A.N.- I know it has been forever since I updated anything, I'm sorry. Things just got way out of control. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter pretty quick, but can't gaurantee anything. Give me a nudge if something needs correcting!

Chapter 2- Fallen Warrior

It amazed him how boring and tedious his days had become. Here he sat behind the lacquered wood of his work space going over the unending supply of reports and records needing his attention. Severe gold glared at the insufferable batch of scrolls. Perhaps if he stared at it long enough it would disappear whence it came, or maybe even run in fear of his awe inspiring self. It of course sat there, mocking him and his former wandering ways.

Ever since the demise of Naraku and the jewels vanishing things had settled. There were no longer weak demons or greedy humans seeking out the jewel for its power nor playing pawn to the disgusting hanyou. That in turn lead to a semi-peaceful time, aside from the normal intrigue and destruction common for this particular time period. No longer was there need of such detailed patrols as he had become accustomed to. Instead he had been summoned back to his ancestral home by his mother to perform his rightful duties as Lord of the West. Paperwork and listening to the whining of fools. He loathed it all and some days wished to destroy everything within the palace.

What he would give just to be out on patrol once again. He felt more and more restless each passing day. Perhaps it was time to visit Rin. He had been meaning to check on his ward. It was as good an excuse as any, and had the added bonus of allowing him to confront Inuyasha. Surely the whelp was in need of a good beating. It may even rid him of his sudden restlessness. A quiet knock released him from his current musings.

"Enter."

One of the many servants of the household slid the intricate shoji screen open before kneeling in front of him.

"Speak."

"You have a visitor, my Lord. He wishes to speak to you privately."

"His name."

"He claims to be Junseimaru, my Lord."

One elegant brow lifted at his visitors name. It had been some centuries since he had heard that particular name. Junseimaru, once the greatest of Isamuto's sons and now outcast of his family. Junseimaru and his own father had at one time been close friends and allies. Sesshoumaru had met the dragon many a time when he had been but a mere pup. The dragon had ranked just below Inutaisho as one of Sesshoumaru's idols during his adolescents. Of course, that was all before Junseimaru had been banned from the North and stripped of his title.

"Show him to the meeting chamber." A small modicum of curiosity wormed its way into Sesshoumaru. 'What could the dragon possibly need to speak to this Sesshoumaru about?'

The servant bobbed his head before standing and leaving. Sesshoumaru listen to the quick footsteps leading away from his office, temporarily lost in thought.

~*~

"Junseimaru-sama!"

Quick, clumsy feet pattered down the smooth wood of the hall into the main meeting chamber. A small Sesshoumaru slammed the shoji screen open in his excitement to view one of his heroes. It had been months since the young dragon lord had visited. There was much Sesshoumaru wished to show to him. He had learned so much since they last saw one another.

"So the pup still has not learned stealth." The lanky form of Junseimaru crouched down before Sesshoumaru, a small package held within his grasp. "Perhaps I shall wait to give this to you until one can no longer hear you coming from halfway across the island." There was a thoughtful look on Junseimaru's face as he debated the pros and cons of giving the pup his present.

"This Sesshoumaru can be sneaky! Will you give this Sesshoumaru his present?"

"Hmm, I think you will just have to prove how sneaky you are. Once you prove yourself, I will give you this." He shook the package, allowing it to emit a faint rattling noise. Junseimaru stood from his folded posture and place a hand on top of Sesshoumaru's head. "I shall be here for a few days, surely you can prove your stealth within that time."

A tiny smirk formed on Sesshoumaru's face as his young mind came up with many different ways to sneak up on the older youkai. He was determined to get his present.

~*~

It was time to see to his visitor. Sesshoumaru rose from his reclined position and exited his office. A short distance away he found the shoji screen he was looking for and entered into the room.

"I could not even hear you coming this time, Sesshoumaru." Warm silver eyes looked up into glacial gold. "You truly have become the great warrior I hear of in my travels. It has been some time since we last visited."

"The last time we spoke was before you were outcast by your father. It has been hundreds of years since then." Sesshoumaru placed himself on the opposite side of the table and looked across it at his guest. There were many changes that Sesshoumaru noted in his long ago admired idol. The once youthful cast to Junseimaru's face had long faded away. Now it was replaced with the usual timeless look of the older generations of youkai. Fierce eyes of a warrior were now the tempered eyes of someone who had seen much and would continue to see much more, though they still held the same fire they had back then. Even his hair was different, the unbound flame red locks of the dragon's younger years were bound in a high tail that coiled on the floor in neat segments.

Junseimaru shrugged negligently. "I suppose one must change over time." The dragon cast a calculating glance at Sesshoumaru in turn. He took in the stiff set of his shoulders and the proud tilt of his chin. He nearly laughed at the image of the arrogant dog before him, so much like Touga and yet not like Touga. "You have changed even more than I. No longer do I see the same awkward little pup crashing recklessly through the palace. Now I see the great Lord that Touga had envisioned you to be, though I must admit you a far more colder than I would have thought. Your father was never such an icicle."

This was a conversation Sesshoumaru wished not to have now. He understood he was callous and uncaring, but there was good reason. Frail emotions caused great warriors to waver and he refused to be seen as weak. He would not become another fallen warrior like his father. Nor like Junseimaru. He had seen the errors in their way and learned from them. They had allowed their emotions to rule them in the end. Both had been great and feared by many. The deadliest of their kind, until they fell prey to the wills of females. Not just any females either, but human females.

"Why do you seek this Sesshoumaru's?"

Junseimaru's relaxed features became serious. The dragon looked nearly the same as he did before his last visit with Sesshoumaru, just before he was disinherited. Whatever reasons he had come for, they were not to visit an old acquaintance. "I have come to warn you. Soon the last steps will be taken in a long path and you must be prepared for your part. In a few days time a girl will return. She will need to be trained before she is able to confront the new enemy."

"She?"

"I am afraid I can not tell you of whom I speak, for I do not even know her name, only that the time fast approaches for her return. You have met her before, or so I am told. She will be needed in the battles to come, but she has little in the way of actual training. You are the only one that can provide her with what she needs."

"This Sesshoumaru does not train, let alone train females. You will find another." Sesshoumaru glared at the dragon with disdain. 'He forgets to whom he speaks. No one orders this Sesshoumaru to train someone, especially not an unknown female.'

"There is no other. Only you can train her."

A silver brow rose in silent inquiry. Junseimaru could read the message intended by it, he had seen it enough on Touga's face to understand it.

"She has a special bond placed within her that links her to your clan. She will be safest with you." Junseimaru's face once again smoothed out. "I also must secure a few more items before we can succeed. I do not have the time to both travel and train her. She is not as familiar with me as she is with you either. Familiarity breeds comfort."

"Who placed this bond?"

"Midoriko." There was a faint pause as the dragon considered something else. "Your father was also a part of it. He believed you would be best in training her." Junseimaru watched as Sesshoumaru's face hardened and his eyes flashed a faint red.

Sesshoumaru stood and paced, something he had only recently taken up since being entrapped within his own palace. Now that he no longer traveled he was more apt to pacing back in forth to drive off some of his excess energy. Maybe that was the reason his father had always paced as well.

There had not even been a whisper of any new beings wishing to take over where Naraku had left off. It was quiet, perhaps a little too quiet, but quiet none the less. Now Junseimaru appears after centuries of absence to inform him of some impending battle? Not only that, but he also need to train some female bound to his clan, and more importantly him, by not just Midoriko, but his own father as well?

"Where have you been since your exile?"

"I have been to many places since then. Battle fields, caves, foreign lands, deep oceans and far more places. I have been traveling for a good many centuries."

"Why did you not return when your father died and your land was thrown into turmoil? You could have reclaimed what was to be yours."

There was a bitter cast to the dragon's face as his thoughts turned to something long since past. "My father made me outcast. He no longer wished me to take over his lands, believing me to be tainted because of my feelings for another. He had plenty of sons remaining to take over, there was no need for me. I had something else to protect that was more important."

"Midoriko."

"Yes."

By the single word answer Sesshoumaru knew he would learn no more on the subject of Midoriko. There had been so many rumors floating around the court then. Rumors that the greatest son of Isamuto had betrayed his kind by choosing to be with a human. Everyone had heard of Midoriko by then. She was feared by the weaker classes of demons and even some of the stronger ones. Gossip had spread that she was being trained by a daiyoukai and that daiyoukai happened to be Junseimaru. Isamuto's court had nearly torn the Northern lands apart with all their infighting. Shortly after the fighting ceased Junseimaru had been disowned and disappeared.

"Why did she bind the girl?"

"She had to insure the girl would be safe and believed she would be safest in the West. My ancestral home was no longer an option. You father promised that the girl would be safe amongst his clan. This future war can not be won without her. There has all ready been much done to prepare the girl and mold her to what we need. She is our last hope."

Sesshoumaru contemplated his options for a moment. He could outright refuse to train this mystery girl and return to his lordly duties, or he could at least see where this particular adventure went and hopefully find something more stimulating than the moutains of scrolls currently waiting for his attention.

"This Sesshoumaru shall see the girl before deciding to train her." Sesshoumaru headed for the shoji screen, never looking back at the dragon that still sat at the table. There were things he wished to think on. "A room has been prepared for you. You will be staying until the female arrives."

Junseimaru smirked. The dog was so pompous now, ordering his elders around. "As you wish, my lord." Junseimaru stood and bowed in a mocking fashion, though Sesshoumaru did not see the bow.

"Do not start, dragon. There is no need for your sarcasm. We will speak again at dinner." With that Sesshoumaru left the chamber.

Junseimaru released a sigh once he knew Sesshoumaru was out of range. He had a feeling he had his work cut out for him. "The things I do for you, Midoriko. I pray you where correct in your calculations." A faint smile alighted his face as old memories filtered through his mind. He walked to where he knew his few things had been placed. There were many things that needed to be done before the girl would arrive. He had a funny feeling that something would go wrong and needed to prepare for damage control.

~*~

"Is there no other way?" Touga paced back and forth as Midoriko and Junseimaru sat hidden within the depths of one of the many gardens. A deep frown of concentration marred his features.

Sesshoumaru had followed his father's scent out to the gardens after he had been informed of the cancellation of his morning match with his father. He had planned on demanding an answer for his father's breaking of routine, but had been surprised to find Junseimaru and his human companion. Sightings of the once distinguished daiyoukai had been few and far between since his dishonorable banishment

"We have run out of options, my lord. At every turn the enemy is ahead of us. Our hope is with the future." The human spoke softly as she looked up into the face of the dog demon.

Junseimaru was as still as a statue next to her though his fist were clenched as he listened. He was displeased by whatever they were talking about.

"And what if this hope of yours fails? There are far too many variables for my liking."

"Junseimaru and I are now finding ways to put safeguards in place to reduce the risk. That is why we have come to you. There is a need..."

Touga's hand came up in a halting fashion effectively cutting off the human's words. "Perhaps we should take this conversation to another, more private, place. We can not afford our plans be overheard by just anyone. Junseimaru, lead Lady Midoriko to the old training grounds. It should afford us enough privacy."

With a nod of understanding the dragon took Midoriko into his arms and flew to wherever the old training grounds stood. Sesshoumaru stepped out from where he had been listening to their conversation.

"You understand that you are to tell no one of their being here."

"Yes, sire. Will they be here for long?"

"I do not believe so. Their time is short and there is much to do."

Sesshoumaru's head tilted to the side in question as he watched his father begin pacing again. He had not seen his father so agitated in a long time. The last time had also been during a visit from Junseimaru.

"I can not tell you of what we speak of yet. Perhaps when you are better trained I shall, but for now you need not worry. Go back to your training. Your instructors are surely in a frenzy by now looking for you." Touga patted his young son on the head as he walked past, headed in the same direction as his two visitors had left in.

~*~

Touga never did get around to informing Sesshoumaru of what that secret meeting had been about. From that day onward Sesshoumaru had been put through a grueling training schedule. His father had become more stern about his lessons in both physical combat and war tactics. The lessons had been never ending and he was constantly tested in one way or another, even when he was not expecting to be tested.

Now that he thought about it, he had a feeling that Junseimaru and Midoriko's visit had something to do with his heightened lessons. Perhaps he could now find out what exactly Midoriko had been talking about from Junseimaru at dinner.