This chapter is shorter than I would have liked but I have been busy with this whole virus stuff and as an EMT I'm not allowed to self quarantine, so works been crazy.

Anyway please tell me what you think so far.

-Ninja Burrito

Part 2 (An Interlude: The Calm Before The Storm)

Toga stood with his back to the small group in his study, intently watching the winding mountain path that led down the mountain the Inu Daiyokai called home. The clan's territory was large and claimed most of the West as its own and was Protectors for many of the other demon clans in the region of the canine persuasion. Togas land itself was this mountain, the valley around it and the unruly Forest of Plight beyond the valley.

He turned and looked at the women sitting on his desk reading a scroll of the events at the palace. Most of the clan didn't know her name or much about her, she like to remain aloof and an enigma, adding to the majesty of her beauty. Most in the clan called her Gobodo- sama or Inukimi with affection, Toga just referred to her as 'mate'. Though she was the mother of his son and a close confidant of his, neither of them harbored affection for one another outside friendship. She had served her purpose of giving him a son and continued to assist him with her infinite wisdom. Her brother Daisuke sat next to her, fingers steeple and he bounced his leg, always uncomfortable in confined spaces for too long, he was truly a wild dog.

Togas mate sighed and set the wooden scroll down on his desk and looked at the two men before her. "Explain it to me from start to finish; what we know, what we don't know and what we can speculate on."

Daisuke looked at his older sister, taking a deep breath he began, "Three weeks ago the Meido Stone Shine was attacked. The Mother Superior and all the Maidens that guard it were killed but one. We know the attackers somehow managed to cover their sent, move almost as ghosts and overpowered seven powerfully trained Sisters. We know the youngest, Akari, used some spell to seal the Stone to her person forcing the attackers to take her." He took a deep breath before continuing. "We know her actions are probably what stalled them long enough for us to hunt them down. According to her, the human Lord Gyru was working with someone else to steal the stone for a third party. He hired demons to run security, specifically fucking Panther Demon Tribe, and disappeared the night we attacked, escaping." He looked to Toga who nodded.

Toga continued for him. "We do not know how they covered their sent, what they gave to Akari to keep her from fighting back or healing and we don't know what they want with Meido Stone nor how they found out about it in the first place."

Inukimi tapped her fingernails against her teeth as she processed everything. "It's safe to assume they know what its power is for and wish to control the dead and hell spawn. We need to know who wants it, that is the most important question and who's going to protect it now that the Shrine and Mother Superior are gone."

The lord looked at her, "Well actually we don't have a choice in that."

"Oh?" She responded back looking at Toga, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure what caused it but Akari can no longer remove the amulet with the stone from her neck. I fear the only way it will be removed from her is with her death."

"Well, I mean she casted that weird spell so it couldn't be removed." Daisuke stated, his leg shaking harder.

Inukimi shook her head. "No, she should be able to remove it if it was just the spell. It must be an interaction when you revived her. You used the Tenseiga while she wore the stone and while the spell was still active."

"Either way she's its guardian now, and she has more than proved she will put her life on the line to protect the stone."

"She has balls of steal that's for sure, but she's incredibly young. We will need someone to watch over her till she's matured as both a demon and a woman." She was thinking out loud, but Toga answered anyway.

"She will be placed in the care of our son."

Both her brows now shot up to her bangs. "Interesting choice."

"A bond was forged My Dear, when I saw our calculating and cold son holding on to her body, I knew I couldn't let her die. She may be the one that breaks through his jagged exterior and gives him a reason to fight." Toga worried much about the state of the world and his clan, if Sesshomaru was going to carry on after him, he would need a reason to push forward.

Togas mate looked and him skeptically and replied in a low, thoughtful voice. "Or it's going to be the thing that breaks him entirely."

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye as the Dog Demon Clan moved on from what would become known as the 'Shrine Massacre'. The rest of the families in the clan had been led to believe that all the Shrine Maidens had died and when the Stone had been recovered it had been hidden in a secret location outside the clan. Since Akari came from a prominent family such as the Sky Cloud family she took to covering her face and with her time in Togas Manor and being around his family it helped masked her sent.

Many in the Clan assumed she belonged to Sesshomaru since the two were seldom ever seen apart while others thought she was part of Moon Fang and his protégé. As she grew into her demon hood many men in and out of the clan began to take notice of her, but none would approach her with the Heir to the demon clan so near her. If she did belong to Sesshomaru, who had gained a reputation of being malevolent and dangerous since word leaked out about what he had done to the men in prison, no one was going to challenge him for her. Toga had sent people to investigate the fallen Palace to see if they had missed anything, when then prison had been discovered and people recognized the young Lords venom, many began to fear him.

Her secondary demon characteristics came in; red around the eyes, black wisp marks on the cheek bones and a black diamond on the four-head, marking her as a full-grown demon. The child in her eyes and the shape of her body disappeared leaving behind a lovely and deadly being. Still to this day her skin bore the scars of her time with the humans, they were constant reminders she would carry for the rest of her long life.

Akari now stood in the middle of Sesshomarus study/rooms staring at him as he shuffled thought papers and wood scrolls. He tried hard to look busy and ignore her intense gaze boring holes in the back of his head. He succeeded for a time, getting a lot of work his father asked of him done till he heard her clicking a long razor-sharp nail on the lower face mask she wore.

"Akari, is there something you needed?" His monotone voice asked while he continued to read. She walked over to his desk and sat down on all his papers and book, pushing ink pots and paper weights to the ground. She glared at him, only the upper part of her faces visible but he could tell she was baring her fangs. "You need to use your words, reading minds is not something I'm proficient at." Again, his voice was flat.

Since the day of her resurrection she rarely spoke and relied on body language and sometimes violence to get her point across. "I want a bath." Even without the metal mask her voice was low and raspy, with the mask he had to strain to hear her.

"There are hot springs in the Manor, use them." He reached around her to pull a paper from her behind. She blocked him, sifting her weight and getting in his face. "I need to get this done, then I will go with you to bathe."

She wasn't allowed to leave the confines of the manor unattended but also refused to use the hot springs to bathe. No, she insisted on going down to the forest and using a secluded spring instead, which meant he had to go along with her.

"No, the weather will be cold by then." She hissed. Akari was inches from his face, her intense graze meeting his, unwavering.

"Then use the hot springs." He glared back still trying to get his paperwork.

She pulled her mask off revealing her full red lips and delicate jaw line. "I said no." She had a smoky tantalizing voice and as it always did, her beauty stumped Sesshomaru. He stared at her for a moment taking in the women she had become; she wasn't a broken young girl fighting her nightmares any longer. She was powerful in her own right and talented in hand to hand combat. If it wasn't for the stone hidden under her shirt, she would have no need for a babysitter, no need for him.

"Fine, but then you need to leave me alone so I can finish this census for my father." The sides of her lips twitched but her mask snapped back into place before he could see the impending smile. She jumped off his desk and opened the sliding paper door to the deck impatiently waiting for him to finish tying on his armor. He walked out on to the deck and looked down at the top of her head; he wrapped an arm around her narrow waist noting her strong stomach and ascended into the air headed for the secluded pool of river water she preferred.