"An Heir with Character" by Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen

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A Forest, early morning, time-space co-ordinates unknown

Consciousness came back to him slowly, bit-by-bit and sense-by-sense.

Memories on the other hand were coming back slower than words coming out of Oz's mouth during a conversation. He opened his eyes and almost immediately shut them as the light that entered his eyes was brighter than looking at a large spotlight from five feet away. He quickly decided that he would keep his eyes closed and focus on using his other senses to figure out where he was among other things. His other senses such as touch and smell came to him at slightly more reasonable levels than the light his sight had provided and did well to inform him of his situation. Judging from the grass he could feel beneath him and the lack of pollution his nose was picking up it was clear to him that he was a fair distance away from civilization. His hearing confirmed this as all he could hear around was the sounds of nature, not a single car horn or noisy bustle of a busy city street as far as he could tell. Sitting up from his horizontal position on the ground he found that he was in remarkably good condition considering what he had just been through.

'Been through'? Been through what? he thought to himself as he tried to recall how he had gotten to where ever it was he was at the moment.

He remembered watching TV, an InuYasha marathon, then going to the library to check on Willow. He entered the library and saw Willow working on something, some project of hers that she had said was a little spell. It was then, with those too little words, that everything that followed came back to him in a rush and as soon as he finished recalling it all immediately opened his eyes bright light be damned. He was almost immediately blinded again but just like your eyes would adjust if you forced them to after coming out of a dark or lightless room so too did his adjust eventually. What greeted his eyes was just what he had expected in that he saw a densely wooded area with him being in the only half decent clearing within eyesight. Looking around him he caught something on the periphery of his sight, something darting away just out of the corner of his eyes. Shifting around in an attempt to catch what he had seen he only saw it dart out of his field of vision once again but this time he had a better chance to see what it was. It was silver hair that was almost white in color and there seemed to be quite a bit of it as he had seen at least a foot of it vanish behind him. Determined to face whatever was playing a game of hide and seek with him he pushed himself to his feet and after a few moments of dizziness he waited for the silver haired person to make another move.

It wasn't until he made a fist with his right hand that he felt a sudden poking of something sharp in his palm and reflexively brought his hand up to see what it was that poked him. What he discovered though was beyond anything he had expected and almost made him faint right then and there although he would never admit it to anyone else. Instead of his normal human hand in front of him was a hand that had claws at the end of each finger and two purple slash like tattoos on his wrist. He sent a mental command to his hand to wiggle his fingers in the hopes that the hand in front of him would not move and therefore would prove that it wasn't his hand he was looking at. Unfortunately it seemed that it was not 'do what Xander wants day' as the hand in front of him moved in accordance with the signals he was sending to it. Bringing up his left hand as if to confirm that the change had been done to both of his hands and found that it was indeed the case. Once this was done a sudden insight caused him to reach up to his head and inspect his hair and found the first bit of evidence to support his growing suspicion as he found his hair much longer than he remembered it. Grabbing a clump of it and bringing it out where he could see it he found out hat the silver-white hair he had seen moving out of the corner of his eyes was his own.

What the heck!? he thought to himself as he tried to figure out what had happened to him.

All of this was making the kinda sense to him that wasn't and it was beginning to freak him out completely. He several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself, telling himself over and over that he needed to be calm if he was going to get himself out of this fix. The first thing he denoted on his agenda was to find out just how many changes his body had undergone so he would know just how bad his personal situation was. Once that was done he could try to find out where exactly Willow's botched spell had dropped him so he could find his way back to England. Judging by the plants around he definitely wasn't in Europe or North America and since he wasn't freezing his butt off it was likely he was still somewhere close to the equator. That probably meant either South America or Asia by his reckoning which meant that Giles would have to fork over some real cash to get him a plane ticket home. Looking down at himself he was thankful that his clothes had somehow remained intact through the trip he took because the idea of walking around naked in some foreign land didn't appeal to him in the slightest. His mind automatically thinking back to the crack he had made to Buffy earlier about him getting in trouble with some tribe for getting friendly with the chief's daughter. While some might be of the opinion that it was just coincidence that got him into this situation he knew better and suspected that either a servent of D'Hoffryn had been listening in or some other demon who enjoyed seeing mortals suffer. That was the only plausible explanation for him being in the middle of nowhere by himself with no idea of the local dialect.

When I get back home I am definitely asking Giles to find out who I was in a past life that pissed enough higher beings off to deserve this kind of bad luck! he thought to himself with a frown as he picked a random direction and started walking.

As he walked along he decided to try and pass the time by rehearsing what he was going to say to Giles on the phone when he called from where ever he was on Earth. It took some really delicate and choice words to say to Giles 'Hey G-Man! Willow's spell went wonky and now I am on the other side of the planet!' without giving him a coronary. After all as much as they all loved and respected the guy he was getting up there in years and it wouldn't do to have senior Watcher among them have a stroke because Buffy played with their magic supplies or Willow read a book she shouldn't have. Still out of all the things that could have happened this was probably one of the more endurable for the seasoned Watcher as it did not involve causing the end of the World or raising an unspeakable evil. Still he was certain when he walked through the doors of New Watcher HQ that his new looks would make for certain that Willow would get a second lecture to follow the one she was most certainly receiving right now. If he senses had not been tricking him then Giles had heard the commotion going on in the lab and had come in just in time to see his great disappearing act. He almost felt sorry for Wills but the fact that she had sent him half way around the world and made a few modifications to his person had him learning towards her receiving some punishment.

After about twenty minutes he finally came to a lake and thanked whatever god, goddess or deity that had decided to have pity on him right then. Not only would it let him see just how extensive the 'modifications' to his person was but it would also give him a chance to get cleaned up a bit. His clothes were torn and covered in dirt indicating that he had fallen from up high and was only alive probably due to some trees. It would only make him more suspicious when he hit civilization if he arrived dirty and disheveled and besides if his nose was right he was beginning to reek a little. Moving to the water's edge he got down on his knees and looked at his reflection in the water only to receive the mother of all shocks and once again curse his luck. The face looking back at him was one he had never seen outside of its Anime setting and the fact that he was in a environment much like the one in the show meant that he was in more trouble than he had originally thought. His hair which he had already determined had grown and changed color was much longer than he had originally anticipated as it almost reached his butt. His ears had got all elfish like an extra from the Lord of the Rings movies and while his facial features remained pretty much the same his skin was slightly paler than normal. It wasn't exactly vampire pale but more like someone had taken some white make-up powder and covered ever inch of his skin in it. His right eye had also somehow grown back but instead of the normal brown eyes he had been born with both eyes were now a dark amber yellow. His mouth now also sported a set of fangs that were more dog like than vampire like but not so pronounced that they would be noticeable if he kept his mouth closed. Also there seemed to be tattoos similar to the ones on his wrists on his face, twin slashes on each cheek and a purple crescent moon on his forehead.

Willow! You are so going to get it when I get back! Xander thought with anger as he realized what had been done to him.

While he still possessed the standard facial features of his old safe the magic of the red-haired wicca's experiment had apparently turned him into a Sesshomaru clone. Well not exactly a clone as he would need to look exactly like the Youkai lord for that to be the case but if a stranger were to look at him at that moment they would certainly mistake him for a relative. He remembered that Willow had been mixing a transfiguration spell with the teleportation one but he had thought that meant only his clothes would change. After all if Willow had been successful than not only would the gang be able to travel anywhere in the world but they would also be able to get clothes that would allow them to blend in better without spending a dime. Obviously though whatever had gone wrong with the spell that he had interrupted by mistake it had gone far past its original constraints. He also had a sneaking feeling that changing him into a dog demon wasn't the end of what had gone wrong when ruby shards had zapped him. It couldn't be that simple for him, if he had been transformed into Sesshomaru than chances are that he was now in Japan since that was where the Anime series took place.

He shook his head to clear it of the conflicting thoughts and suspicions.

No sense jumping to conclusions until the proof is staring you right in the face! he thought in a scolding manner to himself.

He knew that he could come up with probably half a dozen different possibilities as far as what happened to him and where he was but for the moment that meant nothing. Letting his suspicions take control of his mind would solve nothing and just work him up more than was necessary. As much as he disliked the character in the Anime he decided to take a page out of the aristocrat's book and lock down his emotions as much as possible. It was a difficult thing considering how emotional he was usually but right now they were running at such a high level due to his current predicament that they would only hold him back. Right now he needed a clear mind if he was going to think his way out of this and right now the first order of business was to clean up as he had originally planned. Taking off all of his clothes with the exception of his boxers he waded into the cold water and almost jumped out of it right away due to the sheer frigidness of the water. Pushing such thoughts away he waded deeper until the water level was just below his chest he began to clean off the dirt and clean the few scrapes and cuts he had so they wouldn't become infected. Without his shirt and pants in the way he was able to say with all certainty that his transformation into a youkai like Sesshomaru was total and detailed. Just like in the show another pair of slashes were on his skin next to the elbow joint on his forearm and his toe-nails were changed into their claw-like equivalents although they seemed more refined than those InuYasha had been shown to have in the series. He supposed that came from the fact that Sesshomaru was full demon while InuYasha was only a half demon. Cross-mating between species was also a random thing since there was no real way to tell how compatible the two partners would be or which traits would be dominant. The one plus about the fact that he looked more like the youkai lord rather than the hanyou InuYasha was that he could more easily blend into a crowd of humans. His ears could be covered up by his long hair and as long as he avoided direct eye contact the golden eyes he had been given would not be noticed. As far as his newly clawed hands he could just be sure to keep them in his pockets and only take them out briefly if he needed to take or receive something. As for his feet he would probably need to get his hands on some more durable footwear soon since he had been in his socks when he had entered the lab.

Exiting the lake he put his clothes back on, not particularly caring that he was still wet, and resumed walking in the direction he had originally chosen before coming upon the lake. At first he walked at a leisurely pace, being in no particular hurry, looking at his surroundings and trying to identify the various plants in order to pass the time. He was slightly surprised to find that he could actually identify some of them rather readily which was strange since he didn't have a garden and the closest he had come to some of these plants was seeing pictures of them in some of G-Man's books. He supposed that after all those late night research sessions some of the knowledge in the books must have seeped into his skull by osmosis or something. At least it would make sure he didn't accidently step into some poison ivy along the way since he didn't relish having to figure out just how hard was too hard when scratching himself with his clawed fingers. Just then something seemed to 'ping' at the edge of his mind, like some kind of internal radar telling him something was nearby. Being new to this sense he couldn't tell what it was but he could tell it was evil from all the demons he had encountered in Sunnydale. He could also sense another 'signal' if you wanted to call it that a short distance away from the evil one. This one wasn't evil per se but he could also tell it was at odds with the world around it, as if it was the opposite of everything else. The evil signal seemed to be approaching the other one at a pace similar to his own and was getting closer with every moment.

Picking up the pace he began to go at what he considered a light run as he tried to reach the signal that did not belong before the evil signal did. He wasn't entirely certain what compelled him to do so only that it was his belief that evil had to be opposed and unless this alien signal did something horrible enough to deserve an ill fate he would protect that being. It wasn't until he had gone several yards that he realized that he was going at a clip even faster than he had seen Buffy do when she absolutely had to be somewhere or else. The surprise he felt at this was only temporary as he remembered that Sesshomaru was quite swift on his feet as well, even more so than InuYasha. It had been proven in numerous episodes that while the hanyou had the advantage of the Tetsaiga in their battles Sesshomaru was physically swifter and stronger than his half-brother. In fact it was only because of Sesshomaru's arrogance and pure chance that the mutt had prevailed.

Mutt? Where did that come from? , he thought briefly at the back of his mind, InuYasha was always my preferred character in the series. Why would I use such a derogatory term in reference to him?

Dismissing the puzzle he picked up his pace a little to try and make it to his destination before any other thoughts cropped up. Whatever this powerful evil signal was he couldn't afford to let himself become distracted on things that could wait until later. It took him about ten minutes to reach his destination but much to his disappointment he hadn't been running fast enough as the evil signal had arrived ahead of him and had been there for a few minutes. Slowing his pace he decided to use some stealth and scope the situation out first rather than attacking a demon he knew nothing about. It was times like this that being the lesser powered of the group came in handy as it often required him to sneak up on an enemy rather than dive in head first like Buffy. When he finally came into eyesight he saw two people standing on a dirt path and immediately pegged them as the ones he was sensing. One was a priestess of some kind, dressed in the usual red parachute pants and white shirt with billowing sleeves. She had black hair which added to his suspicion that he was in Japan and if that wasn't enough it was done up in a style perfectly in keeping with the region. The other was a man with long black hair but it looked wavy and unkempt as though he only took care of it when he had to and not before. He was dressed in clothes that were obviously very expensive for the time and definitely looked the part of a Japanese feudal lord. He couldn't quite hear what they were saying to one another but he could tell by the man's body language that whatever he was planning it wasn't of the good. With this in mind he crept closer so that he could intervene if necessary but remain out of sight in case it turned out to be nothing.

"As I told you before Naraku, as long as Onigumo's heart lays within your body you cannot harm me." The woman said in a calm tone of voice that made it clear she was surpremely confident in her position.

"And that would be true if Onigumo's heart still resided within me." , the man called Naraku stated as he stalked towards the woman, "However that is no longer the case."

With speed that instantly pegged him as a demon Naraku's right hand shot outwards and grabbed the woman by her neck. Now Xander didn't know all the details of the situation but from what had been said the woman used to have some kind of protection over herself which prevented the man from harming her but now for some reason it was gone. Given the power that was rolling off the man the woman would be dead in moments, overwhelmed by the monster's power. Plus there was something about this demon that really rubbed him the wrong way, something that made him want to kill him right then and there. Therefore with little holding him back he ran as swiftly as he could from behind the tree that had been his cover towards the man called Naraku. He had barely managed to clear the trees when both of the people finally seemed to notice that they were not alone. By that time however he was too close for them to do anything so when he lashed out at Naraku with all his strength his claws tore a vicious wound in his chest. The demon let go of his prey and staggered back at this unforeseen assault while the woman coughed as she tried to force air back into her lungs. Xander took a position between Naraku and the women both to ensure her safety but also to prevent the demon from using her as a hostage at the last minute. For a moment the demon seemed taken aback by his appearance and it was then that the demon's name jogged something in his memory and he too was stunned for a minute. Naraku was the name of the main villain in the InuYasha Anime series and while there were certainly some differences between the animated version and the real life version he could believe that it was indeed that demon that stood before him now. His mind fought against that conclusion, repeating over and over again that every character in that series was fictional and that he couldn't really be looking at the demon villain of that series. He could believe that Willow's spell had somehow transformed him into a copy of Sesshomau but to actually have been transported to a world where the show was reality seemed almost too much to accept. If it was true however he had just hurt and likely pissed off the most powerful demon of the era.

"How dare you strike me!! Who are you!?" Narakau asked in a manner than implied that if he didn't answer quickly he would be prevented by death from answering at all.

Deciding to keep his true identity a secret for the time being he quickly recalled everything he could about the way Sesshomaru acted and altered his facial expression and mindset to match. After a short moment Xander Harris was gone and Alexander, firstborn son of the Tai Inu-youkai of the West Lord Sesshomaru, stood emotionlessly before the filth called Neraku.

"This Alexander doesn't have to explain his actions to anyone, least of all to half-demon filth like you." Xander said in an aloof manner meant to irritate those on the receiving end.

A palatable aura seemed to appear around Naraku and the power signal that Xander had originally sensed spiked up sharply indicating that the half-demon before him had been holding back the lion's share of his power. That might have been good for him but for this newly transformed human-turned-dog-demon it meant that he may be seriously out of his league at the moment. That was when he heard the sound of wood being bent almost to the breaking point and the shaft of an arrow tapping the front end of a bow. Turning his head slightly he restrained the impulse to look shocked and merely raised his left eye-brow as he imagined Sesshomaru would have. The woman behind him had recovered and now had an arrow notched in her bow and it was currently aimed directly at Naraku. For a moment he debated whether or not he should move to a slightly more defendable position in case she decided to turn her arrows at him because if he was right than the woman's name was Kikiyo. He had seen numerous examples in the show of what her enchanted arrows could do to someone they hit especially demons and he had no desire to find out what one was like. However he decided not to on the hope that since between him and Naraku she had an unknown demon and a known enemy that she eventually intended to kill. Add to that his pulling a save a few moments ago and he was fairly certain she wouldn't shoot him, at least not before she had a quick Q&A session with him. Turning back to Naraku who seemed more cautious about what to do now that his number of enemies had gone up by one and his wound seemed unusually slow to heal.

"This Alexander suggests you leave Neraku while you still can." Xander stated coolly but with a look he hoped indicated that the window of oppourtunity for escape was closing.

For a moment Naraku seemed willing to challenge his two adversaries but then he seemed to feel noticeable pain and without warning one of his arms seemed to transform into something decidedly not human as it was not proportionate to the rest of him. This caused him to shift all his attention away from Kikiyo and Xander to his arm as he seemed to be trying to will it back into the desired shape. It seemed to take a few tries but eventually the arm shifted back but it was enough to discourage Naraku from engaging in a confrontation right at that moment.

"There is nothing for me to gain by dirtying my hands fighting you now but I will not forget this Alexander!" Naraku said before walking into the darkness of the shadows beneath the canopy of trees and disappearing altogether.

Xander held the 'Alexander' façade for a few moments longer to be sure that the half-demon Naraku wasn't hanging about to learn more before dropping it. With a sigh of relief he turned around and what he saw caused the relief he had been feeling stall as he found that Kikiyo hadn't lowered her weapon and was aiming it at him. For a moment he debated using some kind of humorous comment to lighten the mood but given the look in the priestess' eyes he doubted that such a move would be wise. So he decided to wait for her to make the next move and hope that he would be able to talk his way out of this or he was going to find out rather painfully if he had also been gifted with Sesshomaru's healing factor.

"Why did you interfere demon?" Kikiyo asked with a voice that was at once both emotionless and at the same time filled with hostility.

"I am sorry Lady Kikiyo. I was unaware that it was you whom Naraku was attacking." , Xander answered formally as he doubted that she would understand his humor or tolerate any disrespect.

Unfortunately he had used her name specifically and since they had never met before she immediately upped her suspicion of him and tightened her grip on her bow.

"How do you know my name and what is your connection with Naraku? Are you one of his allies?" she asked and seemed moments away from attacking him.

His anger rose as she accused him of being in league with the very monster that had mortally wounded her over fifty years ago and caused the star-crossed lovers relationship she had possessed with InuYasha to be destroyed. More than that he felt as though she had just accused him of setting up innocent people to be drained by vamps and given the source of Naraku's power the comparison wasn't all that far off. Both consumed other living beings in order to increase their own power level and while he wasn't overly sad at demons being killed he didn't like the idea of them giving power to a being who didn't deserve it. In any case he decided that the time for being polite was over and now he was going to tell this walking corpse of a woman exactly what was on his mind.

"Look you piece of animated clay and bone I just saved your life from a very bloody and likely painful death so I think the least you could do is act civil towards me!" , Xander said in anger as he tried to do with his eyes what he was unable to do with his hands, "As for that filth if you ever insinuate that I have any connection at all with then I will make sure you regret it!"

With that being said he turned around and began to walk away from her, not even letting her reply to his statement or deliver any kind of response whatsoever. By the time his anger had simmered down somewhat he realized he had just turned his back on a very powerful priestess who had a strung bow in her hand and an arrow ready to fly at him.

Well I'll find out one way or another whether or not that was such a smart idea. he thought to himself mentally shaking his head at his stupid decision.

He had taken all of five steps before he heard the sound of the wood of the bow being relaxed and an arrow being returned to its place among the others.

"I am sorry. It is just that it is uncommon for a demon to care what happens to a human without having an agenda of their own." Kikiyo said in a tone that while no longer colored by suspicion or hostility.

Turning around his eyes confirmed what his unusually acute ears had told him in that she was no longer aiming a bow and arrow at him. That was a plus in that she seemed willing to let him live but he had no doubt that if he wasn't careful that he would find that arrow pointed back at his chest in a heartbeat. Regarding her for a moment he compared her to the artist's depiction of her in the Anime series and found that the reality was much better than the fiction. It was giving him a major case of the wiggins seeing characters he had only before seen in an Anime program standing before him looking just as real as he did. Still he figured since it was probably going to be a while before he found a way back home he might as well enjoy the whole experience while he could. At the end of that thought he realized that he had been staring at her and quickly looked away as he didn't want to give her reason to be angry with him again. After all while he was fairly certain that she no longer hated InuYasha as much as she did when first reborn in her clay body she would no doubt react badly to another demon looking at her strangely.

"You never answered my question." Kikiyo stated from her position a few steps away from him.

"What!?" he asked with a bit more anger than he had intended at her continued interrogation of him.

"Why did you save me?" she asked calmly as if she was oblivious to the hostility that had been in his voice a moment ago.

Calming himself a bit he replied "I had sensed Naraku's power a short distance from here and was curious as to what he was up to so I decided to investigate. When I arrived I had decided merely to observe but when he attacked you it was simply in my nature to intervene. Besides Naraku by his very existence makes me sick so his attack on you merely gave me one more reason to cut him up."

"How did you know my name? I do not believe we have met before." Kikiyo asked as she seemed to accept his responses to her initial question.

This was the question he had secretly been dreading as it was one he had no easy answer for without coming across as either a liar or a crazy man. He mentally flipped through his possible answers and decided to go with the one that seemed at least marginally alright and believable to someone living in the warring states era of Japan.

"I had heard rumors of a priestess in this region with unusually strong abilities that went by the name of Kikiyo. When I arrived here to investigate I saw what you were wearing as well as the power you possessed and drew my own conclusions." He replied in as casual a manner as possible so as not to give off the impression that he was lying through his teeth.

The priestess nodded in acceptance of this and didn't seem to find it odd that he knew she was not a normal person. He wrote it off as her believing that he had just overheard something during her conversation with Naraku. It was a theory he certainly wasn't going to dispute as it left him with less of a minefield to walk through which he certainly did not wish to deal with right now. As he saw her start to walk away his thoughts turned to what he should do now that he had confirmed that he was not in his own dimension much his own time. If what he remembered about the show was accurate relationships between demons and humans were tense and volatile with neither side particularly friendly towards one another. While there were a few species of demon that were relatively harmless and peaceful there were enough bad apples in the bunch like Naraku that the humans tended to group all demons together rather than make distinctions between them. With this in mind he knew he would have trouble finding a place in a village to stay for the night since while he looked human enough not to be exposed as a demon right away it would only take one look at his ears or claws to change the situation quickly. He knew that Sesshomaru often slept in the woods during his random travels across Japan but Xander doubted that he would be developing the sane affinity any time soon. For him sleeping outside required at least a tent and a sleeping bag if it was going to be bearable for a home-grown Californian. That of course was not taking into account the fact that the drunks he had been gifted with for parents had never taken him camping a day in his life meant that his chances of his surviving on his own were pretty slim. That left only one option and it was one he didn't relish as it would only cause him more trouble in the end but as with all other choices like this he decided to go with the riskier one.

"Priestess, would you happen to know of a place where I could rest for the night? I am afraid that my previous accommodations are no longer available to me." He stated carefully as he began to roll through possible responses to the likely questions she would ask him.

She seemed to consider his question for a moment before replying "You may stay at the temple in which I currently reside until you find some place else."

He stood there dumbfounded at the fact that she treated his question as something perfectly normal but far be it for him to look a gift horse in the mouth. Taking up stride behind her a bit he followed her back to the small temple and was a bit uneasy as he noticed several Japanese soldiers were laid out around the temple. From what he could tell they had been involved in one heck of a battle and apparently had come to the temple for medical aide. It made since this wasn't called the warring states era for nothing and since there were no established hospitals then temples and the people who ran them were the next best thing. What concerned him though was how they would react when they saw him and what he might be forced to do if they attacked. While it was true that the majority of them were injured and didn't seem capable of standing up much less attacking him there were enough that it could get messy very quickly. His fears were proven to be correct when the less injured soldiers noticed the priestess' return and then noticed him trailing not too far behind. Almost immediately some of them drew their weapons and began to advance on him quickly but they halted when Kikiyo held up her hands to stop them.

"Do not be afraid. Alexander has only come here to spend the night at the temple." , she stated in soothing tones in an attempt to calm them, "He bears neither you nor your comrades any ill will. Do you Alexander?"

"She speaks the truth warriors. I understand you mistrust towards me and if it will put your minds at ease I will consent to allowing the priestess to use her talents to seal me in a room inside the temple. Would that be sufficient?" he asked as he looked over the assembled army to see how they would take such an offer.

All of them and to a certain degree Kikiyo seemed shocked that an obvious demon would willing allow himself to be sealed. It essentially meant that he was willing to be imprisoned with no guarantee that he would ever truly be released. This caused a few to mutter that the only reason he was probably offering to submit to this was because he was powerful enough to break free of the seals. Others were considering the possibility that he had the priestess under some kind of mind control and would force her to release him once they had suitably let down their guard. However a man dressed in expensive looking armor seemed to be giving the entire situation more objective thought which was a positive sign as he was likely the one in charge of these troops. If he decided in favor of the idea then the other soldiers would likely follow his lead and respect his decision. After a few moments of debate among the soldiers the leader stepped forward and all waited to see what decision he would make.

"While I appreciate that you seem to be willing to suffer imprisonment to put us at ease demon I do not believe it will be necessary." , the leader said without fear while his men gasped in astonishment, "If you are, as some of my men have suggested, powerful enough to break through the seals of the priestess Kikiyo then it is unlikely we could defeat you in battle given our weakened condition. However if you are not strong enough to break the wards and truly mean us no harm it would be dishonorable to imprison you based purely on our own suspicions."

Xander smiled slightly at this example of enlightened thinking that was rare back home between humans and demons. Some like Giles who were well informed on the cultures and practices of various demon species understood that while some species were dangerous others were perfectly harmless and some were even beneficial. Most of the people who came across demons though only saw their differences and assumed they were evil because of their scary or unusual faces. Needless to say he was glad that even in this ancient era, at least from his perspective it was, there were at least some enlightened people.

"Thank you for your open mindedness sir. It is not often I get such a reaction from a human." , Xander said politely, "If I might ask sir what is your name?"

"My name is Samonoske Akechi and it is my opinion that in these changing times one cannot afford to be held back by past prejudices." Samonoske stated before turning back and continued tending to his mean as well as convincing some of them that his decision was the right one.

Xander smiled in amusement at this not envying the job of trying to convince a large number of soldiers that they could trust an unknown demon not to kill them while they slept. If he was in their position right now he probably wouldn't be so trusting either especially since he knew just how powerful a 'relative' of Lord Sesshomaru was likely to be in battle. He had no idea how powerful he himself was after Willow's little snafu but he was pretty sure that he wasn't much higher than InuYasha was at this point in the series. After all he wasn't born an inu-Youkai and he doubted any magic oriented transformation could make him powerful enough that there wouldn't be any difference between a natural born and an artificial one. Still hanyou level strength should be enough to keep him safe in this era until he found a way to return home. Turning to the temple he went to find a place where he could sleep tonight and heard with his enhanced hearing Kikiyo apparently following him. He discouraged himself from thinking such egotistical thoughts and instead thought that she was likely just getting more supplies to tend to the wounded.

Entering the temple he found that there was precious little free space to be found as the reason for the large number of wounded soldiers lying outside became evident. His expression became grim at this sight, even after the battle with the First Evil when the gang had numerous injuries to deal with on their way to a hospital it had not been this bad. Some of these men he knew would not make it from the sheer amount of blood that was soaking into the bandages while others would likely have to rely on others for help for the rest of their lives. It made him realize that while he was no stranger to battle he was still pretty green as far as full-fledged war went. To think that there were probably groups like this all over the country fighting and dying for everything from land to power. Not that war was fought for any more altruistic reasons back home but at least there the fighting had taken place overseas for him. For these people it was right here on their doorstep usually not more than a few miles away and the possibility that their home towns might be called upon to sacrifice supplies or men made him wish there was something he could do to help.

"You feel sorry for them?" Kikiyo's voice asked.

Turning he found her standing a few steps behind him with some bandages and some clay bowls no doubt filled with ointment and water.

"The land where I am from while far from peaceful does not have battles on this scale. It saddens me to think that while some may survive the injuries they have received many here will likely die." He replied surprisingly not guarding his emotions as he probably should have as he noticed the priestess looking at him like a puzzle to be deciphered.

He was beginning to think of her in the same way as she wasn't acting like he had expected her to judging from what he had seen in the Anime series. Truthfully he had expected her to try and get him on his way immediately or at least try and bind him to a tree with an arrow like she had done to InuYasha after she thought he had betrayed her. Yet the Kikyo in front of him was being civil towards him and even indulging in idle conversation while she tried to figure him out. He ridiculed himself for dropping his false Sesshomaru personae after Naraku had left as apparently he was acting too suspiciously un-Youkai like to avoid attracting attention. He would have to work on that if he was going to keep things peaceful during his stay in this time. If the patterns from the show applied here than if word of a powerful Youkai got around then it was only a matter of time before InuYasha's crew, demon hunters or Sesshomaru himself showed up. Despite how cool it would be to see his favorite character in person Kikyo had already proven that there was no guarantee that they would be just like they were in the show. His hero might turn out to be a potty-mouthed jerk who attacked first and never bothered to ask questions later. Still it was nice that the one character he had run into was nice enough and seemed content to be civil to him.

"If you are hungry there is some food on a table near the alter. I must attend to the other wounded soldiers." Kikyo stated before turning around and walked away.

Finding a vacant corner of the temple he sat down with his back against the wall as fatigue began to set in a bit. This was unusual since he had thought that his time unconscious during transit from one world to the next would have been enough but either that was not the case or his brief use of speed and strength had worn him out more than he had thought. Looking about the room he wondered if it would be safe to catch some rest with the men considering it was only because of their commanding officer that they were not attacking him. The choice was taken from him as his body seemed to make up its own decision and he slipped into a restful slumber.

Naraku's Castle, Location Unknown, Early Evening

Damn that inu-youkai! Naraku fumed as he watched the last signs of the demon Alexander's attack fade from his chest.

To say that he was upset at the interruption between himself and the undead priestess Kikyo by the dog demon was an understatement. While he had been debating whether to actually kill the priestess up until the moment he had begun to strangle her he didn't appreciate having that choice forcibly taken from him. He grimaced slightly as he recalled the feeling of Alexander's claws tearing into him and the hours it had taken for the wound to heal. That fact was what bothered him the most, his wound should have healed within moments of being inflicted but for some reason it had not. Was there something different about this youkai Alexander or was the slow healing the result of his lingering connection to Onigumo. With the time now available to him to review the incident in full he acknowledged that the boy had a strong resemblance to InuYasha's half-brother Sesshomaru. The family markings in the form of the purple crescent moon on the forehead and twin slashes on either cheek were evidence enough of the connection between the two of them. This was at odds with what he knew of the Youkai Lord since to the best of his knowledge Sesshomaru didn't have a mate much less one bonded to him long enough to bear him an heir of such advanced years. While it was possible that Alexander might be Sesshomaru's full-demon brother this was also unlikely as the dog demon lord had at least ten years on Alexander. Add to that the fact that Inutaisho had been slain a little over that many years and the likelihood that he would have had time to have a child with another Inu-Youkai woman was slim at best.

This Alexander is most puzzling. Naraku thought as he regained some control over his emotions and tried to look at his current enigma with more objective eyes.

He spent a full hour trying to determine where this new player in the game had come from and why he had chosen that particular moment to make his existence known. He was sure that he would have heard of another powerful Inu-Youkai at some point during the last two decades yet there had been nothing about a young twin of Sesshomaru wandering about. As his patience began to wear thin he decided that it didn't really matter where Alexander had come from only that he be removed from the board as soon as possible. He had painstakingly planned out several ventures over the past five months and he would not have them spoiled by a random element.

"Kagura." He called out both with his voice and with his mind.

A few moments later the wind sorceress who was one of his incarnations appeared and knelt down in front of him at a respectful distance. He had recently released her from her imprisonment in the catacombs beneath his estate for her attempt to abandon him and had sent her to tell InuYasha and his comrades where to find Onigumo a few hours ago. He had doubted that his weaker half would be able to prevail against them but that had not been the point of the exercise. It was instead a useful way to dispose of his weaker half while at the same time causing no end of grief to that mutt who dared to stand in the way of his destiny. Unfortunately that idea had fallen through and he decided it was time to give Kagura a more difficult mission than simply delivering a message.

"A new player has appeared on the board Kagura in the company of the priestess Kikyo. I want you to take a group of demons to the temple where my wasps tell me they are currently staying and dispose of them both." Naraku ordered in his usual aloof position.

This seemed to surprise the wind sorceress which was conceivable since he usually reserved dealing with the undead priestess for himself.

"Who is this Alexander?" Kagura asked with genuine curiousity but no doubt attempting to divert any anger he might feel about her questioning his orders.

"An Inu-Youaki who bears some resemblance to Sesshomaru. He has apparently concealed himself from the rest of the world up until now so tread caustiously when dealing with him." Naraku responded covering up his own lack of knowledge on Alexander by making it seem as though the boy had remained unknown by choice rather than chance.

"Are they related?" Kagura asked as she seemed to process the possibility that Alexander might be a relation of the demon lord whom she had attempted to form an alliance with behind his back.

"Possibly. It is more likely that he belongs to some other inu-youkai aristocrat family but that matters little since judging by the state of the clothes he wore he has been cast out by his family." ,Naraku replied as he recalled the unusual and dirty clothes the boy had been wearing, "Now go and kill both him and Kikyo."

"As you command Naraku." Kagura responded with a bow before standing and leaving the room.

Walking over to a window that overlooked his estates courtyard and watched as Kagura left on her feather followed by a group of youkai. While he had some concern about her ability to kill both Kikyo and Alexander he was certain that no matter what power the pair had the sheer number of youkai sent against them would be enough. After all it wasn't like they were going to be receiving any reinforcements at the last minute.