Title: All Bark and No Bite
Author: landofthekwt
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: Bark (Inuyasha Themes #11)
Word Count:496
Warning: Impending character death
Summary The Dog General has a final conversation with an old friend.
" You are aware that this is a terrible idea."
The tired old daiyoukai gave a wry smile to the magnolia. " Dragons do not slay themselves, you know. You do your job and I will be mine."
" You were supposed to his father. Who will take care of him if you die?"
" We have been through all of this. Tessaiga and Tenseiga have been reforged. Hosenki has made the Black Pearl You, Totosai, my mate and Myouga will have to tell them what they need to know when the time is right. It all depends on Sesshoumaru becoming the daiyoukai he is destined to be."
" And whose fault is that he thinks only of the path of supreme conquest. He thinks that he is following in your footsteps. When have you ever had time to teach him the right path? You spend all your time fighting wars for allies who do not appreciate you and driving your mate crazy by rutting with human princesses."
" You are just jealous because you cannot get any. Someone has to protect the weak and was my lot in life. Even if they were ungrateful, they still did not deserve the fate which would have befallen them if I had not stepped in. Being the Dog General and Lord of the West carries responsibility not just power. It is a burden that I cannot share and which I would not wish on my worst enemy. With any luck Sesshoumaru will never have to do what I have had to do."
"But why the dragon? Musashi is far from the Western Shiro. What do you care if Ryuukotsusei destroys all of Musashi? It has nothing to do with you?"
"I still have a responsibility to protect the weak from the strong."
" And if you should fall what will happen to your mate, your son, the human and your unborn son or the West for that matter."
" That is why I have you, old friend. To pick up the pieces when I am gone."
"They will never forgive you. Sesshoumaru will hate you because you gave him nothing and gave everything to your unborn child. And what of him. Do you think he will love a father he has never known? I think he will resent what you have done. All your mate and the human princess will have is a memory of you. Do you think that will keep them warm at all you are is just a distant memory?"
"So be it. If they hate me, they hate me. I am too far down this road to turn back even for ones I love. I have done what is necessary to provide for them when I am gone. You have delayed me too long. I have a date with destiny."
The magnolia sighed as the old dog flew off for the last time. He would miss him.