Yo! Hey, I know I left you at a cliffy last time, but that's what I like to do to keep you hooked, sorry...I'm afraid you'll leave me if it doesn't end interestingly. That, and I like to clip the chapters cleanly at 1000 to 1200. Something in that neighborhood. Anyway, to answer another question...

No, I haven't seen all of the Inuyasha episodes or read all the manga, but I keep very close-knit to all the news and I'm working on that. That's why I know so much. It's not easy, though, there's a lot of crap out there that isn't true, from "actual" pictures of Sesshoumaru's mother (not!) to mistakes as insignificant as putting a picture of Toukijin when Tenseiga should be there.

So if you have any Inuyasha-related questions, throw em at me, I'll answer em all. I'm especially well versed in Inuyasha's family. In fact, I'm trying to get Japanese but English subtitled Inuyasha movies 3 & 4.

Also, to clear up anything you need to know as far as timing, I live in Florida in the Eastern time zone. Share with me your time zone and I'll try to accomodate my updates. Keyword try.

"Kinirotoko?" Kagome repeated.

"Yes. Kinirotoko was the founder," Rojin said. "He was my father."

Kagome gasped.

"Yes, he was my father. And my mother was killed…by a Were-Dog. That is why we founded the organization. My father did it for all races, to spare them a death of the Were-Dog's fangs. He also wanted to make sure that the Were-Dog race was eradicated.

"At first, I was the only one who joined him. Then, my uncle joined him as well. Soon, we were at a head count of fifty. Fifty Hunters!

"Of course, we Hunters were not unkind. We knew that Were-Dogs were not born, but rather made. No Inu Youkai wanted to be bestowed the fate, and so when a Were-Dog was singled out, they were given the honor of a quick and painless death. That was our job, to rid the world of Were-Dogs. However, my uncle began to wander away. My aunt of course backed his decision…"

"What decision?" Inuyasha asked.

Rojin paused to wrap Sesshoumaru in several warm shawls he had located before placing him close to the hearth. He made sure not to let direct heat hit his cousin, lest the frostbitten parts come off or become gangrenous.

"…The decision to start testing the Were-Dogs. You see, my father never thought it virtuous to subject the Were-Dogs to such experimentation, but my uncle said that to find a cure, it would be necessary."

"Well, technically isn't that right?" queried Kagome.

"Yes, it would be, and Father gave him permission to take the most criminal of the Were-Dogs for this testing, but Uncle didn't experiment on them. He tortured them."

Kagome felt a nagging feeling in her head.

"What kind of torture?" she asked.

"All kinds of torture. Verbal, physical, and yes, even sexual torture was implemented. You see, demons are very easily manipulated in these three ways. Verbally, you can cause a demon to become angered. I say demon, because at the moment, the demon is in touch with themselves. They are not under any other control but their. So anyway, to anger a demon is to cause it to attack, and when it attacks, Uncle can beat it down. Beat it in so many ways it sickens me to my stomach just to imagine."

"But if it's so easy to manipulate them that way, then…" Inuyasha began.

"Demons are resilient to most things. They feel pain much less; that is, they attack even when wounded grievously. However, the weakness of most living things…is sex. Humans lust for other humans, go so far as to rape them for pleasure. For demons, just as the other senses are heightened, their lust is much more than a mere human's."

"I see…" Kagome whispered.

"Demons are essentially spirits of animals, spirits of humans, even, that became corrupt. These demons bred and created offspring that had not the same killer instinct to man. This spawned the 'good' demon. However, the offspring of long ago still retain animal instinct. The greatest instinct of a demon is to create offspring. Combined with human nature…the nature of having intercourse for sport…these demons became lustful on a totally different level. The only thing that stops us from slaking our lust…is the Blood of Ice. All demons have it, low class or high class. Higher classes are much more in control of their actions due to its existence. Something else that demons have is a time of heightened sexuality. This is referred to as a 'demon heat' and all demons go through it at some point. It is like a cycle, but it applies to males as well.

"Well, with this information arming him, my uncle tortures the Were-Dogs. He tortures them until he gets bored and then he'll kill them.

"As you can imagine, this didn't sit too well with my Chichi-ue when he found out. He fought my uncle for power. But my uncle…he cheated…and he won…he was given power."
"So what happened to your father?" Inuyasha asked fearfully.

"He never recovered from the wounds. He bled to death and died of poisoning at the same time. This was before Sesshoumaru even knew what a Were-Dog was. He was only a teenager, just as I was. He never knew who his uncle was…"

"His uncle? Who is it?"

"Our uncle who killed my father…was Zanmaru. His mate was Tima."

"Oh my God…" Kagome gasped. "That can't be…Zanmaru and Tima are his relatives!"

.
"Yes. It is hard to believe, but now the Inu Youkai are a close-knit race, they are very closely interrelated. However, it matters not. His father's brother…that is very bad blood for our family…a disgrace worse than even a hanyou…"

Rojin sighed.

"So what happened to you?" Inuyasha wondered. "Did you serve under him?"
"He killed my father!" Rojin snarled, eyes flashing red. "Why would I ever serve him! I fled from the Were Hunters. I never associated with them again. I chose to become a healer in Sesshoumaru's shiro, and he trusted that to me. Because I was older, he also had me help him learn how to rule. I turned my life around."

"I'm sorry, Rojin. I never knew that…"

"It's all right. You didn't know, so it is no fault of yours…"

A small groan caught the attention of everyone. Sesshoumaru was beginning to come to his senses.

"Ro…jin…" he whispered. "I-I-is...that…t-t-t-true…?"

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama. It is true. It is as true as I am to you."

"Is that…where…you got that…scar…?"

"Yes…Zanmaru gave me this scar across my neck. He bit me and nearly tore my throat out…"

It was then that the shard hunters noticed the ugly scar across Rojin's throat. Inu Youkai did not scar easily.

"Why…did…you…never…tell…me?" he asked, choking the words out. Tears flooded from his amber eyes.

"It was a disgrace…"

"Rojin…"

"Don't talk. I'm going to stitch your skin together with a healing spell. It's going to hurt something awful, but you'll have to endure. Understand, cousin?"

"Yes…"

Rojin pulled the blankets away and exposed Sesshoumaru's chest. His skin was still an awful sort of clammy, but that didn't concern the healer. He had to close the colossal wound in his cousin's abdomen before it became infected. Slowly, he pulled a talisman from his haori sleeve and placed it on Sesshoumaru's gash.

"Prepare yourself."

He began to chant a spell and from his fingers, a power flowed into Sesshoumaru's wound.

Sesshoumaru yelled and tensed and yelled even more.

"Iiiiyeaghhhhh!" he shrieked. "It burns, Rojin, it burns like the fires of hell!"

"Do not yield!" Rojin growled.

"I…I cannot take it!"

"DO NOT YIELD!" Rojin screamed. "IF YOU YIELD, YOU WILL NOT HEAL PROPERLY! THIS IS A PURIFICATION SPELL!"

Sesshoumaru growled through his teeth and held strong. The wound healed and he passed out, totally dizzy and exhausted.

"You did good, Sesshoumaru," Rojin said, running a hand over his cousin's brow. "You're so brave…"

R & R please!