Author's Note: A chapter to fill in plot holes and bridge continuity between my other stories and this one. It was also a chance to show off Senshomi and Inutaisho and how much they have riding on this. In character goodness for Sesshoumaru to appear in the next chapter. Please review.

Chapter Six: A Parent's Hope

The arrow screamed as it flew through the air before impaling itself firmly in the soldier attacking the Dog General. Inutaisho jumped up, swinging up the sword he had stolen from a fallen Scorpion, finishing his assailant in one fell swoop. He turned just as another arrow whizzed pass him, deeper into the heart of the battle. There was a streak of auburn bursting from the canopy and landing firmly beside Inutaisho.

He smiled easily at the Dog General. "That is twice you owe me your life, Dog Lord."

"Don't worry, I remember my debts, Prince of the Wild Packs."

"Tajomaru." The demon corrected him sharply. "I am Tajomaru."

"Then call me Inutaisho and be done with those foolish titles you hand out."

Tajomaru began to laugh, and then, just as quickly stopped, pulling another arrow, setting it and taking aim right behind Inutaisho. Inutaisho jumped around, throwing his sword up again in defense, readying himself.

"Put down your weapons!" Screamed the voice. "I am defenseless! Someone help me!"

The voice belonged to a thin old man who tumbled from the forest like a rabbit. Tajomaru's arrows found their marks in the Scorpions who had been chasing him. The Wild Pack demon narrowed his eyes in disdain at the old man. His hand went to his quiver again but the Inutaisho blocked his hand. Tajomaru met his eyes. "We don't have time to play rescuer, General. I thought we were looking Usagi."

"We are." Inutaisho interjected before helping the old man to his feet again. "That doesn't mean we attack civilians." He nodded slightly at the man, trying his best to keep his features calm and soothing despite himself.

The man smelled of days old sweat, old food and other things Inutaisho didn't care to identify. He was a demon, but not powerful persay, although Inutaisho figured he had assumed a more human form then others to fool other Youkai into thinking him weak. He gave off the appearance of an old human man, dressed in rags and with the last of his white hair topped in a tail on top his head.

"Why were you being chased?" Inutaisho asked, ignoring Tajomaru's snorts and impatience. "What is your name?"

"Totosai."

Tajomaru's smile finally faded, displaced by a stern disbelieving stare at the creature. Inutaisho would have laughed had he not been also surprised and yes, slightly dismayed. Inutaisho lifted his chin in an attempt to appear majestic and therefore, not to be lied. "You" He drawled with a skill that paled in comparison to his son but got the job done. "are Totosai, the great Sword master?

"I doubt I stumbled over my own name, you fool." Totosai hissed, forgetting for a moment that they had just saved his life. "I am Totosai. Who are you?"

"Tajomaru, of the Wild Packs." Tajomaru said carefully before rearing up. "And this is the Inutaisho."

"So," Totosai began deliberately, eyes settling on Inutaisho. "You're the one who has brought this misery to Lady Senshomi's Lands?

Now, the Inutaisho did laugh. "You swear fealty to Senshomi, but not me?"

Totosai waved his hand at him angrily. "Why would I care about some lose tart who uses sex as diplomacy while being good at neither. I am only interested in…"

Whatever words Totosai was to speak died as he stared intently at So'unga. The Swordsmith kneeled thoughtfully before Inutaisho, running his hands across the blade's sheath and starting backwards as the blade hissed and rattled.

Totosai's voice darkened in fear and awe when he spoke. "Yes." He murmured. "The Hell Blade. No one outside of the Celestial-kissed family had ever been able to wield the blade without being consumed," His eyes glanced up for a second, meeting the Inutaisho's firmly. "before you. Why?"

He blinked. "What are you asking?"

"You're just a dog Youkai." Totosai hissed, standing. "A powerful demon, yes but how could you possibly be strong enough to withstand So'unga's evil for so long."

"Because I have too." Inutaisho said shortly before stepping away. "Come on, Tajomaru." He ordered. "We have to find Usagi."

"Wait…what?" Totosai exclaimed angrily. "You can't leave me here."

"Why not?" Tajomaru asked, as he turned away to reclaim his arrows from the dead bodies around them. "You can handle these two can't you?"

"But the others!" Totosai hissed. "The Scorpions are running rapid over the Lands. I'm not safe! They will come for me and my swords!"

"Then it is unfortunate to be called Totosai, isn't it?" Tajomaru sneered.

Inutaisho shook his head. "Leave him be, Tajomaru. He has his wits to protect him." The Dog General studied Totosai with the same disdain the Swordsmith had given him. "Let us hope it is enough."

"Wait! You can't leave me here!"
"Why not?"

"…because I will forge a sword worthy of you, Inutaisho." Totosai suddenly chirped. Tajomaru arched a brow and turned. The Dog General, too, seemed interested. Totosai seemed to regret those words as soon as they had been uttered but the alternative: the Scorpions in the forests, was the greater of these evils. Totosai grunted and forced a bow. "So'unga is a fine weapon but I see even though you control it, you pause to unleash such destructive power. Protect me, and I will give you a sword worthy of you, free from such misgivings."

Tajomaru glanced back to the Swordsmith and then Inutaisho. "We do not have time to hesitate much longer, General." He flinched from the sound of a nearby explosion. "I'd hate to remind you but we are losing this fight, we have to find Usagi if we hope to gather the troops for a final battle."

Inutaisho ignored him, and reached over, grabbing Totosai. Without so much as stumbling, the Dog General tossed the smithy onto his back and turned. "His fate will be ours, now come on."

Tajomaru stopped himself from cursing. He gave Totosai a dark look. "This is not a good idea." He hissed before bounding upwards to the treetops to follow them.

The Magnolia tree he had leap into moaned and shook itself. Inutaisho stifled a smile at the old demon. "Please," The Dog General murmured. "Give us a wise word, old Bokuseno."

"You bring war into my domain then ask for my guidance, Dog General?"

Inutaisho shifted Totosai on his back and bowed despite the added weight. Totosai watched as the Dog Lord of the Western Lands humbled himself in the presence of a weaker but older demon. "Forgive a boy his foolishness, wise Bokuseno." Inutaisho mumbled. "And find favor in your servant."

Totosai scoffed a little. "You would have had Tajomaru silence my tongue for speaking to you so, yet you allow the old one speak to you like a slave."

"What Tajomaru would have done would have been on his own wish." Inutaisho countered. "And set against Bokuseno, we all are children."

"Totosai knows better to question me." The old tree laughed, "It is not me he questions, but you. He knows you to be a kind Lord, Inutaisho, now he just tests you to find you worthy of wielding his weapons."

"Not all swords are weapons." Inutaisho whispered softly.

Bokuseno's darkened face brightened as he laughed again. "Aha, see Totosai, I told you. A wise leader to be sure, and a better swordsman." His eyes settled again. "And now I give you my word, Inutaisho. The Fox Usagi is dead."

Tajomaru's head jerked from scanning the surrounding area to stare at the demon. His lips parted lightly, searching the tree's face for some sign of lies or misdirection. The Dog General looked pained, but he never gave hint of his displeasure. He was quiet for a time, blocking out the noise around them and the weight of the man on his back. When he spoke, the voice was quiet, uncertain and devoid of hate.

"How do you know this?"

"His blood calls to me from the ground. And take care, Inu no Taisho, lest you lose another thing dear to your heart."

"Do not speak to me in riddles, wise Bokuseno. I haven't the mind for them."

"Your son stumbles through this battlefield tonight, searching for you."

"Sesshoumaru?" Inutaisho stumbled then; he looked down and swallowed. "Tajomaru! Go ahead and find Sesshoumaru! Guard him till I find you both."

"Usagi spoke of a spy, Inutaisho…" Tajomaru mumbled. "If Sesshoumaru fights with the Scorpions…" He left the rest unsaid.

"Keep your poison to yourself, Tajomaru and do as I say!" Inutaisho hissed, he waited till Tajomaru had bounded away. He felt Totosai shift on his back but he said nothing else to that account. He thanked Bokuseno and transformed as he turned to follow Tajomaru.

In his true form, at least, Inutaisho's heart could keep from breaking a moment longer. He could have his peace a moment longer.

O-Takeko sat in her room staring out into the distant and the small orbs of light and flickered around the night like fireflies. Her human guise favored the Inutaisho's by her choice, in some thinly disguised attempt to maybe find favor in his eyes despite it all. She was as lovely as Masami, Senshomi or any other of her family. Her eyes were the color and consistency of molten gold, burning like a sun. On her crown was a small amethyst crescent moon that peered from between her bangs. She wore a simple pink robe, though it looked awkward on her body: muscled, tanned and toned favored a man's more, and would have adorned armor better.

She was idly moving an ivory comb through her hair as she sat. Too engrossed in her thoughts to pay much attention to it, or to her brother Nori on her bed, watching her watch the battle. Nori inclined his head, dark eyes staring at her sadly. He was younger then O-Takeko, and weaker then both of his sisters though his mind, under Inutaisho's careful and continuously leadership had begun to understand all the intricities of battle and warfare.

It still did not, however, understand O-Takeko's sadness.

"The Inutaisho is strong, sister." He began softly. "He will return to us."

"Yes." O-Takeko mumbled, mainly to herself. "I do not doubt this."

"Then why do you mourn so? What do you fear?"

"Me." Senshomi-Gozen announced as she appeared in the doorway. Nori smiled at her oldest sister thinly. He feared her as all feared her. He shivered as Senshomi touched his shoulder as she passed. Senshomi squatted beside O-Takeko's seat, taking the comb from her hands. "Isn't that right?"

"I fear what you have done, yes." O-Takeko whispered bitterly.

Senshomi laughed a little as she rose. She stood behind her, and began to comb O-Takeko's hair smoothly. She had never been so cordial to them before, it made Nori's stomach a little more. "What have you done, sister?"

"Avenged us." Senshomi told him. "Inutaisho took my sword and my Kingdom from us. Now, the Scorpions will do the same."

"I wonder if you do this for us, or your pride." O-Takeko said slowly.

Senshomi stopped combing and tilted her head. "I have shared my bed with the man who murdered our mother, and took what belonged to me away. He has sired me a…half-blood whelp he dare expects me to call son, and heir." She put the comb down, hissing. "You would willingly be Inutaisho's whore, but not I, sister. I have my pride."

"And even that you have lost." O-Takeko said sharply, standing. "You still don't understand do you, Senshomi? You've lost!" She turned and stared out towards the fires in the distant and shuttered again. "This does not matter. Inutaisho will return victorious. He will come back to me, and to the rest of his Kingdom. And this time he will have earned it. And we his Kingdom, all of us, will welcome him with open arms."

"You fool." Senshomi cursed. "You sick, blind fool. You have surrendered everything you are for your love for that…servant! That slave that was nothing until we made him a General! Have you forgotten what he was when Joruri lived."

"No." O-Takeko laughed, shaking head. "No, and thank the powers that I haven't. Our cruelty, yours, Joruri, and yes, mine too, made him a King. We took a slave and made him a leader. That's something you don't understand, that's something you can't take from him- even though he took from you." She tilted her head, reaching over and brushing Senshomi's cheek. "You are Queen only because of the fear you can instill in others. He is King because he can be nothing else. It is what he is. That's why you have lost."

Senshomi jerked away as if she had been struck. Her eyes were watering as she searched the ground for something to aid her. "You know nothing." She hissed shrilly, mostly to herself. "I have won this. I have. I will have my revenge…just wait. I will have it."

O-Takeko shook her head and brushed passed her. She didn't care to watch as her sister continued to fool herself. O-Takeko would go, and wait at the gates for the Inutaisho to return to her.

Senshomi let her pass as she continued to mutter fiercely to herself. "I will have what he has taken from me back. I will get my revenge. My Hunger will have it if nothing else. I am not alone…I am…"

Nori rose from the bed and walked slowly to his sister. Slowly, so not to jar her or startle her, Nori wrapped his arms around Senshomi, wincing at the icy touch that greeted him. He bit back his fear as he pulled her closer, stroking back the strands of sweat-soaked hair from her face.

"Peace, peace." He cooed into her ear. "Peace, my Queen, can you find no peace?"