Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

Chapter 1: The bond of...

Damnit. Glancing around, Inuyasha realized he was lost. It was not his fault! This city was crazy. The entire place reminded him of a maze. There were stairs everywhere, leading to where only the gods knew. All of the building walls were white-washed, but still distinctly different with their vibrant colored roofs and doors.

The people of the town were just as vibrant as their roofs. Races of all kinds were there, dressed in an assortment of clothing. One person walked by dressed in Oriental attire while chatting with someone else in blue jeans and shirt. No one could feel out of place here. The irony was even though it seemed to be worldly; the town was behind the ages. There were no motor vehicles to be seen, only carriages and animals.

Stopping, Inuyasha checked the directions on the paper.

"Did you hear what happened?" a woman to his right said.

Against his will, Inuyasha's right ear swiveled towards the conversation beside him.

"No what?"

"Last night the mansion on the eastern border of the town was attacked!"

"What!" gasped her companion.

"A woman in black attacked the mansion, but get this..."

"What?"

Inuyasha found himself leaning towards the woman, eagerly listening to what had happened.

"None of the guards were killed!"

"None!"

"None. Only the master of the mansion was dead."

"Well, I wonder why?"

The woman lowered her voice "Rumor has it he was in on some evil doings of some sort."

"Really? Who would have thought?"

As the woman went on to different subjects, Inuyasha continued down the street. Turning at the corner, he found the road he was looking for.

"Hey! Hey! Did you hear?"

Once again Inuyasha's ear swiveled, turning towards the men walking behind him.

"What?"

"Last night the mansion on the northern border of town was attacked!"

"Really? What happened?"

"The place was attacked by a woman in white. She killed the master as well as some guards!"

"What! Why!"

The man lowered his voice. "Word is the master was up to no good, so maybe someone was trying to stop him?"

Inuyasha frowned. The stories did not add up. He was so engrossed in the conversation, he did not see the woman until it was too late and he bumped into her. Instantly, he grabbed her arm before she crashed into the trash can behind her.

"Sorry." He stopped as he got a good look at the woman.

She wore dark blue pants and a white t-shirt. Her head was covered in a black veil that revealed only her blue eyes. An odd combination he thought, but then again nothing could be considered odd in this town.

Shaking his head, Inuyasha said "You ok?"

The veiled woman nodded. "Yes, thank you."

Just as she was about to walk away he stopped her. He hated to ask but he needed some help. "Hey! Do you know how to get to this address?" He showed her the paper.

Her brow crinkled. "Why do you want to-"

"Hey you!"

Both heads shot up. Coming towards them were five guards. Inuyasha felt her tense up.

"What's going on?" He wondered.

As the guards circled them, one stepped forward.

"You girl! You seem familiar. Are you from around here?"

When she said nothing, the guard stepped closer.

"Speak when spoken to wench!"

Growling, Inuyasha stepped forward to confront him, when he felt a hand on his arm. Confused, he looked down at the young woman.

When she spoke, her voice was so low, only Inuyasha could have heard her. "Just keep going straight down this street and you will arrive at that address."

With that, she smiled at the guards before jumping onto the trash can and leaping over the guards. Inuyasha watched as she hit the ground, rolled, and then leapt to her feet in a dead run. The guards took after her immediately.

Inuyasha debated as to whether or not he should pursue them, but decided against it. Besides, she seemed to be doing okay and it really was not any of his business. Hefting his bag onto his shoulder, Inuyasha continued down the road.

Finally, just as the sun had started to set, Inuyasha reached his destination. For a few minutes, he stared in awe at the place before him.

Located just a few miles west of the town, it was the biggest house he had ever seen. The grounds were surrounded by a 12-foot-tall gate, with wickedly curved spikes at the top. Past the gate, at least a mile away was the house. It was five stories high and appeared to be made out of dark grey bricks. The grounds around the house were enormous.

Walking up to the gate, he placed his hands on the bars. "How should I go in?" he wondered. Looking up at the top of the gate he shrugged. There was always up.

Backing up, Inuyasha bunched his muscles, ready to jump, when suddenly the gates opened. Inuyasha stared incredulously at the now open path.

"The hell?"

Hesitantly, he started down the path, walking slowly, until he reached the front door. Inuyasha glanced around. Snorting, he knocked on the door.

"Lousy security." He grumbled.

The door slowly opened to reveal a neko-demon dressed in a maid outfit.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

Crinkling his nose in distaste, Inuyasha stepped forward. "I need to see Inutaisho."

The maid raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, he's busy."

Inuyasha threw out his hand as she closed the door. "I think he'll want to talk to me."

"Oh really? And why is that?" she asked haughtily.

Inuyasha smirked. "Just tell him his son is here to see him."

"Well that was easy enough." thought Inuyasha.

Once he had said he was Inutaisho's son, the maid had taken a good look (and sniff) at him, before her eyes widened and she quickly ushered him in. Currently he was following the neko-maid down a large hallway. A deep royal blue rug rand down the center and was lined by several sets of armor of different styles and history.

At the end of the hall, Inuyasha saw two large doors. Two golden beasts, rising back on their hind legs, graced the doors on a deep red background. All around them gold was woven about in graceful lines.

"Finally"

As the maid opened the twin doors, Inuyasha glanced around the large room. It was square, with windows lining the wall sporadically. It was one of the largest rooms he had ever seen. A straw-like carpet covered the floor; odd signs colored red littered the carpet.

"Maybe it's a training room."

His assumptions were confirmed when down at the end he saw a girl dressed in dark pants and a white shirt, carefully aiming an arrow at a target at the other end of the room. As she loosed the arrow, Inuyasha watched in amazement as the arrow glowed before it made contact with the target. Bull's eye.

Standing next to her was a man with long silver hair and golden eyes dressed in a simple dark blue kimono. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. No doubt about it that was Inutaisho.

As he watched, Inuyasha could feel the anger start to flow in his veins. Starting forward, Inuyasha made his way to his father.

"All this time, he's been here. After everything, he's here, in this house."

The anger bloomed into rage, causing his eyes to briefly flash red. He was still several feet away when Inutaisho suddenly whirled around to face him, his eyes widening in surprise.

The youkai lord opened his mouth to say something, but before the words could even form, Inuyasha's fist connected with his right jaw. Inuyasha watched in grim satisfaction as Inutaisho's head snapped to the right from the force of the blow.

"Stand aside!"

Inuyasha turned to his left and came face-to-face with the sharp edge of an arrow. Cursing himself for forgetting the girl, Inuyasha turned to look at her. He was surprised at the beauty that stood before him. Her long black hair was pulled back from her face even as a few strands slipped out of the tie. Her eyes were a dark blue that held an icy look as they stared at him.

"Put your bow down Kikyo."

Inuyasha turned towards his father. He was not surprised to see that his punch did not affect him much. Hell, Inuyasha was surprised his father had allowed him to hit him. He was a full youkai after all, unlike his hanyou son.

"Well Inuyasha, it's good to see you again."

A low growl formed in Inuyasha's throat. "Yeah, it's only been a few years, right?"

Inutaisho raised an eyebrow at the tone in his son's voice. "You know I why I could not visit as often as I wished."

Inuyasha's growl grew louder. "Yeah and while you were up here having your little 'war' mom was dying! It's your fault she died!"

Inutaisho let out a sigh. Where once he looked young, a transformation seemed to take place causing him to look old and haggard.

"Yes, I realize that."

"Like hell you do!" yelled Inuyasha. "If you knew then why didn't you come back and help her?"

"I couldn't. It would have put you both in danger. If he ever found out about my family he would have killed you and everyone in your village."

Inuyasha started to retort, when suddenly the doors to the room were flown wide, banging hard against the wall.

"KIKYO!"

Inuyasha watched in amazement as the girl he met earlier in town stormed into the room snatching off her veil to reveal pitch black hair. Turning he watched as she marched up to the girl with the bow and arrow.

That one raised a brow as he glanced toward the young woman. "Kagome, you seem flustered. Did you run into trouble while in town?"

Jabbing a finger into Kikyo's face, Kagome glared at her. "Why did you kill those guards?"

Kikyo's eyes narrowed. "They got in my way and they worked for Naraku."

Kagome's eye blazed with anger. "They didn't know anything!"

"You don't know that." stated Kikyo.

"And you don't know if they didn't. For all we know they could have families at home!"

"They worked for Naraku and so a threat to us."

"That's not fair!"

Kikyo stared at Kagome before saying. "Tell me Kagome. Did you have trouble in town today?"

Kagome folded her arms across her chest. "A little."

Kikyo smirked. "Another reason. If not for the fact that they work for Naraku, then our own livelihood. If any of us were to be followed here or recognized it could mean the death of any innocent person here."

Kagome turned with a huff. "I still don't think its right."

Kikyo's eyes narrowed. "You are a very naïve girl Kagome."

With that Kikyo left.