Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha or related characters they belong to the respective owners. OC's are mine.
Chapter Twenty Nine:
The scarred one stood at the entrance to the cave. His aura flared as memories began to flood back to the surface. Things thought long forgotten.
Flash Back…
"Midoriko!" The priestess turned to find her companions, the Inuyokai she'd rescued several years earlier, and the two tailed yokai cat, Kirara. The Inuyokai stepped forward, "What do you think you're doing?"
She smiled sadly as she looked at the yokai's bandaged torso. Blood was still seeping into the bandages, "Both of you return to the village…you're in no condition to fight."
The Inuyokai snarled, "My sword may have shattered, but I still have my claws. I will not allow some abomination prove stronger than I." The cat yokai roared in agreement.
Tears pricked the priestesses eyes as she shook her head, "Too many have died already. I will not let either of you die as well." Suddenly a barrier surrounded the two yokai. They both attempted to break the barrier, but neither was able to.
The Inuyokai snarled and bashed his fist into the barrier. He then dropped to his knee with a grunt of pain as his wound reopened, "Midoriko! You can't face him alone! Release me…please!"
She turned away and spoke to the Inuyokai, "Do not feel you have failed me my friend…whatever debt you owed me was repaid long ago."
With that the priestess headed for the final battle.
An hour later the barrier began to weaken, and the two yokai shattered it as they quickly followed the priestesses scent. As they entered the cave the Inuyokai snarled in outrage. Midoriko had sacrificed herself to stop the abomination…a hanyo not created through natural means. He'd once been a man, but had sacrificed his soul to yokai to claim Midoriko as his.
The Inuyokai howled in grief then dropped to his knees, prepared to allow his life blood to drain out. Suddenly he started to feel stronger, and all his injuries from the previous days of fighting healed. Looking down he found a small perfect spherical crystal, "A Shikon no Tama…no…she wouldn't!" The Inuyokai noticed how the pinkish light of the jewel was starting to give way to a dark purplish light.
Knowing it was his own presence causing the taint he rushed back to the village. As he moved quickly through the village he noted that the eldest humans he'd seen where not much older than fifteen.
He made his way to Midoriko's hut and found a box with sutras plastering it. Ignoring the burning sensation from the sutras he opened the box and tossed the jewel inside. Ripping up some floorboards he tossed the jewel into the space between the floor and the ground under the house. He placed his own barrier around the box then replaced the floorboards.
Leaving the hut he found the children of the village gathered waiting for him. They seemed lost and afraid…most had watched powerless as their parents had been cut down right before their eyes. He counted at least thirty children. The eldest, a boy wearing the uniform of an exterminator stepped forward, "My Lord…where is Lady Midoriko? What are we suppose to do?"
There were several options that ran through the Inuyokai's head. The first being they could all just lie down and accept death, though he doubt they'd appreciate that suggestion. The second was they could all attempt to journey to the nearest village or town and hope someone would take pity on them…that was very unlikely. The third option came out of his mouth before he really thought it over, "You can either accept death…or you can pick up a weapon and start learning how to use it. This world is not a place for the meek. You have all grown up not fearing me…but there are creatures out there that will kill you just because you've the bad fortune to cross their path."
He watched as the older kids started to dig around for undamaged weapons. A few others began herding the younger ones and the few infants together. The kid wearing the uniform turned to the Inuyokai, "What are your orders?"
The Inuyokai growled, "I'm not here to lead you…I guess I can at least guide you. First you need to burn the dead…there are too many to bury. The smell will attract yokai to this place, and I've yet to recover enough to deal with the numbers that will come. Secondly decide on where those too young to train will sleep, it'd be good for them to rest."
The young exterminator bowed then went to assign groups to carry out the orders. The Inuyokai watched as everything was carried out. He personally mended the massive breach in the village wall that had been made during the abomination's first attack. During all this Kirara kept vigil in the air above the village.
End Flash Back…
The scarred one growled at the unbidden memories. That event had occurred hundreds of years ago, and he'd kept the jewel safe, save for that one other time it had been stolen. This time the jewel's location was a mystery, a mystery that had angered him greatly.
Inu no Taisho approached his brother cautiously, as even he would not wish to have his younger brother's wrath turned on him. The elder brother growled low to signal his arrival, "I thought I'd find you here brother…it has been a long time since you've visited this place."
The scarred one bowed his head, "My mate got tired of dragging me away from here…and that was before I claimed her as my mate. She'd made me promise not to brood here; she felt I was slowly letting myself slip into death."
Inu no Taisho nodded, "I could relate…you brood too much brother. Brooding will not solve this matter, you know more about that blasted jewel than any other being. What's its goal?"
The scarred one snarled, "It's self preservation…even though we've hidden it for ages. Legends of the jewel have spread far and wide. It seeks other souls that will protected it and perpetuate the cycle. It will continue to lure the weak hearted and all yokai to it until someone strong enough purifies it, and wishes it from this world forever."
Inu no Taisho frowned, "And if it's not purified?"
The scarred one bowed his head, "Then the wish will not work…the wisher will take the place of Midoriko or that fiend she eternally battles."
Inu no Taisho nodded, "Then our path is set…the jewel must be found…and someone with enough spiritual power must be found to purify it. Let it be known, any yokai caught with the jewel without the intentions of returning it to us will suffer greatly. No longer can we afford to hide it. It is time that part of history is wiped clean."
Far from that place Sesshomaru wandered the land deep in thought. With Jaken quick on his heel he'd made it to the farthest northern reaches of his father's domain. He knew better then to step beyond the border of the Western Lands. To do so would be deemed an act of war to those daiyokai who resided within those lands. The heir continued on his way along the border, not really caring where he found himself.
Quite suddenly he came across a group of yokai that had gathered over the remains of some human travelers. The yokai noticed him, and were quick to back away. Sesshomaru approached the humans, and was rewarded with a pulse from Tenseiga. Sesshomaru frowned at his father's sword, "You wish to revive them Tenseiga? Why?"
The pulsing became stronger and more insistent.
Sesshomaru huffed, "Fine Tenseiga, but remember it is you who serves this Sesshomaru, this one does not serve you." Sesshomaru drew his sword, and after spotting the underworld imps he sliced through them.
The other yokai were disappointed at the loss of their meal, but were smart enough to flee before the daiyokai turned his weapon on them. Sesshomaru watched as the humans were revived then turned and continued on his way.
End Chapter Twenty Nine
A/N: Expect some time jumps in the near future…because believe it or not it's still about a hundred years before Kagome arrives in feudal era. That's when this story is really going to have some action.
