"That was amazing," Makoto said, in complete awe. "I've never seen anything like that before."
"What happened?" Miyo asked. She looked around. "And where are we?" Takara looked into her eyes.
"Michiomaru killed you, Miyo," she told her. "He snapped your neck."
The girl gasped. "But…but…"
"I brought you to my cabin, and used Tenseiga to restore your life."
Miyo blinked. "Tenseiga?"
"My otousan's healing sword. It gives life, and cannot kill. Otousan left it to me when he died, and it now recognizes me as its master. Or it at least recognizes otousan's blood in me. It brought you back to life, and healed your neck."
Miyo placed a shaky hand on her neck. Makoto stood, and looked around the room, but it was dark and he couldn't see well. Takara walked back towards the entrance, and lit a lantern. When she did, the entire room brightened.
Miyo gasped. There were many dusty old trunks, full of who knows what. Adorning a wooden mannequin was a dangerous looking piece of armor, with spiked shoulders. On the far wall hung three paintings, a large one, and a smaller one on each side of it. Miyo rose to her feet and walked towards the paintings.
The smaller one on the left was the head and shoulders of a beautiful human woman with gentle, loving eyes. The one on the right was of a dangerous-looking, yet beautiful, youkai woman, with black streaked gold hair, piercing silver eyes, and a black stripe on either side of her neck.
The largest painting was of a very handsome, strong-looking male youkai. He had long white hair and gold eyes, with two magenta stripes on each cheek, red markings on his eyelids, and a purple crescent moon on his forehead. His face was blank of any emotion, and he wore a white kimono with what looked like the same armor that was on the wooden mannequin, tied with a yellow and purple sash. At his left side were the hilts of two swords, and wrapped around his right shoulder was a very soft and fluffy looking furry thing.
Takara stepped up beside her, and Miyo looked at her, and then back at the handsome youkai. They looked almost identical. They had the same face shape and eye color, the same marking on their foreheads, and the same style of hair. The only differences were the gold streaks in her hair, and the black stripes on her neck as opposed to the magenta stripes on his cheeks. Miyo didn't have to ask to know that this was her father. The female youkai with the gold and black hair in the smaller painting must have been her mother.
Makoto came to stand behind them, and whistled.
"That is one dangerous looking otousan you have," he commented. Takara's gaze never left the painting, and she stood a bit taller.
"He was one of the most powerful youkai of that time. A great lord, as I told you earlier. No one challenged him and lived."
"Why did he need two swords?" Makoto wondered, noticing their hilts at his side.
"One of them is Tenseiga, the healing sword. It could not kill, and was therefore useless in a battle. The other sword is Toukijin, a very powerful sword otousan had made for him so he could defeat his tanechigai [half brother]."
"Tanechigai?" Miyo asked.
"His younger tanechigai, Inuyasha, a hanyou of a youkai and a ninjen. He possessed a great sword, the Tetsusaiga, which gave him the power to defeat my otousan. Both the Tetsusaiga and the Tenseiga were made out of my grandfather's fangs for his sons. My otousan was always angry that Inuyasha got a better sword. He had Toukijin made so he could beat the Tetsusaiga."
"His otouto [younger brother] sounds neat," Makoto said. "What was he like?"
"I only met him once. He was very friendly, and had a ninjen mate. He looked a lot like otousan, but without the youkai markings. He is most likely dead by now; a hanyou's life isn't quite as long as a youkai's."
Miyo tore her gaze off of the powerful youkai in the painting, and looked at the picture of the human. "Who is she?"
"Otousan's first mate, Rin. I never met her; she had been dead for over a hundred years before I was born. She is the okaasan of my hanyou tanechigai, Inuyoshi."
Makoto looked surprised. "You have a tanechigai too?"
"He's over a hundred years older than I am. He lives deeper in the forest, and doesn't associate with anyone. He has no charms or powers to change his appearance as I do, so anyone who sees him sees his true form. He…he doesn't like me very much."
"Why not?" Miyo asked.
"Otousan didn't like him, for the same reason he didn't like Inuyasha. He's half ninjen, and otousan never liked ninjen, except for Rin. After she died, Inuyoshi left, and has taken care of himself ever since then. I've met him a few times, but he's always very cold to me. As far as otousan was concerned, I was the only child he had."
"But that's not fair!" Miyo said.
"It doesn't matter if it was fair or not. It was my otousan, and that was who he was."
They fell silent, and the humans began wandering around looking at other things. Takara stood before the paintings, her eyes fixed on the powerful face of her father. He may not have been fair, she thought. But I will do all I can to be like he was.