Title: Searching his soul, Finding his heart
Authoress: Ladya C. Maxine
Rating: PG-13
Summary: see chapter one
Warning(s): see chapter one
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. Any and all unrecognizable characters belong solely to me and are not to be touched. I am not making any money off of this and I write with the sole intention to entertain.

A/N: Just a little something I feel I should mention (in case some of you haven't guessed yet): Sesshoumaru has both arms in this fic. No way in hell I'm gonna leave him running about with his fine self with only one arm! Nope, Inuyasha never cut off his arm in my stories.

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Kouga's memory was, admittedly, not his sharpest point, but something about this demon seemed very familiar to him. Had they met before? On whose side was this one on?

His eyes drifted down to the shredded remains of his former pet. What had once been a wolf was now an unidentifiable heap of flesh and fur. A strong acidy scent hung over the torn carcass. Around it, its brethren whimpered mournfully, turning to him for support.

"Return to the den. I will deal with this," he said softly, eyes fixing once more on the other. His pets looked uncertain to leave him alone with the intruder but finally obeyed, disappearing into the trees with small barks and yips.

His attention now fully focused on the youkai before him, Kouga growled.

"How dare you slay such a magnificent creature as a wolf?"

Sesshoumaru merely regarded the demon. He remembered this one, the wolf 'prince' who had appeared with his useless self during their battle with the cat clan. He didn't know his name, and neither did he care for it. He did know about the Shikon shards in both legs which gifted the wolf demon with great speed and strength. Intellect, on the other hand...

Meanwhile, flashes of memories came back to Kouga. They were fast and brief but he recalled those cold golden eye and indifferent face. An aura of calm and death glowed from within this demon. And the scent; strong and noble.

"Are you a mute?" he asked, covering up his confusion. "Speak up!"

When the dog demon remained silent he snarled.

"Well then, I'll just have to beat it out of you!"

Sesshoumaru blinked half interested when the demon seemed to just disappear from the path before him. His speed was indeed impressive. However...

"Hya!!" Kouga shouted victoriously, coming up from behind the white-haired youkai. With a move quicker than lightning, he swung his fist forward, and it connected with solid...air?!

"What the...!"

Landing in a crouch, he spun around to find the dog demon a good ten feet from where he had last been standing. How on earth had he evaded the attack? No matter. Kouga truly doubted he could do it again. With a feral growl, he lunged at the stranger, striking out with such speed that his fists blurred together, disappearing from sight.

Nevertheless, Sesshoumaru dodged them with the simplest of ease. This demon's fighting technique was rather similar to that hanyou's; brute force, but no strategy. The wolf was punching blindly as if hoping that he would miscalculate and step in front of a fist. Sesshoumaru had learned years ago that timing was the key if you wanted to win a battle.

'Damn it! I haven't landed a single blow!'

Kouga cursed in disbelief. Here he was, punching with the speed and strength that would have killed off an entire village by now but the dog youkai wasn't even breaking a sweat. If anything, he looked bored, gracefully stepping from left to right, cold eyes trained on his dispassionately.

He didn't have time for this. His Rin needed him.

Matching the wolf's speed, he reached out with a clawed hand and grabbed hold of a wrist that was just flying past his face. He smirked inwardly at the obvious surprise on the other's face as he held the wrist captive in a vice-grip. His other hand travelled to the hilt of his sword; he would at least make this swift.

Kouga realized the other's intentions and after some rapid thinking he turned to his strength rather than speed and with a loud growl he grounded himself and threw his weight backwards, lifting the dog demon off his feet and sending him over his head. His triumphant grin melted off his face when the white-haired youkai seemed to have anticipated this move and, using his own skills, he kept going, landing neatly on both feet and propelling Kouga over his head, slamming him down into the earth with enough force to create a noticeable crater.

The air was knocked out of him and Kouga hissed as the unprotected area between his upper shoulder blades connected with what felt like a rock.

"Kuso!" he snarled, wincing at the sudden pain.

Everything fell silent around him and he slowly started to rise but his movement was stopped by a knee that planted itself on his chest, driving him back into the ground.

Groaning anew, he blearily opened his eyes, blinking as he tried to focus his blurred vision. Something cold and sharp pressed up against his throat and he froze. He slowly looked up to find the dog demon leaning over him, the youkai's knee purposefully placing more pressure, making the rock dig deeper into the hollow between Kouga's shoulder blades, just below his neck.

Sesshoumaru watched the pitiful wolf with indifference. He never did anything simply for the greater good but he felt that he would be do the world a grand favour by slaying this one. He flexed his wrist, ready to slice the wolf's head clean off his shoulders.

Kouga felt the shift. However, instead of closing his eyes in defeat, he glared up at the dog demon; he would not go out as a coward. He would look this one in the eyes until the last of his blood had drained from his dead corpse!

The narrowing of the bright blue eyes intrigued him. This wolf was...challenging him? They both knew that he had the upper hand yet the wolf was obviously going to go down with his honour.

'Curse this foolish being and his honour. Rin is all that matters to me.'

He leaned in, boldly returning the other's glare. Their faces were but inches apart but neither looked away. He placed more pressure on his sword and smelled the tangy scent of blood as the razor sharp blade broke a thin layer of skin on the wolf's neck. Just a little more force and...

Kouga blinked when a light sparked in those golden eyes. It was barely noticeable but he saw it. The face before him remained indifferent yet the eyes spoke of realization.

'What's up with this guy?'

That scent. It was over layered by the wolf's masculine scent and his blood, and extremely faint, but it was on him. A sweet smell that he had come to known just recently. Silver plum. This wolf had been in the vicinity of some. However, his Rin's scent was not on him so he couldn't have been the abductor. Still...

Kouga watched with extreme distrust as a clawed hand dipped into the dark armour that encased the other's chest. A second later it re-emerged, holding something between the pointy claws. A sharp smell hit his sensitive nose and he stiffened.

"Where did you get that?" he growled, eyeing the single leaf suspiciously.

"Where can I find more?" Sesshoumaru countered, ignoring the other's question.

For the first time since their meeting the dog demon had spoken and Kouga was surprised to hear how deep and velvety the voice was. This one was definitely of royal blood; his voice carried a tone of one who was used to ordering other around.

"Why should I tell you? You obviously know these mountains well enough to find a silver plum of such potency."

Now that he knew that wolf had some knowledge of the area he momentarily dropped the desire to slash his throat open. Instead, he placed more pressure on the other's already bruising upper spine.

"Where?" he repeated.

Kouga hissed as he felt the rock press against the bone, causing more pain than a sword wound. Still, he wasn't going to cave in to this bastard.

"Tell me why you want to know, and I will tell you what I know."

Though the wolf didn't seem to notice it yet, Sesshoumaru could see that the blue eyes were slowly starting to glaze over as the intense pressure on the wolf's spine was beginning to take its toll on the stubborn creature. Had it been any other case he wouldn't have cared less but this wolf was the only thing he had at the moment that would lead him to his Rin.

Pausing for a few more seconds, he growled softly and, re-sheeting his sword, he stood, taking his weight off of the other youkai.

The moment he felt the weight lift off him Kouga quickly rolled to his feet, biting down the pained groan as the action caused a searing pain to run down his spine. Still, he hid his discomfort and watched the dog youkai warily.

"You said this leaf came from a very potent tree. Where do I find them?"

"Why do you ask?"

"That is none of your concern."

Forcing down another growl, he looked through wild, dark bangs at the demon whose golden pair bore into his eyes. Meeting them boldly, he held back a surprised gasp as he started to remember; a large cat demon in a village...that dog-turd Inuyasha fighting it...Kagome...and this demon! He remembered the monk had mentioned something about this white-haired demon while they had stood safely outside of the village. But what was it?

Sesshoumaru watched with mild amusement as many warring emotions ran across the wolf's face. The bright blue eyes slowly grew brighter until they suddenly lit up, having realized something.

"Hey! Your that dog-face's brother!"

Now he remembered. This had been the silent demon who had watched from the side, unmoving and even unblinking. Kouga himself had been mainly preoccupied with Kagome but he had detected the strong, masculine scent and had cast a few glances over at the white-haired demon. But he had then disappeared, fading silently from sight.

Now that he got a better look at him, Kouga was bemused to say the least, his words replaying in his head though they now made no sense to him.

'He is dog-face's brother?'

With the exception of the eye- and hair colour, the two were nothing alike. Inuyasha was a filthy, over eager, ragged-looking half-breed with a mouth fouler than a decomposing carcass and manners that no mother in the world could rectify.

This demon before him, however, was so different. The very air around him carried grace. His stance was straight and perfect. Obviously the silent type and as deadly as they come, his face held royalty and his eyes shone with intellect.

Sesshoumaru mentally raised a brow at this youkai's nickname for the half-breed. From what he had witness in that cat infested village it was quite obvious that both of them sought the attention of that girl, though he couldn't fathom why. But that was beside the point. His time, and patience, was running out.

"My relations are of no importance to you. Now tell me where I can find these trees."

"Oi, I don't trust you, okay? I came across dog-face and his friends a few days ago and they are also looking for the silver plum. How do I know the two of you aren't working together?"

He rarely showed emotions but the idea made him snort, though barely audible, eyes narrowed in disgust.

"I don't know what that half-breed seeks, neither do I care. Some coward has taken a possession of mine and I have traced their origin to these mountains."

Kouga still wasn't very convinced, but for some reason, he didn't continue to question the other. Had this youkai truly intended to bring harm upon his realm he would have done so already, and Kouga himself wouldn't still be standing either. Then again, this was dog-face's brother and he didn't trust that.

"You guessed right that that leaf came from these mountains. However, its tree itself is damn near impossible to find unless you are completely familiar with the terrain." Truth be told, the tree wasn't that reclusive, but he was trying to find a way to get this youkai out of his home. "All I can say is that it's to be found on the eastern slopes yet-- Hey, where do you think you are going?!" he interrupted himself when the dog youkai simply started to walk off.

The wolf's ramblings were moderately helpful but he had grown tired of the other's voice and presence. So much that he didn't even bother killing the wolf. His mind was yet again tempted when the other appeared before him.

"Call me protective, but do you honestly think I am just going to allow someone of your likes to wander around my home and people? As prince and leader of my people and ruler of these lands I have all right to say who does and doesn't step foot within these borders. You are an intruder and you can be executed for--HEY!!"

'This is getting really old, really fast,' Kouga fumed as he watched the other youkai continue down the path. "What part of 'Get out' is not known to your vocabulary?"

When the white-haired demon didn't respond Kouga growled indignantly and lunged at him.

tbc............

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Yay! Cliff-hanger!

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