai) from Greek Mythology. She takes the form of an old woman and cuts the threads of life. Clotho appears as a young woman and spins the threads into existence and Lachesis appears as a middle-aged woman who measures the threads. The Japanese already have the whole red string of fate thing, so it was really easy to pair the two concepts. I took some creative inspiration about the Fates from a book series called The Incarnations of Immortality, one of which deals with the three aspects of Fate and how human lives all interconnect with each other. There's a bit more detail about it in the next chapter, but nothing that requires knowledge of the original source material.
I decided not to give Sesshomaru's and Inuyasha's father a name because the damn fool was never given one. Stupid dog, and I didn't feel comfortable just making one up for him. Besides, he's got plenty of titles I can use to get his identity across in writing. He was actually a fun challenge to write, to give him aspects of both Sesshomaru's and Inuyasha's personalities, but display them in an appropriate manner for his age, power, and status as a full-blooded yokai (it does make a difference!). I've imagined that if he was their age, he'd probably act most like Inuyasha.