Author's Note: Small, but meaningful and climatic. I am rather proud of this chapter and hope you like it. I also hope you guys catch the little devil's deal Sesshoumaru makes and by doing so, the plot of a future Inuyasha story…maybe. Depends on if you like this one.

Chapter Seven: A Hunger's Promise

There had been many times Masami had stared at Sesshoumaru throughout his life, longing to reach out and touch the boy of his vision, the child that should have been his son, and Lord. There had been many times he had wanted to take Sesshoumaru into his arms as infant, and caress his brow and feel those small fingers intertwine around his own and be utterly awed by how beautiful Sesshoumaru was, and how much he loved him. There had been much Masami had wanted to say, to share with him as a father shared with his son. But because he was Masami, and not Inutaisho, he did none of this. Because he was Masami, a member of the Celestial-kissed family, and keeper of the Western Lands, he had learned to accept his role in life and his place in the shadow.

But now, staring at Sesshoumaru as the truth tore apart the boy, Masami wished that he was someone else, someone stronger then he was. Someone who could have taken this terrible burden from Sesshoumaru and wish it away. He wished, desperately, that he could leave Sesshoumaru to his birds and his loftiness and his quietness. He wished that somehow he could end this all.

But he couldn't because he was Masami.

And Sesshoumaru was the prince of the Western Lands.

Tama and Ryuhoji had appeared, bursting through the forest, weapons raised and eyes blazing. Tama stumbled when he saw his father's prone figure on the ground. He crept closer to his father's head, and was quiet as he searched the deaden eyes for a long time before rising again. He looked up, catching Goromaru's eye and Masami's before turning back to Sesshoumaru. Ryuhoji's sword was raised and ready, as he stepped forward, nervously calling out to Sesshoumaru.

"We stand beside you, Sesshoumaru Prince." Ryuhoji hissed. "We are here."

Sesshoumaru looked at him. He seemed to stare pass Ryuhoji. He turned back at Goromaru, searching for something that his quiet, hungry eyes could not capture. He swallowed deeply, and turned.

Then his gaze found Masami.

When he spoke, it was simple and one word. "Why?"

Masami looked up, recoiling. "What do you ask me, Sesshoumaru?"

"Why is the Dog General my father?" He demanded. "What did he seek? My mother or her lands?"

"Your grandmother wielded the sword, So'unga. Inutaisho was her general. Usagi, her assassin."

Sesshoumaru sneered. "A slave." He hissed. "My father? A slave…"

"The Dog General lusted after Senshomi. But it was So'unga that turned his deeds to murder. He and Usagi conspired against us…"

"My grandmother."

Tama's voice broke through the darkness. "Silence. Senshomi didn't want…"

Sesshoumaru looked at the Fox. "You knew?"

"Yes, my Lord, I knew." Tama returned, walking forward.

"About all this?" Sesshoumaru made a sweeping movement, encompassing Goromaru and Ryuhoji in his wake. "Betrayal against your Lord, and the Western Lands?"

"Yes, I knew." Tama muttered fiercely, as he crossed the distant between Sesshoumaru and him. He stepped over his father's body as if were nothing at all. "I also knew that you have Senshomi's blood in your veins. I knew then, as now, that these are your Lands; So'unga, your blade, regardless of the history. You are Senshomi's revenge."

"No." Masami almost shouted, shaking his head. "Sesshoumaru, you don't owe her anything."

"She is your Queen," Tama countered, "Your mother! She gave you life, Sesshoumaru. She gave you power and privilege. The Dog General has given you nothing but mixed, impure blood."

"He has given you peace." Masami whispered. "Senshomi would have given you war."

"Enough!" Sesshoumaru shouted suddenly, jerking away from them both. His body shook for a moment, as he struggled to control the passion that was fast overtaking him. He jerked his head around, letting his long curtain of hair push away from his face. He rested a hand over the sword at his side. He turned, and met Ryuhoji's gaze for a long time, pleading with his comrade for something. Ryuhoji looked away at the end. Something else passed over Sesshoumaru's continence then: an intense sorrow that was gone by the time Sesshoumaru had turned to Goromaru.

"What do you seek?" He asked the Scorpion.

Goromaru inclined his head. "The Western Lands."

"You shall have them."

Masami looked like he had been punched. "Sesshoumaru, wha…"

Sesshoumaru brushed him off carelessly, keeping the Scorpion in his sights. "But not in my time."

Goromaru arched a brow. "I do not understand."

"My father wanted the Lands to be protected, preserved." Sesshoumaru inclined his head. "So be it. As long as he rules, you cannot have them. When I rule, I shall expands my domain, and prepare them for you." He paused. "As a dowry."

The Scorpion's frown deepened. "Dowry?"

"You shall have my lands and my child." Sesshoumaru said quietly. "My mother sought to keep her blood pure, my father to keep the lands safe…so be it. Let them have what they want for now, but when I am Lord, it ends. Take my blood and my kingdom to do with as you wish, Scorpion, but not a moment before."

"And what do you get from this, Sesshoumaru Lord?"

Sesshoumaru was quiet for a time. "Revenge. I will be no one's pawn, however justified the intention. I am Sesshoumaru." There was another pause, and an arched brow. The hunger began to whisper again in his ear. "What I gain, I will earn, and to do this, I require So'unga. The sword. It is the sword I seek."

Goromaru seemed to consider this bargain. "How do I know you will keep your word?"

"Because I said I would."

"For revenge, you would surrender your sovereignty and your first child? Why?"

"To earn what I have." Sesshoumaru answered after a time. "I have power that is not my own. I must earn it. I must travel a path of conquest, power is necessary in order to walk that path."

Goromaru laughed then, not coarsely or with ill intentions but as one who understood and perhaps saw himself in his foil. "And I am to take only a promise?"

"It's all that I have." Sesshoumaru offered simply.

Goromaru nodded then. "It is more then you think." He was quiet for a time as he studied the child prince before bowing. "So be it. I think you will be great, as your parents feared. And I would like to see that as an ally rather then enemy."

Sesshoumaru bowed lightly; he seemed to smile.

"So much in fact," Goromaru continued as he crossed to Sesshoumaru. "I would like to give you a gift."

Sesshoumaru put his arm out to push Tama and Masami away, till he and Goromaru stood alone. Ryuhoji had folded his arms around himself, watching sadly and fearfully as it played out before. He, above them all, seemed to realize what had been birthed here, and what had died. Masami looked sick. Tama was watching greedily as Sesshoumaru made his deal. He heard only of revenge and conquest and was hungry to join in this fray.

Sesshoumaru seemed only to understand his own betrayal and need for vengeance. He was thinking as a child thought, seeking the quick fix, the understanding of a world he no longer knew or belonged to. Since he could not trust what he had been given, Sesshoumaru would now take what he could.

Goromaru smiled, and reached his oily claw out to take Sesshoumaru's cheek into his hand. The Scorpion was laughing as he stroked Sesshoumaru, marveling at the beauty before him: no doubt thinking of the beautiful heir that would one day belong to him. He drew his fingers over Sesshoumaru's lips, down his neck and across Sesshoumaru's chest before twisting his hand and pushing his palm against the chest.

Then, with the quickness of an attack and just as brutal, Goromaru struck out his claws, poison bleeding from the nails and impaled Sesshoumaru cleanly.

Sesshoumaru howled in pain, beginning to revert to his Youkai form as he screamed. Sesshoumaru's eyes turned red, and the strips across his cheeks spread and elongated but Goromaru's poison was already acting, seeping through his blood and merging the Scorpion's power with Sesshoumaru's own.

When Goromaru finally withdrew his claws, Sesshoumaru was on his knees, panting hungrily. He looked up, startled, but unmoved at the Scorpion. Sesshoumaru's ivory skin was flushed now, his eyes wild. Goromaru smiled, fatherly as he did so, before patting the younger man's smooth shoulder.

Sesshoumaru lifted his hand and studied the claws, flexing the fingers and popping the knuckles idly. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, and waited. Soon, the edges of his fingertips began to glow emerald green. He smiled when the poison hissed on contact with the air. "Your poison." Sesshoumaru told him. "You've given me your poison."

"Gendo and Senshomi's lives belong to you." Goromaru countered him, as easily as if he had given Sesshoumaru some trinket. "There, see, I have given you the first of your own powers…and your first victims. Do not hesitate now, when it matters most."