Hello and welcome to my first fanfic. So please have pity when it takes a little longer.

Warnings: This is a Yaoi story of pure fiction. It has mature content. This means that some of the scenes are graphic and part of the plot might not be suited to some people. You will find here Mpreg, as well as swearing, violence and unBetaed text passages. This is a See/Inu pairing, as in male/male, Inucest, halfcest, yaoi pairing or whatever you wish to call it. Don't like it, don't read it! And no flames if there is no reason. Critics are more than welcome!

Disclaimer: I make no money with this story and I do not own Inuyasha or any of the original characters. Only the new charas are of my creation as well as the plot.

Especially I would like to thank my dear friend 'Thanathos', and my idol writers 'oStilloDreamingo', 'little rosebud' and 'aji7sunhawk' whose stories have inspired me greatly and gave me the courage to try writing for myself.

Well, so much for introduction. Enjoy my story.

Review please, especially if you have ideas, rightful critics or if you think I made mistakes.

Attention: The real story begins further down!

Prologue

In the Past

The dark lands were silent and those whose minds were clear laid down to wait for the morning to come. A lone figure hidden in a dark brown garment flounced through the forest.

Fog seemed to follow her every step while mud, leaves and dirt seemed to evade her beauty. For she was indeed a beauty to be recognized with. Her ebony hair reached her ankle contrasting sharply with her white skin. The rich purple eyes pierced the moonless autumn night in search. The figure was a beautiful exotic woman with a unique flowery scent. A scent of lilies, spring water and fresh wind and under all those layers laid the scent of a human female.

A twig snapped and the woman turned her head around calmly. Her gaze landed on a proud man with long silvery hair and matching golden eyes: her beloved. When she saw her lover she relaxed further and walked to him without hesitation. The fog followed slowly and filled the place around them to hide them from the rest of the world. The female raised her hand and ghosted her fingers over the armor on his chest, along his neck and to his flawless face. In return the man smiled and put his arms around her waist to pull the girl to him.

"I was worried, I thought you would not come" the girl whispered as she wrapped her arms around his chest. "For you anytime my dear" he smiled "you said there is something I need to know?" "Indeed," she began hesitantly "it seems in our last encounter I was blessed by the gods with your child. What do you think about it?" The smile on the gentle mans face fell from shock for a moment, then he grinned brightly "These are wonderful news Izayoi. Sesshomaru has been an only child for far too long. You honor me with such a sumptuous gift. I cannot wait for its birth!" the demon lifted her happily off the ground and almost crushed her in a bear-hug. After a stunned moment the princess joined her beloved in the hug and smiled serenely. A few minutes passed and the demon lord gave a soft growl of contentment as he lowered her to the ground and locked eyes with her. "Do you wish to accompany me to my castle?" he cooed at the princess and tightened the embrace even more. His smile was tranquil as he put his head possessively in her hair to breath in her scent. He basket in her presence and enjoyed the feeling of her figure in his arms.

"You do know I would love too, yet you forget I cannot follow you to that place. I am not your mate and I never will be. Even the human traditions of marriage cannot bind us to another; after all they hold no meaning to us. Besides," she smiled sadly "there is no priest who would bind our souls" she answered neutral. "But, I -" he insisted. "No buts my love," she cut in, putting an elegant finger on his lips "you do know it is true, it would be my certain death to go unmated to a demons castle. And both of us know that my body is far too frail to withstand an ordeal such as mating. I did however found something interesting considering our 'marriage', would you like to know about it?" The DaiYokai lifted his eyebrow and looked guessingly at his beloved. "Please fill me in".

Izayoi hid her head in his broad chest and answered with a quiet voice "Since both a demonic mating and a human ceremony are no options to us, I searched around and found another way to bind a couple. It is a rite called 'Blood Oath'. I would like to do it with you, so that our child would be born in honor as it deserves." she pleaded. "I have never heard of such a rite, but why shouldn't we do it. But you would have to prepare it, given that I have never heard or read about it. And my library is enormous!" he added with a grin.

The human princess snickered at that and smiled cheerfully with shining eyes "Leave it to me Taisho, a rite such as this is a once in a lifetime experience. I am certain you will like it. How about … meet me on the next full moon under the gigantic acacia where we first talked to each other". "I shall be there and now go my love, the night comes to an end and people might start looking for you. Besides, I think I will also prepare." and with these words he turned around and left the clearing, knowing she would come to no harm.

Izayoi turned around and went smiling back to her manor but stopped midway as if she just remembered something. She turned her head and frowned. After a quick glance over her shoulder in the direction of her beloved she changed directions and headed to a small spring hidden deep in the forest she murmured smirking "Show yourself Aring, before you loose your consciousness in an attempt to keep from laughing". A deep chuckle answered her and rose to a full laughter within seconds. The fog which hid her presence to any threats swirled and amassed in front of her. The figure born out of the fog looked remotely human clad in a simple white robe but the white skin on which shadows seemed to swim over and his mouth made clear that this was not the case. Especially his mouth made one shiver with dread as he did not have lips and when he grinned; it stretched literally from one ear to another. When he opened it a little one could see the displayed razor sharp fangs. And yet, the eyes showed a passion and an intellect that was not to miss.

The figure was still half dissolved as it reined his laughter down and answered "Pardon me my princess, but I could not help myself. I didn't expect him to agree to our customs. Beside I think with this you won the bet. I cannot wait to see your sisters face when she knows about this" he said in a playful silken voice and burst out laughing again. Izayoi snickered at the thought of her sister's face and agreed. For a little while both shared the presence of each other and enjoyed the beautiful cool night. But from one moment to the next all playfulness vanished and the feeling of a war council took over. "So I am going to prepare the rite … are you convinced you will not regret your decision? You could return, you know don't you? You do not have to end it here. There is no need to stay behind all alone, right?" he asked slowly one last time.

Izayoi blinked and closed her eyelids and when she opened them again she revealed her true emotions to Aring. The gentle purple glow which encased the beauty was dim and dark."Yes Aring, I have decided. Do not grieve my friend, I searched for months, no years and now I have found a powerful yet gentle man, who is to my very liking. I even ended up usurping a city, a manor and the hearts of so many people. I will not let all this work be for naught. So the answer is 'yes' Aring. Besides no matter where I go, death will keep waiting for me."

"I know you are only stating the truth and yet … your condition scares me. ... You won't make it back, you will die here. Alone. Please, at the very least let me stay with you until the very end. I may be of some help." Aring pleaded, his eyes dull yet shimmering with unshed tears. If there had been any bystander they would have known that whatever these two beings were planning it would take a prize not many would be willing to pay.

The princess looked at her friend and slowly shook her head with a sad smile. "No, I won't let you die like this. After all, there is someone waiting for you. With a bit of luck maybe even another young life will await you in your future" She paused and turned around "Let us go, I need to plan everything out and we need to make haste, time is a luxury we do no longer have. Get the others." with these words Izayoi turned around and advanced to her manor without looking back.

The mist-man Aring looked with sad and knowing eyes after his mistress. She was unable to see his determined eyes as his gaze followed her form. He sighed softly and his body dissolved completely to fog once again to silently trail her.

Chapter 1: The Calm before the Storm

- Castle of the West -

The inhabitants of the western castle were tense. Demons tiptoed from room to room and conversations were held in whispers. The atmosphere was tense and unbearable. The reason was simple: Their lord was in a foul mood due to his latest inspections of the surrounding lands. A small green imp huffed through one of the endless corridors swaying past ancient paintings and guarding demons. The green-skinned male swayed past beautifully decorated rooms and lovely gardens, which were carefully tended to. The white clean walls and the high ceiling gave the endless hallway an almost sacred feeling. The gardens only added to this impression. It was unbefitting to the reputations demons held, but it matched the perfect lord, that owned it. The imp didn't bother looking around in awe at the graceful style of construction, after all he knew it by heart after all these years. It became a normal view, uninteresting and plain compared to his intended destination especially with his heavy load.

Jacken saw the beautifully carved door to the study. He slowed down and clutched the files to his small chest and took a last deep breath before he knocked at the door. "Enter" a smooth yet lightly dark voice answered him. The door was opened a little and the kappa peeked careful at his lord. Jacken knew exactly why his lord's mood went beyond the freezing point and he also knew that these files wouldn't help. They never did. So why start hoping. "Get over here Jacken, I want to finish before the season changes." the lord mused loudly. The imp snapped back to reality and staggered to the desk to lay down the requested papers. His beak constantly was stuttering apologies. The DayYokai didn't wait for him to finish his monologue of regret; he just took his documents to compare them to his latest collected information. His angelic face was marred with an ugly frown as his eyes roamed over the laid-out documents. "You may leave now, Jacken. But before you retire make sure to make a list about strong spirit detectors, witches, old eremites or similar beings. They need to be in touch with nature." "Yes my lord." the toad uttered and hurried out of the room to do as he was told.

While the Lord of the West submerged himself in his work, all life seemed to come to halt in the castle. Silence was rare within these walls and much dreaded. There were no guests, no chatting servants and even the soldiers training on the grounds seemed to be cautious to not make to much noise. Even the kitsune-demons who were in charge for keeping the household up and did many of the chores, tried hell-bent to have as little contact to their working lord as possible.

An entire day and two nights passed before anyone saw the western lord again. As he finally exited his study he looked calm and composed and yet instincts made the serving and guarding yokai run for the hills. The stoic lord made his way to the toad's working place to retrieve his ordered list as well as the imp himself. While walking he gave various orders to the commandant of his troupes as well as his four captains. Once the imp joined the master of the house on his walk, the kappa was dragged to the head of the household. Sesshomaru gave said demon a list with things that needed to be done. The toad made sure he had a copy of all the instructions, in case of emergency or if someone forgot his duties. Afterwards both demons made their way to the council.

On his way to the council Sesshomaru's mood darkened. He had a problem. An enormous one. His lands were withering …they were dying. Dying! HE, the most powerful of the lords and a being as close to perfection as one could be, didn't even realized the state of his heritage. It was inexplicable, how come he didn't see it before! His father would be furious with his neglect of the lands of his ancestors.

The western lands always were the most fruitful of all the lands. The north, governed by the panther demons, was covered by mountains and cliffs. The southern territory belonging to the phoenix demons had many lakes, rivers and green Great Plains. The eastern part of Japan was divided in clearly arranged spots of green forests, brown hills and blue rivers. Simple, wild and uncomplicated, just like the wolf demons that ruled in these parts of the land.

Sesshomaru clenched his fangs and suppressed a growl. If the other lords and ladies got that he lost this much control of his lands, he could just as well hang up his title at the doorstep, so that the one coming first could just take it to his or her liking. His eyes narrowed slightly. Normally the ruling lords and ladies kept well out of each other's business and respected each other. But thanks to his reputation, his strength and his sharp mind the others started to get wary of him. The fact that he hardly had any allies made thoughts of invading his lands quite appealing as well as the fact that the western lands were beautiful. The temptation was enormous especially to the northern panthers with their barren rocks and cliffs, or for new formed groups of upcoming demons.

But currently he was certain that no one beside him knew that each passing year had brought less yields than the year before. For his ancestors sake! Even the seasons seemed to dim as time passed and left him down. The process was slow, so very slow and at such a leisurely pace nobody was able to take notice. Not even him. But the records were true. The young lord could still remember the springs three hundred years ago. The current spring was hardly more than a pitiful poor copy of the former green paradise.

His council would also understand the situation once they would be confronted with it. A hard and empty smile curved his mouth slightly, as he thought of exactly what would happen to his council if another should decide that the western lands were in need of a new leader. No one of noble blood or those close to them survived a takeover. … A dead enemy means no risk and no opposition.

Sesshomaru thought were brought to an halt as he saw the portal doors. He didn't even realize that he had already reached the conference room. He stood tall and proud in front of it as two bull demons reached out and opened the portal for him. He did not know how, but somehow his instincts screamed to him that something was happening or beginning to happen. The lord of the inus did not like to lose control. As the doors swung open he entered with determined steps, the small imp following in his shadow. It did not matter what destiny would throw at him. He was ready to face it and now the first round would start.

- tbc -

So this is my first chapter of many to come. I think I put everything in quite nicely but if you have any suggestions or ideas make sure to contact me. In these bottom parts I will describe details about the story or point out the background if it is not already described in the story.

Firstly, in the series of Inuyasha many powerful and respected demons were female, like Sessho's mother, the bird queen Tekkei, or the current female leader of the panther demons who controls ice. So in my stories both genders in demon-society have equal rights. The only conditions which are necessary to be a leader is power, wisdom and influence.

Secondly, in my story the more powerful demons do not go into heat. The privilege to act on instincts alone is reserved for animals or the mindless lesser demons (the insect like demons that followed Naraku for example).

I always wondered about Izayoi, for she did not seem to be as what she appeared. Humans do not have purple eyes and in the story of Rumiko Takahashi there is a scene in which the 'fake mother' of Inuyasha used some sort of 'flower magic' to teleport everyone. NO ONE (not even the characters themselves) seemed to mind that a normal human princess is capable of such a feat. So I decided that there has to be more than meets the eye and so an idea and this story were born (other stories are on the way).

Beside I do not like the idea of a Kagome/Inuyasha pairing, especially after the movie. So I decided to change it.

That was it for this time. 'Till next chapter.