430 Years Ago – 1578
Sighing he placed another report down on his desk rubbing his tired eyes. Looking out the window he saw the snow come down and growl. He hated the snow, he hated the cold. Growling he ran his claws through his hair. Scowling he needed to take a dip in the hot springs. Getting up he stretched his sore muscles; he had sat there too long.
Walking out of the study down to his room, he looked at the draperies lining the walls and sighed. He saw his fore-father's and brother's faces looking down on him and he turned away in disgust. He had learned a lot in a year; he learned humility and responsibility; among other things. He found out rather quickly that no one was going to help him do ANYTHING. All his uncle and Katsuro would do was offer advice, never once did they pick up a report and do the work for him. One day, he just sat down and found out problems of the West and decided that he was the only one that could and would help himself.
One year had taught him more than the five that his brother had trained him in ruling a part of Nippon. With his brother, all he did was half assed listened to him as he explained the dealings with the West. Now that he had to do it by himself, he hated that he didn't listen better. He sighed as he made his way to his room. If he could, he would take back everything he had ever done. Now that his mind wasn't clouded over with jealously of his human heart, he would have seen what his brother was accomplishing for him. Walking past his brother's room he growled. The scent, his brother's scent, was still as strong as ever; he refused for anyone to clean the room.
He hated to admit it, he missed his brother. Not only did Kami forbid him from having a mate and living a life of loneliness, they also intended for him to go insane with it. At least when his brother was still living, he still had a sense of comradely. He could go to his brother and speak with him or even just to be in the same room with him and he always felt better. Inu's were, in essence, a demon that thrived in a pack, and now his only pack was gone; because of him…
Growling he opened the door to his own quarters and walked in. Pulling his kimono off, he looked at it. The colors of the West adorned the silk and it made him sour. Though, by law, he was to wear the silks of the ruling lord, he flat out refused. Those silks were always going to be his brother's. His, though, the design was the same, had more blues and blacks. The only part that he saw that was reminiscent of the late lord was on his left breast, above his heart. A patch of red hexagons that had sakaru blossoms within them. That is where Sesshomaru laid now; in his heart, as well as the heart of the West. He hated to admit it, but, Sesshomaru was the rightful ruler of the West and he never faltered in his line of duty. He only hoped that he could accomplish even half of what his brother did.
He chuckled darkly; it seemed that he was still living in his brother's shadow. Though this time, he wasn't jealous or angry at that, fore he knew that now he had to right his transgressions to the West. During his first year ruling, he had to, multiple times in fact, deal with problems that he had caused in the West. Learning that it was his responsibility to answer to your wrong doings, he decided to not make anymore; though as the lord of a region he was now always in the spotlight, so he had to keep himself in line. Sighing as he laid down on his futon. He only wished that he could right the wrong that he committed to his brother and his sister-in-law.
Thinking of her, he growled again. She was, by far, the greatest thing that had ever happened to the West; though he hated to admit it. She had the power to help his brother rule and as a couple, they would've been unstoppable. Why in the hell did he not see that? Gazing out the window, seeing the sun had set, but the snow still came down in blankets he growled. This winter had been extremely harsh and he had already received reports that a fifth of the West, human and demon alike, had succumbed to the bitter cold. Saying a small prayer to Kami, wishing that spring would arrive very soon he rolled over and sleep claiming him.
Growling when he heard someone banging on his door he failed to notice all of the noises that surrounded the citadel. Wrestling with his covers he stumbled to the door, flinging it open he saw his general, Katsuro, breathing heavily with an ashen face. "My Lord! We are under attack! It seems that the South is not through with us yet!"
Inuyasha was finally awake to realize what was going on. Feeling the citadels very foundation rock with the explosions that he knew all too well. Running back into his room, he had enough time to put on his hakamas and grab his sword. "The South is dead Katsuro! Councilman Ai is now in charge! Do not tell me that the demoness is stupid enough to attack us!"
The foundation was hit with another wave of explosions. Things were falling from their places on the walls and it was getting harder to stand on their own two feet. Growling his beast was coming closer to the edge of sanity. "WHO IS ATTACKING?!"
Katsuro had never seen the young lord's demon surface and he was instantly frightened; the jagged purple lines on his cheeks, the red eyes, the longer fangs; all strikingly different than they hanyou he knew. "R-Ryu had many supporters Inuyasha! It seems that it took them six years to gather all of them together! It seems they have advanced in their weaponry as well!"
Inuyasha ran out of the room to see the servants gathering the relics of the West as well as the treasures; seeing them run to where he knew the secret store house was he knew they would be protected. "AS SOON AS YOU'RE DONE WITH THOSE GET OUT OF HERE! STAY SAFE!"
His servants looked at him in awe; was he actually thinking of other than himself? "But my lord! What of the things in your brother's room?!" It was Kaede, the head of the household and servants. He looked at her like a grandmother and didn't want anything to happen to her, nor the rest of them. But they looked to him, knowing how he felt about his brother's room; he felt that way to preserve a semblance of the late Lord's memory.
Growling more as the castle started to fill with smoke he ran past them, to get outside. Coming up to the door that housed his brother's quarters he concentrated his powers into it, sealing the walls around it; amazed that he could actually do it. "IT'S SEALED! GET OUT OF THE CASTLE BEFORE IT FALLS DOWN AROUND YOU!" With that he knew that his servants was safe.
Hearing Kaede direct the servants to the underground caverns that connected to the coast, he felt Katsuro's aura running with him to the outside. Smirking as he followed the bangs of explosions outside, he felt his demon leak out more and felt himself almost lose control of him.
Running outside, he was blinded by the sunlight, but only momentarily. The heat of the battle had melted some of the snow that had fallen the day prior. The outer wall had been broken down with the many explosions and his warriors had been pushed to the inner wall where he now stood. Katsuro called out orders but his mind was on one thing; kill the remnants of the traitorous South. Running to the inner wall, he pushed his way through his warriors assessing the battle.
Upwards of two thousand demons of all types were closing in on the West. Many of them wearing armor that he had only seen overseas. Long spears, swords and arrows littered the grounds. Horses were whinnying trying to get away from the carnage but the riders were persistent. Growling he unsheathed his sword, seeing it transform for him he breathed a small prayer. "Kami-sama, hear his Inuyasha's plea. I know I have wronged you and my family, but please let me lead my people through this battle. I promise to rebuild the West in the ways of my brother and of my sire; if you so wish it…"
Calling the power of the sword, turning the fang into shards of diamonds he smirked. "Kongousouha!" Seeing the enemy turn from the citadel itself, to him, he smirked again; feeling his fangs elongate even further. He breathed in as he swung his sword again, killing most of them at the front with one attack. Sensing his warriors follow him into battle he continued through the enemies coming closer to the ones he saw over the hill that surrounded the citadel; the ones in charge of attacking his home.
Fighting his way through them, not noticing the many cuts he had accumulated, he found a few large dragons that smelled like relatives of Ryu. Growling he felt Katsuro join him. "Katsuro, I want you to fall back and protect the West. Put a barrier around the garden where my brother and his mate lay… I need to end this, once and for all…"
Katsuro looked at him in terrified awe. "But Inuyasha-sama! You are nowhere near as powerful as your brother or your father! You will be killed!"
Inuyasha turned red eyes to his general and growled at him. "I refuse to leave the West leaderless Katsuro! Trust me as you would have my brother!"
Inuyasha raced to the end of the lines were the dragons were waiting. Growling as they let their wings extend to full length in agitation. The largest of the three transformed back into his humanoid form. Inuyasha saw that he was very close in resemblance to Ryu, a brother perhaps. "Well what do we have here? The younger brother of the great Sesshomaru-sama… What was your name again?"
Inuyasha growled, holding his sword tighter, feeling the power of it, as well as within him grow steadily.
The other two dragons transformed back and he saw a woman and another male. The male smelled strongly of the larger male, a son. The woman smelled of Ryu and the larger male; sister to Ryu and the other dragon. They each had reddish, blonde hair with blazing green eyes.
"Come now Shin. Do you not remember Inuyasha?"
Shin, the largest dragon snorted. "I don't seem to recall him. The only thing I remember about him was that he would be seen in town, heading to the brothel every day; hardly leadership material."
Inuyasha's vision started to redden. He felt the beast rattling the cage inside of his mind, reeling in anger; though what the dragon said was true, he refused to be remembered like that.
The younger of the two, the son to Shin, then laughed. "All the more reason to take what uncle Ryu set to accomplish. It would seem that the younger brother of the great Lord Sesshomaru will never live up to his brothers, nor his father's name. Let me do the honors of killing him father; no need to sully your claws…"
Shin looked to his son and then back to the Inu across the field. He assessed the demon with confusion. He was a son to the great dog general wasn't he? Why hadn't he transformed yet? Why was his demon so uncontrollable? Shaking his head slightly, determining that it didn't matter; the whelp was about to die anyway. Waving his hand he gave his son the okay to kill the demon.
Inuyasha breathed heavily letting the rest of his control break. But unlike before, he was able to comprehend what was going on around him. Feeling the strength of his demon pulse he saw the younger dragon advance on him.
The dragon was young, maybe three hundred years old, just old enough to be battle ready; unfortunately for the young dragon, he never battled any other demon outside of this family. Not seeing the speed of the inu, he saw that the demon he was advancing on was no longer in front of him. Suddenly feeling cold, he looked down and saw red blood pooling on the snow covered ground; congealing quickly due to the falling temperatures. He couldn't breathe, bringing his hand up to his chest, he felt his body fall forward before his mind went completely blank, never realizing that his heart had been ripped from his chest and that he would never see the light of another day…
Inuyasha was on the other two before they could realize it. He advanced on the woman, his claws finding purchase on her throat before tossing her across the field all the while holding her trachea and vocal cords still in his claws. He had killed two dragons within moments!
Shin jumped back finally realizing that the demon in front of him was one he had never encountered before. The inu was fast; within milliseconds he had killed his son and sister! He saw his son's still beating heart within the dog's claws, then saw the slowly dying body of his sister suffocating on her own blood; no demon, not even the great dragons of the South could regenerate that quickly. Within seconds he realized with grief that he was the last of their clan.
With a mighty growl, Shin transformed back into his dragon form in a rage.
Inuyasha squeezed the still warm and beating heart of the dragon's son and laughed. "So, now you know how it feels to lose everything dear to you! But you needn't worry Shin of the dragon clan, you will be joining them before the hour is up!" He called forth his sword again, diamonds glittering with the snow. "Kongousouha!"
The dragon avoided most of them but soon found his wings had been punctured; crying out in agony he flew toward the inu hoping to swipe his claws and kill the nuisance with his poison claws. What the dragon didn't suspect was the inu jumping out of the way and being sliced by the dog's claws; effectively removing his left wing.
Shin roared as he transformed back into his humanoid form, falling to the cold snow covered ground. His left arm was bleeding badly and the dragon wasn't able to use it. Growling at the dog a few hundred yards away from him he advanced on him. "Why don't you transform and we can battle like lords!"
Inuyasha smirked. "Because this is why!" He felt for the chain around his neck and pulled. The chain broke and the dragon was washed with the demon's scent; though predominately youkai, he smelt the faint underlying scent of something completely different. The dragon stopped in his tracks and was stunned.
Inuyasha waited for this momentary lapse and using his new speed he advanced on him and killed him much like his brother killed Ryu. With blood glinting on his sword, and dropping spots on the snow he turned to see the dragon's head fall of this body. "Didn't know that you could be killed by a hanyou; did you Shin…"
Walking back to the West he felt his demon recede and he slumped to the ground exhausted. Feeling his sword change back into the rusty katana he didn't feel the youkai drain from him leaving him completely human.
Katsuro was watching the battle with baited breath hoping that the West wouldn't fall completely if Inuyasha were to be struck down. As soon as he felt the immense aura of the dragon dissipate he ran to the open field, seeing his lord fall to the ground, completely void of youki. He approached cautiously; hoping that his lord hadn't been struck down. He breathed a sigh of relief when he his lord's chest rose and fell, though barely. Katsuro ran to Inuyasha's side.
He saw that his lord was human now and during the battle to get to the dragons, he was wounded judging by the slices marring his chest and back. Helping him stand he groaned. "Katsuro?"
The other inu grunted.
Inuyasha looked at the West and saw it still smoldering with fire; some of the walls were still coming down but it was no longer being attacked. He sighed. "How many did we lose?"
Katsuro sighed. Grabbing the lord around his waist he readjusted him so that he helped him walk. "Only a few but still it was a loss."
Inuyasha sighed. "We will have a ceremony once everything calms down. Did the servants make it out of the castle before it came down?"
Katsuro nodded. "Yes Inuyasha, they made it to the coast safely." Feeling a dampness in his hand, looking down he saw his lord's wounds were worse than he first assessed. The hand that was holding Inuyasha up was quickly becoming slick with blood. "Come my lord, we must see to your wounds."
Inuyasha laughed bitterly. "I will heal Katsuro…"
The other inu growled. "My lord, it is the night of the new moon…" He, as well as the Northern Lord, Diachi, Inuyasha's great uncle, knew of the lord's night of weakness ever since the day Lord Sesshomaru had died. However, the servants of the citadel did not know yet; Katsuro was worried to take him back, but as the ground became soaked with more of his lord's blood he knew that he would have to get him back.
Inuyasha looked at the citadel, then the sky seeing the sun slinking below the horizon. The battle had taken the entire day… He scoffed. He didn't realize it was his day of weakness when they attacked. But then he had a horrible, sickening thought; did the enemy know of his night of weakness?! Is that why they attacked during the day? No, if they had known about his weakness, then they would've attacked during the night… He blinked as his vision began to blur. Feeling his world turn upside down he found himself looking at the ground as Katsuro ran with his body on his shoulder. Grunting as something cracked in his body he let darkness consume him.
Yumi was bandaging one of the warriors that his arm was almost cut clean off; turning she saw Katsuro running towards her. "Katsuro?! What's wrong?!" That's when she noticed the person slung over his shoulder. "Who is that?!"
Katsuro went to an empty cot and placed his lord on it. His side was open and bleeding profusely. "Yumi! Come help me!" He found towels near him and placed them on the wound to stop the bleeding.
Yumi came over to the cot and assessed the damage. The male had many cuts from swords but also, it seemed some internal damage. It was then that she noticed the person on the cot was human? "Katsuro? Who is this? I didn't know we had human warriors…"
Katsuro pulled the towels away hoping that the bleeding had stopped some, but it hadn't. Throwing the soiled towels down, he grabbed more. "Yumi, please don't ask questions right now, we have to save him; no matter what!"
Yumi took his hand and he looked at her with an estranged face; she knew then that this person, whoever it was, was important to the general. "Katsuro, he will not live the night; let him go in peace…"
Katsuro growled. Pulling the sword from the lord's hakamas he presented it to the healer. "This sword belongs to our Lord Inuyasha Yumi! Our lord saved us and the West again today and I refuse to give up on him because you didn't offer the same to him! Now help me save our lord!"
Yumi looked down at the man on the cot and realized that the hakamas the man wore, were of the fire rat; only their Lord Inuyasha had such rarity. Gasping she ran to her mortar and pestle to mix up a clotting solution, hopefully in enough time to save her lord. She would ask her questions later, but for now, she needed to save him. She could not heal the elder brother of his heartache, but she'd be damned if she couldn't save the younger brother from battle wounds!