Disclaimer: I do not own anything Inuyasha.
Changing Winds
Chaper2: The Chosen Child
Sesshoumaru's day started out bad enough, and it didn't look like it was going to get any better. He found himself following a very young looking priestess with an aura so strong he had to walk 20 paces behind her so as not to be purified. If Sesshoumaru had been a lesser demon he would already be dead.
Moire was pissed, and was clearly showing it by not hiding her aura.
Sesshoumaru thought the sight of them would bring him trouble the whole trip home. 'Moire only looks like she is aged 25 mortal years, a demon passing by would think I, Lord Sesshoumaru, was following some young maiden to bed!'. He scowled in disgust.
As much as her presence was an honor, to him it seemed to always be a curse.
Moire could feel Sesshoumaru's unease, and she relished in it.
'Serves him right! Not protecting his pack like that, where has that young demons' honor gone!?' , her face unchanging, always calm and serene.
Moire's anger over what she thought was his lack in responsibility was only second to what was really causing her aura to flare almost uncontrollably. 'He is gone'.
'I have known him since his birth, have shared great memories, have taught him and Sesshoumaru how to fight. When did Sesshoumaru stop believing in his father? I have let my duty to the Taisho family fail, and now...he is gone.' Miore walked with her head held high, though her heart was sinking.
They made camp late that night, the small campfire illuminating both their eyes. Sesshoumaru's golden glow met Miore's green ones He had forgotten how much they glowed like a cat in the dark.
Miore spoke first, " where have they taken Izayoi and her child?".
"To the Southern regions"
"Our course will change to the South tomorrow then."
"I will not accompany you there."
"You most certainly will young Lord, you have a brother to protect.", her voice steady and calm.
"That...hanyou is not my responsibility.", Sesshoumaru's face as blank as hers.
"He is part of your pack, your family, and the future of this world."
Sesshoumaru's heavy retort stopped short in his throat as he registered the phrase 'future of this world'.
"What do you mean High Priestess?"
"Your father knew what was to come, the child was hardly unplanned."
"So he planned to fail the family line.", Sesshoumaru knew his father must have lost his mind.
"No."
Miore sighed heavily before continuing, "Do you remember Midoriko?"
Sesshoumaru frowned, he had heard of Midoriko. He did not see why Miore should side track him with this. "I know of her by name only.", he said narrowing his eyes at her.
"She was a priestess, warrior...and my daughter. Which made her very powerful."
"Was?", Sesshoumaru cut in. If Midoriko was Miore's daughter he would have heard of the passing of such a powerful miko.
"Yes, she died; well was really immortalized, in a great battle with several great and lesser demons. She was half human, which meant she was capable of obtaining the true power of The Four Souls-courage, friendship, love, and wisdom. And since she was my daughter, her powers to be a priestess were then intertwined with her great soul."
"Midoriko, fought so hard to save others that day that she herself was almost devoured by the demons. To save her soul her powers created the Shikon No Tama and ejected it from her body. If the demons had devoured her whole there would have been no way to separate the two and the demons would have become one demon. Inseparable. The terror that would come to this world would be too great."
Miore continued carefully, she could not say too much, not yet. "Midoriko did not have any heirs, her strength was not passed on, it stays still with the Jewel. One day the Jewel will need a protector. A youkai such as yourself is too impure a soul, and a human is far too weak."
"Only a hanyou of a powerful youkai could protect it without destroying it," Sesshoumaru stated, finishing her thought.
"Yes."
"What High Priestess does any of this have to do with me?", Sesshoumaru's voice was level, unmoving.
Miore looked Sesshoumaru straight in his eyes, there was a moment when all she saw was his fathers' golden eyes reflected in his. She shrugged off the vision. "Your father was the youkai I trusted to carry out this task. He never questioned me, and in the end he found a kind of companionable love he didn't know he could find in a human."
"No matter if you never forgive your father, or never acknowledge the youth, you must still teach him to fight. On this count you can not deny me.", Miore stated this with such an air of finality, many would have thought Sesshoumaru had spoken.
The look in her eyes told Sesshoumaru that she would painfully take him apart limb from limb if he did not accept.
"I will teach him.", his face an ever passive mask., "But I will still not hesitate to kill him should he get in my way when he comes of age."
Miore gave a small nod, her face as blank as his. On the outside. Inside she was smiling, 'he is so jealous to have someone supposedly weaker than him be destined for something greater.'
She calmly sat in meditation, trying to feel the hanyou's small aura. It should feel as wild as his fathers' and as beautiful as his mother.
She found it.
"We should be at Izoyai's village tomorrow night, get your rest Sesshoumaru, we fly at daybreak."
With that she leaned on a nearby tree and drifted off to sleep. Sesshoumaru had watched as she sent out part of herself to find the young Taisho. It made him feel uneasy when she did that. The fact that Moire wanted to fly there suggested something was wrong. As long as he had known her she always walked the lands.
He remembered Miore telling him that with so much time in their lives walking was hardly a waste. If there was something so important that needed to be seen it would come to them. She had told him this on one of their hunting lessons.
It was why he walked his lands most of the time.
As Sesshoumaru watched her sleep he pondered his respect for her. Miore came around every few centuries, and stayed for maybe a year or two. And yet, he had always listened to her more, respected her more, and believed in her power more.
He had seen her truly use her ancient powers only once. He never wanted to see, or feel, or be near power like that again. Maybe that was why he never disobeyed her. Then again...
Sesshoumaru shook his last thought, following her example, and slept.
As first light came over the valley Miore and Sesshoumaru set out across the trees. The day was clear and the wind soft, making their travel easy.
The pair arrived in the village by late morning. The presence of heavy guards suggested they were at the right place.
The stench of human living made Sesshoumaru's nose curl, "what a disgusting place".
"Breathe through your mouth.", Moire stated with bland disinterest.
A small boy appeared from a path in front of them, he had an obvious lame leg. Upon seeing the tall imposing youkai, his eyes registered instant fear. He could not run and he knew it.
Miore walked up to him, and silently bent down to touch his lame leg. The boy was frozen solid. Miore stood, smiled at the boy and said, " go to the village and tell them we are coming."
The young child nodded, and turned to leave. He gasped, and started running as fast as he could laughing all the way.
'why bother wasting energy on something so breakable', he thought.
As if she read his mind Miore replied, "it is easier to get service if the villagers don't think you are there to harm them."
Sesshoumaru grunted, "no one defies my will. I do not need things to be easier."
Miore raised an eyebrow at him as they continued their steady walk towards the village.
Her good deed to the child had made their request to see Izayoi an easily granted wish. They were soon face to face with the young princess and her child.
Miore knew this visit would be difficult, what she hadn't anticipated was how beautiful the young woman really was. Having known the elder Taisho as well as she did, she felt a touch jealous at this revelation. 'Really, only a little.'
Shaking her head of the thought she continued to tell Izayoi of the training her son would receive from Sesshoumaru and herself.
Izayoi's unease at the demon's presence was beginning to come of her in strong waves. This sent Sesshoumaru into a foul mood of displeasure. Miore sensing the coming storm rested her hands on Izayoi's pale ones, "Inuyasha will be a child for your entire life. You will have his best years; however, the time for you will go all too quickly. You must learn to steal precious moments from him in between his training."
"I will stay here with you and help you teach him until his demon aura starts to take over. Lord Sesshoumaru will then come at regular intervals in his life to teach him to fight..."
Izayoi broke through with a small voice, "I don't want him to fight, he should live a peaceful life."
"Izayoi", Miore snapped, "your love can not protect him his whole life. Pass down to him what you want him most to be, and he will in turn use it to save. If you only give him your love, he will die. If you only teach him to fight, he will kill...everyone, no line drawn. You have a job to do before you pass from this world, and your failure will also mean his."
The High Priestess stood and excused herself from their company. Sesshoumaru followed, a silent presence.
He had listed to her emotionless voice and knew for the remainder of her time here she would leave her more human self behind. It would make his job of the teaching the hanyou much easier.
"High Priestess.", he bowed his head slightly.
She nodded at his farewell, as he turned and took his leave.
No need for more formalities, those would come when she left Japan. For now there was work to do, evil had already begun to surround the child. She hoped they had enough time for Inuyasha to grow up.
I really am going to get the pair together. My imagination simply has quite an involved story line. I hope this isn't getting too wordy, or involved. Please review, I have never been good at writing and I need all the criticism I can get... good and bad. Thanks!