Hye ppl~! What's the sitch? =] Updates: I have taken down Heretic, for now at least. I'm going to repost it some other time. In the meantime I'll leave this new creation of mine for you to occupy yourselves. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT, in any way own Inuyasha-tachi. The revered Takahashi Rumiko -sensei gets all the credit for that. I only own my made up characters. =)

Fate's Child - Written by .aynea|. -2004-

Prelude: Beautiful Stranger

Sesshoumaru was out patrolling his lands that night. The full moon was high in the cloudless, black night sky. He was getting rather disturbed with news brought by the youkai under his rule of something that had been making way towards his castle. In the four days since it was first spotted it had already defeated many of his warriors.

After a while he came into a clearing, stopped and sniffed the air. 'There is something here… The air smells different.' He cast his senses around him, but when he suddenly felt something, just as suddenly, it disappeared. He was alert and ready for a sudden attack and for a while, nothing seemed to move around him. The winds died, the forest grew cold and quiet. Patiently he waited until…

From behind him he heard the rustle of leaves and the sound of someone quickly making way towards him. 'It's fast,' Sesshoumaru realized. He jumped high into the air, making a twist as he quickly landed back to face the intruder…

…and found himself being knocked down onto the ground. It took him a while to realize that he was being pinned down as he looked into the greenish golden-violet eyes of his attacker – not two, but three eyes. When he had recovered from his initial shock, he started snarling and with newfound strength, got back up on his feet, shoving the attacker off him. But instead of pummeling onto the ground, in the glow of the full moon he saw that it - she - was floating in the air, her feet a good six feet off the ground. She was looking down on him and observing, her three eyes shining and curious, her skin illuminated by the moon. Sesshoumaru just stared back at her, noticing her perfect limbs, perfect features, full lips, porcelain smooth skin, flowing golden streaked red hair and of course, those eyes: an extra eye on her forehead and two normal ones. Even the colour was different: it was a mixture of gold and violet, with greenish specks. She was wearing clothes he had never seen on a female before, and on her feet were a pair of what looked like shoes: females don't wear shoes. He was also aware of a unique aura and fragrant smell surrounding her. She looked so young, yet also so mature.

After a while observing each other, Sesshoumaru recovered himself and moved a step towards the being in front of him, but she floated backwards away from him, as if trying to avoid him, and while he thought about what to do, her lips suddenly parted, and in the silvery tinkling voice of a young child she said, "Excuse me, but what are you trying to do?"

A bit taken aback at her forwardness, but still keeping his 'devil-may-care' face and cold attitude intact, instead of replying, he asked her, "Who are you? And why are you trespassing on my lands?"

She looked a bit confused but after a few minutes, she clapped her hands together and exclaimed; "Now I understand! You're Lord Sesshoumaru, right? No wonder those guys back there were trying to stop me – these are your lands?"

"Yes, I am Lord Sesshoumaru, how did you know?" He was rather amused and curious – just who was this beautiful female who seemed to know everything?

"Ahaha… I found out 'cos they were like shouting out 'Defend the lands of Sesshoumaru-sama!!' at me when they attacked…" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Well then, why were you even there?" Sesshoumaru asked, getting more and more curious though his face still betrayed nothing.

"Geez, I was just passing by. They just came out of nowhere screaming nonsense at me, and they shouldn't have. I wasn't having a good day and such… I mean, would you, if you woke up to find yourself in the middle of nowhere and also finding out overnight an extra eye popped up on your forehead and that your hair turned ginger and you're just yourself anymore? And then an ambush on me: that really got on my nerves. I just… lost control, I guess… Hey, they deserved it – an ambush is no way to treat a gal on a bad day!"

Now, though Sesshoumaru was definitely shocked at this new revelation, he only lifted an eyebrow and inquired, "You were not like this before?"

It seemed as if all of the blood had drained from her face as she clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oops… I shouldn't have…"

He realized she had lowered her guard, and quickly, he cast a sleeping spell over her. Just before she dropped to the ground, he caught her in his arms and summoning his cloud, transported them both to his castle, the maiden in his arms sleeping soundly. In the glow of the moon, he glanced at her sleeping face, so innocent and mysterious. 'I will find out,' he vowed. He didn't even know it was so important for him to know. At that moment, all he knew was he wanted to know – the mystery was beckoning him to find out, and he would rise to its challenge. After all, he WAS Lord Sesshoumaru of The Western Lands – there was nothing for him to lose.

***

Heeh… So, comments anyone? 2nd instillation coming up soon! - .aynea|. Over and Out! =]