Chapter 1

So Far

Little Kurohime played in the large garden of one of many estates her father owned. For the first time in what had been a while she bothered herself with studying her reflection in the pond. She had nowhere to be and no obligations to anyone. Her father was the ruler of the Eastern territories and as such there was an abundance of things under his control. Lands, roads people and demons alike were his and so they were hers. She had been born with the mark, the mark that meant she was meant to rule over her father's lands when the time came for him to step down. Whether this succession would be due to his death; or simply his own free will there were none who denied Kurohime's place as the future ruler of the Eastern lands of the Inu Youaki.

The gorgeous blue moon on her brow made all certain of this, the gorgeous full moon. It was true that their neighbors in the West loved the curve of the crescent moon, the bowed to it, worshiped it, in all its glory. But, here in the East it was the full moon that reigned supreme. There was always a festival on the nights when the full moon rose. All the villages in the territory celebrated, be they inhabited by humans or demons, all saw the full moon as beautiful, powerful and thanked it for its strength and Kurohime counted herself lucky that she had been born with the mark. Still that was not all she had been born with.

While all other females of her race reflected the beauty of the moon in their very being Kurohime did not. The other female Inu youkai had gorgeous white hair that mimicked the color of the pale moon and golden eyes that shine like the light of the yellow harvest moon, Kurohime had been born with black hair and blue eyes. She was an oddity, to some she was a bad omen. There had even been the suspicion that her mother, Shirahime had been unfaithful and betrayed her mate with a human and Kurohime was a half demon. These accusations were quickly dismissed though; they were nothing more than hurtful gossip. A half demon would not be born with the mark; she was a full blooded demon.

Kurohime stopped her musings at her own appearance when she heard someone calling her name. It was her mother. Her mother was a stunning vision, petite and pale, with hair of the purest white. Her eyes had a unique golden quality unlike any of the other women. Her demeanor was calm and whenever Kurohime saw her mother's face she felt hushed and safe under the loving gaze. "Kurohime," her mother called again, this time having the small girl run immediately to her side. "Your father wants to see you." Kurohime nodded and took her mother's hand; she had never spent much time with her father. He simply summoned her whenever the urge to see her arose. Kurohime had become accustomed to this she knew what seeing her father entailed. She would have hair combed; her face washed and forced into some unnecessary, very complicated Kimono. She would be made to stand before her lord father quiet, compliant and try to make him feel no shame in his heir's odd appearance. This was her life so far.

Ok so that's the first actual chapter, sorry it's so wordy, but I don't wanna rush it. Chapter 2 is gonna be coming really, really soon so please check back and be warned it gets violent from here on out.