Faith in the Stars, For Our Fate is in Your Hands

~I do not own Inuyasha. This story is purely fan made.

A/N: Thank you everyone for your reviews!

Original Characters

Lord Ryou- Lord of the North

Lady Kasumi- Lady of the North, Lord Ryou's mate

Ken'ichi Higurashi- Human lord of the West/ Head of the house of Higurashi

Nori Takahashi- Human Lord of the North/ Head of the House of Takahashi

Hinata Matsumoto- Head of the House of Matsumoto

Chapter 6: The House of Ashes Pt. 2

As the light of the day finally began to fade, the heart of the West became noisy... Almost to the point of being obnoxious. Youkai and humans alike crowded the streets, following the paper lanterns that lead up to the Western Shiro. With the gates of the shiro's courtyard open, people began to pack themselves in, everyone anxious to get a glimpse of all the royal families. Large wooden dais had been set up right in front of the Shiro's steps, and upon them sat three large tables that seated the royal family of the West and the two great Western Houses. At the middle table sat their Yokai Lord and his family, to the right sat the Household of Matsumoto, and to the left sat a Household that nobody recognized but soon they figured they would find out because a rumor ran around that Lord Touga had an important announcement to make.

Up on the dais, Lord Touga sat anxiously on top of his cushion as he slowly tapped a single claw against the wooden table. Letting out a weary sigh, Touga searched the crowd again for a familiar face. After a few minutes he softly growled to himself as he yet again failed in finding what he was looking for. He couldn't help but wonder where his General was at, Hanzo should have been back by now. The longer he waited, the more impatient he got. How hard was it to find a human boy, honestly?! Although, he was surprised that Souta wasn't here yet. It was uncharacteristic of the boy to disappear like this... Especially since he knew how important today was, and how important his presence here would be. Three hours earlier he had gone looking for the boy and became concerned when he couldn't find him. After asking around, he was told that Souta was last seen earlier in the afternoon chasing a bird throughout the Shiro. At the time he found it odd but shrugged it off before going back to his chambers to get ready for tonight. Now though... Now he was worried.

"My Lord?"

Touga whipped his head around and found his General approaching him. "Well? ...Did you find him?"

General Hanzo gave his Lord a sad shake of his head. "I followed his scent to a spot in the forest right outside the city gate but then it just disappears. I searched the surrounding area but I haven't been able to pick up his scent again."

A worried frown creased Touga's face as he thought about the information told to him. "Did you pick up any other scents with him?"

Hanzo gave his Lord a worried frown of his own before he replied. "There was another scent accompanying his own but it was very faint. The only thing I could tell from the foreign scent was that it was human but what is strange about the scent was that it would faintly appear then disappear. It was almost like the human would masks their scent before something would happen to make the person slightly drop their guard... But not enough for me to get a decent scent to track."

Touga gave his general a confused look as he went over the information he heard... Perhaps he sent the wrong person to investigate, with Hanzo being a kitsune his sense of smell was good but not as good as an Inu's. After a moment or two, Touga gave his General a nod before he dismissed him. Looking around, Touga searched the area to try and spot his eldest son. Once he finally found Sesshoumaru, he got up and made his way over to stand beside him. Hopefully his son will have better luck finding the boy.

Kagome stared in awe at the stone, completely mesmerized by the dark beauty of it. Dark promises kissed her ears and she listened to it with rapid attention. So absorbed with it's lure, she didn't even realize that her reiki was slowly being sucked into the stone, unwittingly strengthening it. It wasn't until a bright pink glow caught her attention that she looked away. Quickly the dark whispers disappeared as she looked down at the glow coming from underneath her clothes. Lifting her hand to reach for the necklace, having every intention of pulling back out from underneath her clothing, she was abruptly stopped when a velvet voice broke her trance like state.

"Little bird, what do you think you are doing?"

Kagome slightly jumped before whipping her head around to look behind her and quickly shoving the dark stone into her pocket with the rest of her star stones. She gave an audible sigh when she realized that it was only General Shin. "Shin, you scared me! Don't do that."

Shin allowed a small amused smirk cross his lips after seeing the pretty scowl on her face. "Why are you not at the Northern Shiro? Our Lord is going to be most displeased with you."

Kagome cringed at the thought, knowing full well that he was right and that she most definitely had a long lecture coming her way... From both Lord Ryou and Lady Kasumi.

"I see you have found your brother... How convenient." Shin mused, Kagome having no idea how inconvenient she had made his mission by coming here to the West. He had been in the heart of the West trying to track the boy down when he had caught her scent on the wind, forcing him to retreat to find her and make sure she was safe. Luckily though, she had already found what he had been sent here for.

Kagome chuckled slightly in a nervous manner... She was so going to get it when she got home, but it was worth it. Looking further behind her, she looked over at her brother and noticed he was still sleeping. Getting up, she stretch lightly before making her way over to him. Giving a slight shake to his arm, Kagome gently woke Souta up.

"Souta, this is General Shin of the North. He has come to take us home." Kagome softly spoken as she began to pack up.

Souta gave his greetings as he watched his sister, along side Shin. Both men watched as she quickly started to pull two chests over to them and Shin couldn't help himself... He had to ask. "Little bird, what are you doing?"

Kagome straightened before placing her hands on her hips. "Packing up everything that I'm taking back up North."

"And how are you planning to do that? ... Because I know that you are not expecting me to carrying the both of you and all this luggage." Shin said with a scowl.

Kagome just flashed him a sweet cheeky smile.

Needless to say, Sesshoumaru did not have any better luck than the General did. The boy disappeared and is gone... His father will just have to accept that.

Making his way through the crowd, Sesshoumaru looked up at his father who was standing up on the dais, commanding everyone's attention. When their eyes met Sesshoumaru shook his head 'no'.

Touga frowned but nodded, letting out a sad sigh as he straightened his posture and addressed his people. "Western citizens, this Inu Tashio is pleased to have you all here tonight to celebrate with us and the honorary Houses. We bring you news of some changes. Many have expressed their worries over the House of Higurashi, and I am here to calm them. Unfortunately, Lord Souta couldn't join us tonight so this one will have to announce this decision on his behalf."

Touga took one last glance around the crowd before proceeding. "The House of Higurashi is stepping down and will not be competing this year in the Great Summoner's Tournament."

The crowd errupted in chattering whispers, some even throwing out worried questions and Touga raised his hand to call for silence. "The West is greatly saddened by this, the Higurashi line is one of the oldest and strongest of all the Houses... But Lord Souta made it clear that he understood that this was for the best. As protocol states, the Secondary House will step into temporary rule until the Tournament. If Lady Kikyo succeeds, the House of Matsumoto will be our new ruling House."

Everyone watched as Kikyo stood and gave a humbling bow. "This Kikyo swears to do her best and make the West proud. This one will bring us honor."

The crowd gave a hestint applause, giving away their confusion on the change. Their was definitely going to be some rumors and speculations tonight. Touga gave the crowd a reassuring grin. " Fear not, the West will prosper as it always has. Eat! Drink! Celebrate with us this night as we move forward. The Great Tournament is only two weeks away, so let us bask in our great fortune and upcoming victories!"

At this the crowd cheered and raised their drinks and sake bottles. It was going to be a night that the West will not forget. Most will say, that this was the night where the favor the West had was shifted.

END OF CHAPTER 6

A/N: Thank you all for reading! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

(MYTHOLOGY FACTS)