Chapter One
Darkness
InuMusuko's eyes blinked open. There was that damned dream again… Hazy, but still vivid. 'How does that even WORK!?' he thought, attempting to push it out of his mind. It was always the same. A weird nursery rhyme and three faces. At first, the dream would start out happy, two faces hovering over him. He couldn't see either of their faces, but could tell one had light hair, and the other, black hair. But the black haired one's eyes… Those light happy brown eyes… And the light haired one's eyes flashed gold once before deep darkness seemed to seep into his mind, and the rhyme seemed to grow in strength. He had never heard it before, not from the days of his training, but then again, the master, the face he would always see next, had never whispered anything sweet in his dog ears.
The Master or Master or Naraku-sama was all InuMusuko was allowed to call his father. From the age of five, he had learned that calling Naraku-sama 'Daddy' or 'Papa' was unacceptable. He still had scars, mental and physical, from the times he had learned.
Shivering, InuMusuko pulled himself from his warm futon, shaking himself, his long curtain of silver hair falling about him. Silver was a long shot; more like grey. But it had a regal sheen about it, making many call it silver. Bright golden eyes gazed about the room, and InuMusuko's legs collapsed beneath him. Out of years of practice, he tucked them in so that he fell into a sitting position, legs crossed Indian style, and arms stuffed into the sleeves of his silver haori.
Pulling out a locket, InuMusuko tried, as he had for the past twelve years, to open it. The golden heart just gleamed cheerily up at him, an unknown scent dancing across its surface. The only reason it wasn't completely covered in his own scent was because the inside had been clamped shut, the lock smashed beyond repair. But instead of, as many locks should, not being able to close, it was smashed in such a way that it was impossible to open without destroying the locket and whatever precious thing lay inside.
Growling as somebody knocked on his door. InuMusuko stuffed the locket into his sleeve and stood up, clenching and unclenching his fist as his tawny eyes narrowed at the door. Not again…
"Come in," he managed to purr. Naraku-sama had told him, always act polite to those above you, even if you don't respect them. It will come in handy when they choose to kill you or not. That was one of the things Hakudoshi and Kagura didn't have… brains.
Both Hakudoshi and Kagura had come and gone before InuMusuko's time, but he knew the stories of both. Both had plotted against Naraku. Both had died horrible deaths, thought the story of Kagura confused him. She had been given her heart, miasma poured into it, and had fled to a field of flowers. There, unbeknownst to her, a Saimyosho was watching her. As the story went, a tai yokai came to her and spoke with her. She died just as her other allies, the boy she had died to give freedom, his sister, her pet, a monk, a human, and a filthy half-breed arrived.
He shook his head. That was the problem… Who WERE those people? The tai yokai hardly interested him; InuMusuko knew who HE was. Sesshomaru-sama, lord of the Western lands. Everybody knew! But the others… the human, who was a miko, and the hanyou…
InuMusuko jumped, ripped from his thoughts as Raise1 entered, raising a delicate eyebrow. InuMusuko smiled at her, his toothy lopsided grin making her giggle. Raise was unlike the other people in this Kami forsaken place.
Taking a deep breath, Raise but her hands on her hips, but let them fall soon afterwards. "InuMusuko-kun," she said, suppressing a smile for the sake of show; Saimyosho always followed her. She was supposed to be Naraku's favorite slaves; always cheery. InuMusuko heard Naraku say that he wished to destroy all purity, and Raise was nothing if not pure and innocent.
"Naraku-sama wishes for your presence. He says that today is the day he sees if you are worthy of leading his army."
InuMusuko's face slowly fell. Oh… yeah… Good-goodie…
He nodded his head solemnly, and Raise's own smile quickly faded. Her bright violet eyes twinkled sadly and she took a step forward, her arms rising as if to hug him, but InuMusuko turned away, her silver bangs covering his eyes. Raise was like a twin sister, a mother, and best friend to him but… how could she make him feel better about what he was just about to do? He didn't want her to try…
Raise's arms fell and she hugged herself, her pale slim arms pressing against her chest, her slender fingers wrapping around each bicep. "Right," she said in a soft voice, turning away from InuMusuko and walking towards the door. "You know where he is… I trust you'll get there on your own without being so scared you wet yourself."
Inside, InuMusuko flinched at her words. They were harsh for her; painful and hurt as they were. It was painfully clear that she'd pout in her room for a few hours, cry a little, and then forget this entire thing ever happened.
When she was gone, InuMusuko bit his lip. Could he really go out and perform his first task?
Shaking his head, he nodded. Of course he could! He defiantly could!
Taking a deep breath, InuMusuko left his room, ignoring the servants that squealed and hastily bowed to him, their hair, or for some of them, what was left of their hair, falling about their shoulders or in a few cases, their knees and below. When he passed, he could feel their hatred towards him. His sharp canine ears caught whispers such as 'The Half-breed's son' and 'filthy heritage'. When three, he had asked Naraku about these whispers. He had killed half of the staff, making InuMusuko watch. That day still haunted his worse nightmares.
InuMusuko's feet took him to where he needed to be. Lifting his head high, taking a deep breath, and swallowing the fear that was slowly climbing out through his throat, he raised a clenched fist, claws digging into the flesh of his palm, to knock. His hand never fell against the aged door, the grains in the material in the shape of faces in pure pain and horror before death.
"You may enter, young one."
InuMusuko swallowed again, closing his eyes slowly before sliding the shoji door to the side and closing it when he had entered.
There sat Naraku, his new form more hideous than his other two. Though InuMusuko had never seen his hanyou form, he had heard stories of it. A year since InuMusuko was born, Naraku had changed his form yet again to become stronger than his opponents. Now, darkness danced across his skin and his vermillion eyes, like churning pools of blood, could flash with anger or hate, or sparkle with quiet and evil delight. Every now and then, when the shadows on his body lessened in one area, InuMusuko could see as well as smell decayed flesh. Naraku had inhabited another's body for too long, and now the years within it were catching up to it, making the flesh fall apart. But Naraku was still able to steer the body as well as ever.
"Come, Inu no Musuko," he said in a soft, booming voice, using InuMusuko's formal name. He knew this was a big thing. A very big thing…
InuMusuko's knees bent as he sat, toes curling under him as he leaned back, watching Naraku. A small smirk played across Naraku's lips as he surveyed InuMusuko, who didn't dare shift under his ruby gaze.
"Inu no Musuko. Today, this Naraku charges you to attack the village of Edo. There might be a group of five warriors, six if you count the quivering ball of fur that is the kitsune, destroy the old and new mikos, steal what you can of the Shikon no Tama that they have in their possession, and bring it back to me along with the head of InuYasha."
InuMusuko jumped. Inu… Yasha? That name sounded slightly familiar… 'Dog demon… Hmm…' he thought, keeping his confusion from his face Nodding, he stayed where he was. "This Inu no Musuko accepts this mission and will fight to the death for Naraku-sama."
Naraku nodded, obviously pleased. "Well then, Inu no Musuko. Go and return with the head of InuYasha and the Shikon no Kakera his mate possesses or never return at all."
InuMusuko stood shakily, turning and slowly walking towards the door. His world tipped on its axis and he felt sick. Attack an innocent village just for a couple of shards and a single person. Due to Raise being the main person to bring InuMusuko up, he had a strong sense of morality and something Naraku didn't have: a conscience.
As soon as InuMusuko was out of that room, he shot away, grabbing his broad sword from the armory and shooting away into the night.
Naraku leaned back, his smirk growing into a dangerous and evil grin. Shadows flickered across his face, hiding him within the shadows. His voice slowly slipped into the walls as he murmured a soft word for the man who was, hopefully, to be dead by the end of the day.
"What will you do, InuYasha, when being forced to fight with kin, the son of Kagome-sama, and yourself? Will you kill him and face your mate's rejection for doing so, or allow yourself to crumble and die. Either way, I hold the whole deck, and you, a mere coin."
His eyes narrowed and his grin grew wider. "Let the games begin."
1 Raise means Afterlife in Japanese.)
