Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters created within the story of Inuyasha.
Author's Note: It has been a long time since I wrote a fanfiction. I have been reading a lot of Inuyasha fanfictions here lately and it's given me the itch to write again. So here I am, attempting to do just that. I hope you enjoy this, and don't forget to leave me some reviews, okay? (:
Chapter One
Lady Nyria had a secret. A secret she hadn't confided in anyone. She was a princess of sorts . . . she was, in fact, the heir to her father's throne in the Southern Lands someday. Yet here she was, with her jet black hair and silver eyes concealed with a spell. She was in a land that wasn't here own: the Western Lands, watched over by Lord Sesshoumaru. To anyone who looked at her, she had violet eyes and blonde hair. Her markings, the ones that would prove her status as somewhat royalty, were hidden by her little spell as well. There was nothing special about her amongst the other demons here, not even the impressive sword hanging by her side. She liked to challenge the soldiers in this "arena," a place that had been created for demons - both soldiers and not - to train with swords or hands, a place where sparring matches took place, and duels, of course.
So what was her secret? She was a princess with a disguise meant to get her out from under her father's scrutiny for awhile, allowing her to come and go as she please. Leaving her father's grounds as a Lady, wandering as a rogue, and returning a Lady. She clung to this disguise, this freedom, more tightly than she ever had anything else.
The young woman was freshly turned one hundred, though in appearance one would think her to be only around seventeen, her birthday just two short months beforehand. She was getting to a certain point where her father was itching for her to find a worthy suitor that would someday take his daughter's side in his throne. Her father was hoping she would soon find the man that would be her King, her mate. But she was just not interested in looking for him at this moment in time. She was much more interested in a particular match going on between a young kitsune and a crow demon a good many years his senior. The younger man had the upper hand as far as his youth and agility, but the older man had experience, had probably been to battle before. They were quite evenly matched and it was fun to watch.
She grinned and played with the hilt of her own sword, eyes sweeping over the different demons loitering around the place. One of them might possibly become her exercise for the day. She was certainly not afraid of being knocked around a little bit and she knew when to back off and admit defeat. She enjoyed her swordplay, finding it a good way to work off her excess energy. She singled one out. Probably not much older than her, he seemed to be watching the same match; a wolf demon, it looked like. She sauntered over to him and smirked slightly, "Hello there," she purred. He immediately turned to her and grinned, certainly not expecting a challenge from a woman, a kitten, no less.
He arched a brow when he did see the sword at her hip and stifled a laugh, "What is a girl doing with a sword?" he laughed aloud when he said this, but before he could regain his composure, the sword was out and Nyria had skipped backwards a few steps, smiling at him innocently.
"Care to show me why girls shouldn't play with swords, then?" she asked, dropping into a defensive stance as he stood there staring, not sure whether to accept the challenge or not. When she seemed to be serious, he smirked and pulled his own sword, dropping into a crouch before hurling himself at her, intent on knocking the girl's sword quickly from her grip and ending this little joke.
Nyria moved quickly to the side and spun around, sword held in front of her. She watched in amusement as the man landed and turned to face her, visibly shocked that she had moved out of his way and dodged his attack. Some people had gathered to watch them, a few of them snickering at the wolf unable to land a simple blow on a kitten playing swordsman . . . or woman, rather. He growled, his face red with embarassment and charged the woman again. This time, instead of moving out of his way, Nyria braced her sword, stopping him in his tracks. The loud clash of the swords was music to her ears but seemed to only make the man more angry, which in turn only caused her more amusement.
"You little wench, you will learn your place," he hissed, rearing back and pushing forward, trying to knock her off balance. But instead of this going the way he had planned, she ducked and rolled under his sword, standing once more once she was behind him, facing his back with a smirk. In a flash, she was standing, arm wrapped around him with her sword pressed to his throat, a smirk on her face. Some unseen force coming off of the neko was keeping him from moving to retaliate, holding him in his place in front of the girl.
Before he could really comprehend what she had done, she had pressed until her sword caused a small cut, blood trickling from it. "What did you say about learning my place?" she murmured, before releasing him, both from her sword and her spell. He spun around, his hand going to his throat, his entire body trembling from the embarassment and anger he was feeling. Nyria shrugged him off, she had beaten him, and it was time for her to go home.
Without another word, she spun and moved to leave the place. Before she had gone a few steps, the wolf leapt forward with a snarl, bringing the hilt of his sword crashing down across the back of her head. The woman let out a yelp and stumbled forward, grasping the back of her head, feeling a warm, sticky liquid seeping into her hair. Her vision swam for a moment and she tried to regain her balance. Without success. The next moment, her knees gave out and sent her in the direction of the ground. However, there was never any such collision.
She felt strong arms catch her, then lay her gently on the ground, then all was black.
Sesshoumaru caught the girl as she fell. He had been watching her little match, impressed by the girl. She was a neko, judging by her scent. She was matched well with the wolf, though she had had the upper hand on speed. He had found the wolf demon lacking in both skill and the manners department with his rude comments made during their fight. A sparring match was meant for swords and swords alone; it was not a place for a verbal warfare. However, the young neko had taken it and thrown it back in his face, which Sesshoumaru had inwardly smirked out. On the outside, he held no expression, but he would admit to himself that she was impressive.
When the wolf had struck with the neko's back turned, Sesshoumaru had growled and rushed forward, catching the girl before she could completely fall. Then he had turned to a terrified wolf demon. The infamous taiyoukai stood before him and all the demon could do was bow to one knee and lower his head, "My lord, I was not aware of your presence in this place," he murmured, voice dripping with the fear that had his body trembling.
Sesshoumaru stood for another moment, simply watching the wolf with a silent, stoic expression. "I do not appreciate such acts of cowardice coming from an inhabitant of my lands," he said, more to himself than the wolf. Without further warning and before most could tell what he was doing, Sesshoumaru had his sword out and across the wolf's sword-weilding arm. The wolf howled in pain as the hand was slice clean from the arm, separated at the wrist. The hand that had been holding his sword fell to the ground, blood starting to pour from the wrist. "Maybe that will teach you not to attack others when their back is turned, especially when they fairly beat you in a match, pup," he said, no emotion in his voice.
Turning his attention to one of his guards that had accompanied him to the arena, Sesshoumaru made a gesture towards the neko, "Bring her," he murmured before turning and walking from the arena, ignoring the wide-eyed looks of several of the demons standing around him.
The guard he had spoken to moved quickly forward to lift the woman and follow after his lord. The guard was a little older than Sesshoumaru, though one couldn't tell it by appearance, as was common amongst youkai. He had bright orange hair, green eyes, and six tails fluttering behind him. He was not a high ranking officer in Sesshoumaru's castle, but he was trusted enough to accompany Sesshoumaru every now and then. The kitsune was still a pup in the eyes of the generals of Sesshoumaru's soldiers, after all. It would be many years before he was advanced enough to move up in the ranks. He cradled the neko gently, the blood from her head seeping against his arm.
He could tell the wound wasn't a bad one, nor was it life-threatening. It had just been hard enough to knock the girl into unconsciousness. She would wake soon. There was something off about her, though. Something wasn't right. He sniffed the air and shrugged. He didn't know what it was, but if Lord Sesshoumaru didn't think anything of it, then neither would he.
The kitsune followed the taiyoukai, Sesshoumaru never saying a word. They weren't far from his fortress, his home. He had left Rin with Jakken, safe in the confines of the "castle," if you will. He could smell the neko's blood in her hair, mixed with her own scent of vanilla and raspberries . . . a strange scent. She obviously kept herself clean; he could smell barely any kind of dirt or grime on the girl, other than the metallic scent of blood, of course. Most roaming demons usually stunk of something or another, rarely bathing. To add to that, he had taken note of the quality of the sword she had been using, as well as her skill in using it. He wanted to know who this demon was, wandering around his lands, and he intended to find out.
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Author's Note: Well, that's it for the first chapter. What do you think? Leave me some reviews so I know if anyone is interested in seeing this story progress, okay? (: