AN: Hello everyone. I am back again, this time with an Inuyasha fic.
I know this is short, but it is just a prologue, and I'm posting this up here early than I planned, because it's meant as a get-well gift for one of my Inuyasha obsessed friends. –glomps Maggie-
Prologue
The forest was unnaturally silent.
On normal days, at least the quiet chirping of crickets, or the rustling of small animals can be heard. Not that day. That day, it was deadly quiet.
I always found it amusing how animals can sense an evil presence nearby… The female youkai thought, leaning slightly back against the gnarled trunk of the tree. So He is coming, eh? She gave a short, bitter, bark of laughter that sliced harshly through the stillness that had settled around her.
After a brief moment, she slid gently off the tree branch and onto the ground, landing lightly on her feet. Perhaps, just this once, I should take the animals' advice… and leave this place. I'm not ready… not yet… to face Him. First, I have to find them. And, after all, I promised.
She glanced back over her shoulder and gave a slight shudder as she, as all the animals had, felt the evil aura approaching her forest. She snarled loudly, baring her fangs in challenge, every instinct in her body blazing to go after the one who dared try to attack her territory. She shook herself and stopped, though every muscle in her body was still tightly taut with tension.
I promised their father that I would watch over them… I swore on my very life that I would protect them… and I intend to keep my promise. I will not be known as one who breaks her promises! And, perhaps, they will help me… The youkai whirled around, pure white hair whipping across her face, and she took off through the forest toward her destination, fear for her home lending speed to her footsteps.
-Kouga-
An eagle soared serenely overhead a small band of wolf youkai that crouched amongst the corpses of a battlefield.
"What the hell happened here?" Kouga asked angrily, glaring around. The field was littered with decaying bodies, most of which were wolf youkai- from his tribe. "How could something kill this many of my people?" Hakkaku slowly straightened up from where he had been intently inspecting a broken body.
"I do not know, my Lord…" The demon said uncertainly, cocking his head to stare again at the body that he had just been examining. He hesitated, and then said, "I believe that this was Michio, Lord Kouga."
"Shit." Kouga muttered darkly under his breath. Michio had been the leader of the group stationed here. He was far older than Kouga himself, and legends already spoke of him- and claimed that nothing could kill him. Obviously not.
"Lord Kouga." A voice spoke from behind them. The wolf prince wheeled sharply around to come face to face with Ginta. Ginta gave a low bow, then continued, "We could find no survivors, my Lord. They're all dead."
"Damn. Damn, damn, damn!" Kouga growled. Some of his best men had been positioned here, near the border of his lands. All of them had been slaughtered. All of them. "Find them." He snarled, "Whoever did this! Find them!" He commanded; his hands curled tightly into fists.
-Inuyasha's Group-
Kagome watched Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye. His whole body was tense, his hands tightly gripped his sword hilt, and his wary eyes kept darting around as if he expected something to leap out of the bushes and attack him.
"Inuyasha… what is it?" She asked him slowly. Inuyasha jerked in surprise and glanced over at her. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I… I'm not sure…" He began. It was not often that Kagome had heard the hanyou so uncertain. "I sense an evil presence nearby…"
"Is it a demon?" She asked curiously. Inuyasha slowly shook his head, his eyes darting around once again.
"I… I don't think so. It doesn't feel like a demon… or a human. I'm not sure what it is… " His voice trailed off.
"Well… with our luck… I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." Kagome said grimly, reaching up to lightly touch her bow and arrows. At that exact moment, there was sharp cry from up ahead, and Inuyasha broke into a run, Kagome trailing close behind.
-Kamlyn-
"They're dead?" He asked calmly, his back to the messenger.
"Y… y… yes, my Lord Kamlyn… your army slaughtered them all… they left no survivors… the… the reports say that Kouga discovered the battlefield this morning…" The servant stuttered nervously, his face pressed firmly against the cool floor.
"Good." There was a pause, and then Kamlyn said coldly, "You may leave."
"Yes, Lord…" The servant murmured, backing out of the room while bowing repeatedly, almost falling over as he attempted the close the door. Kamlyn allowed himself a small, cruel, smile at the servant's blatant terror, then leaned lightly against the windowsill, and stared out the window, contemplating the massacre of Kouga's men. That will give the fool Prince a small taste of what is to come…
He turned sharply around, and strode over to his desk, and began shifting the parchments that were scattered in neat piles across the table. He paused on one, a satisfied expression flashed in his eyes, and he ran one clawed finger down the length of the page. This is only the beginning…
So, how did you like it? I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible! Please review… reviews give me a warm fuzzy feeling… and they make me post faster. –wink-
PS: You'll find that I like the names of my characters to have meanings
'Michio' means 'man with strength of three thousand'. (at least, according to a website I found...)
'Kamlyn' is a form of Kami, which means 'Lord'.
Review!