Interlude: Innocence Lost
*In my original outline for this story this chapter didn't exist, but as I was writing Parts Four and Five I realized that I neglected to mention a few things and another chapter was necessary.*
Yesterday was my birthday. I'm seven years old now, and hahaue said that I was finally a man now and that one day I'm going to be big and strong like chichiue…
I don't remember chichiue that well. He died when I was little. Hahaue said it was after I turned four when he went to fight the dragon.
He didn't come back to the castle.
I kinda remember that day. It was the same day that Sesshoumaru-onii-san got his crescent moon on his forehead like otousan. That's what made him Lord of the Western Lands.
That was the same day onii-san started being really mean to me. Not mean like the other children in the village. All they do is pick on me. They call me names and last week they took my ball…
It was a gift from chichiue.
Sesshoumaru-onii-san stopped talking to me after chichiue left and didn't come back. I never told hahaue, but once, right before we left the castle and went back to like in hahaue's old village, onii-san said I was tainted and trash.
He called me a hanyou. I didn't know what 'hanyou' meant then, and I still don't now. Hahaue won't tell me.
And I don't know why he started being a big jerk to me. I didn't do anything wrong! I stopped taking his scrolls when he told me to….
I'm not gonna cry.
Real men don't cry. And neither do princes.
I think I'm still a prince. We moved out of the palace a few months ago. Hahaue said that we had to or else Sesshoumaru-onii-san would be cranky.
He's not fun to be around when he's cranky.
I can smell hahaue crying her bedroom. She's been doing that all week. I thought birthdays were supposed to be happy. All my other ones were. Anyway yesterday I heard her while she was praying. She looked really sad and then told chichiue that she'd be with him soon.
I don't understand, but I didn't want to make her sadder. I kinda remember chichiue telling me that when a woman cries that even a mighty warrior will crumble. Chichiue told me lots of things when I was a little pup. He taught he lots of stuff too, like how to hunt and track. He said that my sense of smell was almost as good as his. He even taught me how to use my claws to fight with, but he said I'm not supposed to fight if I don't have to. My attacks are just like his was, that's what hahaue tells me.
I miss Sesshoumaru-onii-san, even if he was being mean to me.
And I miss chichiue; hahaue does too and I think that's why she cries so much.
****
Three days later….
***
My birthday was four days ago. I turned seven years old. My hahaue said that on my birthday I was finally a man. She was wrong.
Today I'm a man because hahaue is gone.
Our village was attacked last night on the new moon. I turn human on the new moon. They attacked just after the sunset, right when all my powers went away like they always did on the new moon.
Our hut was on the very end of the village. We lived there because hahaue didn't want to be bothered with the other villagers. They insulted us, they threw stones and I didn't understand why before.
But I do now.
It was because of me.
I'm a hanyou, that's what Sesshoumaru once called me when we still lived at the palace. Hahaue finally told me what it meant two days ago. I'm not human, but I'm not demon.
I'm half and half. And for some reason almost everyone I see hates me, except hahaue.
But she's gone like chichiue now.
We heard noises coming from the heart of the village. Hahaue looked out the window of our hut and saw the flames and the blood. She told me to run away as fast as I could, but I didn't want to leave her.
She told me that I had to run. Not for me, but for her and that I had to hide somewhere where the demons wouldn't find me. And not to worry about her because she would be fine.
Then she told me that she would always love me. I didn't understand then, but I do now.
I did what she asked and I ran from the village. On my way to the forest I saw Sesshoumaru and I thought that he was coming to save us.
Then he ripped the village head man's head off his body.
I ran and I never looked back.
The demons that attacked the village were Inu Youkai. Funny, but they were some of the same Inu Youkai from the Western Lands, my old home.
Home…
I don't have a home anymore.
At sunrise I went back to our hut to look for hahaue. My demon powers were back and I could fight if I needed to.
I found hahaue lying on the floor of our hut in a pool of her blood. The sight made me sick to my stomach, but the smell was worse.
The whole hut smelled like flowers, but that wasn't a good thing. Lots of poisons smell like flowers.
Including Sesshoumaru's poison claw.
He killed my hahaue.
And I know that if I was there with her I would have died too.
I finished burying her a few hours ago, and I'm going to burn the hut as well.
I just want to know why he did it. Why did he kill my hahaue?
Does he hate me like everyone else does because I'm a hanyou?
I'm not going to cry. Men don't cry. Chichiue never cried before, and since I'm his son I'm not going to either.
I'm going to get big, and strong…
And then I'm going to kill my brother.
Wait….
He's NOT my brother. If he was he wouldn't have ordered the attack on our village.
If he was my brother he wouldn't have killed my hahaue.
If he was my brother he wouldn't hate me the way he does.
I'm seven years old and I'm a man….
All because I'm alone in the world now.
I miss you hahaue….
Today an inu hanyou learned the true meaning of hate and pain. He lost his innocence…
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::Cries:: Gods that's SO sad! I'm sure many are wondering why I made Sess-chan the big bad guy here, well if you remember episode seven (I think), when Sesshoumaru uses the image of Inu Yasha's mom to try to get the location of Tetsusaiga from him Inu Yasha says, "She's dead and we both know it…" or something to that effect.
Can anyone else think of a reason why he'd say something like that?
Just a short Interlude, Part Four is next.
Ja, minna.
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