Translations:
Yuki ~ Bravery Okami ~ Wolf Yokai ~ Supernatural Energy
Kitsune ~ Fox Tekage ~ Lizard Youkai ~ Supernatural Being
Tori ~ Bird Neko ~ Cat
Kuma ~ Bear Sakana ~Fish
Shika ~ Deer Hikigaeru ~ Toads
Usagi ~ Rabbit Chūsei-kokoro ~ Loyalty
"This story has been passed down for generations. It is the oldest piece of information that we have as far as youkai know of. It was in the time of our grandfather's great grandfathers. Humans were prevailing over the natural world, making advances over animals who had to follow the cycle put before them. The humans are still a young race now, but even in their earliest days they have cheated, using the elements that other animals could not. All animals, from the smallest sparrow to the largest bear cried in agony. The humans stole young from every species, either to eat or to skin. And to add insult to injury the humans would come back to the nest and steal one of the mates to further suit their needs.
So the leaders of each clan of wild animals called out to the goddess Amaterasu 'Benevolent mother, please we beg of you, help us save our young!' The goddess was silent for a long time.
'What would you have me do, my children?' She asked.
'Give us a way to fight back, or at least defend ourselves better.' They beseeched.
She deliberated on the matter for several days, and when the clans had reassembled, She called Hachiman to her side. "Hachiman-san, please bestow your gift to these suffering clans." And so he did.
The warrior god's gift the animals was to unlock the ability to manipulate supernatural abilities. Each clan was better at one particular manipulation technique, though in the early days any animal could use all types of manipulations. For example kitsune are good at illusion; Inus work poison; Neko use fire; Kuma use ice; Usagi use growing magic; Tori have song magic; The Sakana and Hikigaeru use water magic; Shika use wind magic; Okami use earth and stone magic; Tokage use storm magic.
As time went on some clans disappeared or they merged into larger clans. When the clans were lost, so were their magics. There were originally nine clans: The Tori, The Kitsune, The Kuma, The Neko, The Sakana and Hikigaeru, The Okami, The Usagi, The Tokage, and lastly The Shika, now only four distinct clans remain. The remaining are The Sakana-Hikigaeru -Tokage Clan, The Neko-Kuma Clan, The Inu-Kitsune-Okami Clan, and The Shika-Tori-Usagi Clan. "
"Otou-san, Where did Inu come from?" Rin's little voice asked
Sesshomaru sighed. This one might finally break Rin's trust in humans. He wasn't sure it was for the best, however, she did deserve the truth since it was her heritage, and Kagome and Shippo's as well.
"Rin, this will be a sad story. I am sorry that I must tell it. This is the story of my Sire's great great great great-grand sire, his name was Yuki. Yuki was a very loyal inu to a powerful chieftain. The chieftain loved his inu, and his inu loved him. However the chief was being taunted by the angry ancestors of a neighboring tribe. As the insistence of his sorcerer, the chief forced Yuki to become Inu-gami." Kagome gasped.
"Yuki was buried up to his head, with a bowl of food close to his head. He could not reach it. Slowly Yuki starved and become delirious. And as Yuki suffered so to did his chieftain. The chieftain vowed that if Yuki was be in pain to protect him then he would suffer as well, as a form of payment. So the two stayed side by side as the shrine was being built, both starving, just for the sake of protection.
When it came time to cut Yuki's head off the chieftain could not. He had changed his mind, but the sorcerer killed Yuki anyway when the chieftain's back was turned. The chieftain, sick with grief and weak from starving, fell into a deep sleep. The sorcerer told no one of the change of heart the chieftain had, and continued with the ritual. Yuki's head was buried under the busiest street in the small village.
So Yuki's restless spirit roamed the country, he discovered the yokai that had been bestowed on his cousin the wolf. In his mourning of his master, he asked the kami to reunite them using the yokai so he could appear in his ghostly form. Something went wrong, as the gods were granting his final wish, his head and body were placed in the shrine. Instead of appearing to the chieftain, he got pulled through the chieftain's body, (whose spirit had almost departed him), with the combination of youkai and spirits, they formed a new being, more powerful that most youkai.
Their minds merged and they became a man and beast at once. Amaterasu took pity on the new being. She gave him a new name 'You shall be called Chūsei-kokoro. You will start a new clan of Youkai. The Inu clan. Go forth and save the abused inu in the world. I give you this power for your magic.' That is why Kagome-san was able to change you. It is our ultimate magic from the Kami."
"But Chichi-ue, you said Inu practice poison." Shippo said quite confused.
"Perhaps that is a story for another time." A delicate feminine voice answered.
NEW CHARACTER ALERT!That is all. Also cookies