An Undefined Soul

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 3

The servants put on the head accessory and secured it to their mistress's hair. Princess Izayoi stared at her golden reflection in the round mirror on her dresser and suppressed a sigh. She watched with indifference as her servants worked like bees around her. Always fussing on one detail or another.

Izayoi suppressed another sigh as one of her maids tugged painfully at her hair. It was the same routine every morning, except that today was different. Well, they still pulled her hair and jabbed her scalp –none too gently- but today was a special day. Firstly, her hair was more elaborately done. Secondly, the colourful silk kimono she donned today was of the finest grade. And thirdly, she actually had imperial guards standing not too far away from her, their piercing gazes not leaving the princess even for a moment.

All because Princess Izayoi of the Western Province was getting betrothed to a famous General of the Imperial Army, Setsuna no Takemaru.

Izayoi shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she stole a glance at her stoic guards. Well, she could pretend that the guards behind her were here to protect her, and not especially handpicked by her husband-to-be to keep an eye on her so that she couldn't escape.

The black haired beauty could not suppress her urge any longer and finally allowed a small delicate sigh to escape her painted lips. The beige clad servant doing her hair froze for a moment before hastily clipping up the remaining of her black hair.

"We're done, your highness." A maid behind her announced.

Princess Izayoi took in her reflection in the bronze mirror again. Everything she saw was perfect. Perfect for a general's wife. Perfect for her country. And perfect for everyone that believed the medium who said she was destined to marry a great general, so that their country could avoid a great calamity.

The exotic beauty stood from her chair and was led away by her servants to the waiting entourage for her at the palace gates. Everyone, saved for her father and brothers, bowed when she approached her awaiting entourage. Princess Izayoi flourished a formal bow to her family.

"Izayoi," her father spoke up, and placed a hand on her shoulder, "may the blessings of our country be with you."

And that was that.

Immediately after the small exchange, the princess of the western province took her seat on the sedan and set off with her entourage to meet her future husband at his palace.

The journey was not as smooth sailing as they would have expected. Since they left the palace, one of the servants carrying the princess tripped twice, risking the passenger's safety. Then, the bamboo poles acting as main support to the sedan snapped and Princess Izayoi was thrown off her luxury. It took the servants almost the whole day to fix the thing and to calm the distressed princess down. By then, night had already fallen and they were forced to abandon their travelling plans till dawn.

Princess Izayoi lay in her makeshift bed some distance away from the rest of her travelling companions. Her personal maids had long undid her hair –grudgingly- and left for their own quarters. And since they had been expecting to reach her future husband's palace within a day, there had been a lack of rations to go around. Izayoi had received the largest portion.

Princess Izayoi pulled her blanket closer to herself and tried to fall asleep. But the incessant whispering of her company kept her awake. She picked up the words "bad omen", "her highness", "God", "incur his wrath" and realised what they had been so eagerly talking about. They thought she was a jinx. Grasping her blanket closer, the tormented royalty chewed anxiously at her lower lip. What if word travelled to the ears of Takemaru? What if he believed the gossips? What if her father found out? Would they banish her? Would they punish her? Or would they still believe the tales the medium told.

Opening her eyes, Princess Izayoi looked at the stars that were splattered across the vast midnight sky and the lustre moon in the middle that fought darkness back into its abyss. The tall trees surrounding her were like intimidating shadows framing her view of the carefree haven, moving in slyly with every chance it could take whenever wind came.

A golden figure shot across the sky before disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. It was followed by a speeding white figure. They moved so fast that they hardly cast any shadow upon the resting humans. Princess Izayoi shot up from her bed, casting her blanket on the ground.

She blinked and rubbed her eyes. The moon and its heavenly companions peered back at her as serenely as before they were interrupted. Princess Izayoi frowned to herself and muttered something incoherently.

The few who were awake glanced at their mistress's way and found her standing and admiring the sky in an eerie manner. Her guards glanced at each other before one of them approached the princess warily.

"Your highness?" he called out softly, his hand reaching out to her.

When the dazed princess didn't respond, the other guard tried his luck.

"Izayoi-sama?" he whispered and took a few steps closer, "Izayoi-sama, are you feeling alright?"

Princess Izayoi inhaled deeply and staggered backwards, and turned her paled face to her guards. Her dilated eyes bore into her guard's as she asked, "Did you see that?"

The guard exchanged glanced briefly at the midnight sky and inquired, "See what, your highness?"

Princess Izayoi lifted a hand and pointed vaguely at the sky and repeated her question. The two imperial guards shared a bewildered look and shook their heads. What does her highness want them to see? All they saw were the moon and stars.

By now everyone was awake and muttering inconspicuously to one another. Had the princess become delirious from the shock earlier in the day? This was certainly bad omen! This marriage was cursed! The princess was cursed!

The mutterings within the crowd grew louder and louder as each rumour grew more and more absurd.

"Her highness must be possessed! Look at how she's staring at the moon!" one voice exclaimed with terror.

Princess Izayoi was drawn back to reality at the mention of her title. She stifled a gasp as she realised her entire entourage was shooting suspicious glances at her. Even her guards were at least five feet away from her.

The puzzled lady brought a hand her lips and demanded, "What is going on?"

The crowd gasped and hissed as their mistress's voice was heard. Her guards recovered quickly and shooed the servants back to bed. After they made sure every gossipy servant was in bed, they turned to the princess, cautiously.

"Izayoi-sama, you'd better get some rest. It is late in the night." One of them spoke up.

Princess Izayoi ignored the suggestion and demanded in a harsher tone, "What was the commotion about?"

Both soldiers jumped at her attitude and shared a knowing glance before they turned to Princess Izayoi with their faces kept straight. And they told the princess what they saw in hushed tones.

Princess Izayoi could only stared in dread as she listened on.

aa

Izayoi had never felt such a stirring feeling before in her entire life. She felt drawn towards that strange phenomenon, after she saw the two speeding figures flying across the sky. That couldn't have been mortal. No, no human can fly. Thoughts churned in her mind and it presented the only logical answer to her. Izayoi paled at this. It couldn't be…can it? She noted their exact location and blood flowed from her frozen features. If she wasn't wrong, they should be somewhere near the border of the western land where a certain dog demon ruled.

Izayoi stirred at the mention of her name, and found to her discomfort, that everyone was staring at her suspiciously. Puzzled, she asked them what was going on and the response she received was highly disturbing. They seemed afraid of her.

Izayoi inhaled deeply and staggered backwards, and turned her paled face to her guards. Her dilated eyes bore into her guard's as she asked, "Did you see that?"

The guard exchanged glanced briefly at the midnight sky and inquired, "See what, your highness?"

Izayoi went back to admiring the captivating view nature granted them, and failed to take notice of her suspicious entourage. But once again, the mention of her name brought her back, and this time she inquired none too gently.

"What is going on?"

The royalty watched as her personal guards ushered everyone else to bed, before turning to her, caution apparent in their eyes.

"Izayoi-sama, you'd better get some rest. It is late in the night." One of them spoke up.

Izayoi pretended she didn't hear him and asked in a severe tone; she had to know why everyone was watching her like that. The thought of people thinking she was bad luck did little to calm her erratic nerves.

"What was the commotion about?"

Izayoi watched the interaction between her guards and the hair on the back of her neck stood up. And the feeling of uneasiness grew in her stomach as she listened to their story.

aaa

Sesshoumaru was not pleased. The beast he was currently trying to claim proved to be a difficult feat. Something which he does not often admit. Not even to himself.

The silver haired demon leaped backwards and landed gracefully on his feet. He fought to keep his erratic breathing out of sight as not to humiliate himself even further. What would his father say if he saw his son in such a state, over a mediocre two-headed demon nonetheless? At the thought of the Lord of the Western lands, rage bubbled within the proud demon's chest. He refused to be ridiculed! Such embarrassment shall not be tolerated!

Fuelled by his rage and dignity, the proud young demon charged at the golden scaled demon again.

To his surprise, the scaly demon took flight and fled the battlefield. Sesshoumaru wasted no time and gave chase. The golden demon saw their pursuer and increased its speed. Sesshoumaru smirked, which was not a good thing by any standard. This Sesshoumaru, accepts your challenge.

Cool wind whipped his face as he cut through the air at a remarkable speed. Sesshoumaru kept his eyes on his target and pushed himself to go faster. A gust of wind blew in his direction and his sensitive nose picked up a foreign scent. Humans.

There was a clearing within the forest beneath them, and Sesshoumaru smelled the scent getting stronger as he approached. The two-headed demon sped past the humans and dived into the forest a good distance away from the mortals. Not liking to be outdone by anyone, the proud lord increased his speed.

He glanced briefly at the camp below him as he sped by, acutely aware that he had left a stunned maiden in his wake. He would have to investigate the humans' intention for trespassing his father's land. No human walks on marked territory without permission. But first, he would have to take care of that two-headed demon.

Sesshoumaru dived into the forest below and followed the demon by the scent it left.

aaa

The day started as normally as it could be. Normal for her servants and guards, but not for her. Princess Izayoi did not feel normal right at the moment. After what she saw and heard last night, normalcy was the last thing on her mind.

As soon as she was up and about, her servants started to have heated conversations within themselves. This was fine with Izayoi; she didn't think she could take any more of…whatever this was. Fate? Destiny? Perhaps. Her duty was to marry a general and bring prosperity to her country. Simple as that. The royal family would be pleased. Her people would love her. And she would lead her life as a dutiful wife. This wasn't supposed to happen to her. She was a princess of the royal family. Her life should be luxurious and uneventful, not sighting two demons in one night and have her servants dubbed her as a 'curse'. Was she going to earn herself a bad reputation even before she married her future prospect? Was she really going to incur heaven's wrath by sighting demons on supposed wedding day? And what was with the tripping and breaking of her transport? Did heaven knew she was going to bring ill fortune to her country and so he'd have her see demons to serve as a warning? Was she to marry a general at all? Was the holy medium, as everyone named him, to be trusted?

Princess Izayoi suddenly felt light-headed at all the questions and possibilities that surfaced to her mind. She clutched her cushioned armrest with one hand and massaged her temple with another.

The guard on the either of the sedan looked at her with mild concern, but said nothing. They travelled in the forest for some distance before they finally broke out of the foliage. Everybody stopped in his/her track. Something was in their path.

A split second later, all the servants shrieked and dropped whatever they were carrying and retreated fearfully.

A scream tore through the air as Princess Izayoi was dropped to the ground, crushing the bamboo sedan under her. She bit back another cry as some of the splinters cut through her thick fabric and pierced her flesh.

The two imperial guards were brave enough and went forward to remove their mistress from the mess and carried her over to where the rest of them were. Several of the servants immediately started to tend Izayoi's wounds.

Both soldiers positioned themselves in front of Princess Izayoi and drew their weapons. The demon tilted its head and nudged its twin, licking its scaly skin with its lizard like tongue. Their polished golden scales appeared shiny under the sun and their impressive size cast a shadow upon their targets as the scaly paws approached the humans.

Princess Izayoi watched with indescribable terror as her men fought with the two-headed demon with no avail. Her servants around her shrilled with intense horror as blood spilled ungraciously onto their garments while Izayoi just sat there with blood on her face and kimono.

The demon stared at the humans with lust in their eyes. It was about to pounce when its master stopped it. A neon green rope slapped the two-headed demon and tightened around their necks.

He flicked his nimble fingers and it fell on their back. The captured demon struggled against Sesshoumaru's hold but the green leash only tightened in response to their resistance. The inuyoukai retracted his leash and the golden demon groaned as it was being dragged backwards.

The frightened mortals clung onto one another for their dear lives as they witnessed the imperious looking demon took care of the lesser one.

Princess Izayoi noted the difference between the two demons. One was bright gold and the other was gleaming silver. Very much like the shooting objects she saw last night. The royalty covered her mouth with her hand to conceal her shock.

Once the two-headed demon was taken cared of, Sesshoumaru turned his attention to the cowering humans across him. He surveyed them with dispassion and briefly gave their garments a once over. Judging from the clothes they were wearing, the one in the middle appeared to be the lady amongst them. His eyes shifted to the broken sedan and saw the crumpled flag. Realisation dawned in his cold orbs. These humans were from the ruling family of the Western province. He looked at the shaking humans once again and felt insulted. Did they think they could just trespass into his father's territory just because both leaders had an alliance?

"Explain yourselves, humans. What reason do you have for trudging into the Western Lands without permission?" Sesshoumaru demanded in his baritone voice.

A few whimpers emerged from the terrified group but one eventually spoke up.

"Pardon us for our intrusion, Sesshoumaru-sama." The princess said, taking one step forward, "we were just on our way to General Takemaru's castle…" Izayoi looked at her feet and mumbled the last few words. "for a wedding ceremony."

Izayoi continued to stare at the dirt as if it was something interesting. She dared not look for up fear of meeting the pair of fierce looking eyes boring through her head. She knew he was staring at her. And she knew all her servants were staring at her as if she had lost her mind. Izayoi felt her insides turned queasy and her breakfast seemed to have travelled up to the back of her throat. She felt light-headed all of the sudden. What was she doing? Izayoi thought her life was through when a commanding voice broke through her reverie.

"Be grateful this Sesshoumaru is in a merciful mood today. Leave this place at once or suffer the consequences, humans." Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes as he scrutinised the frail human who actually had the courage to speak to him. She was pleasant looking for a human…

The dog demon watched her took a sharp intake of breath, and trembled involuntarily. The woman finally looked up and fear was written across her features the moment their eyes locked. Gold pinned on black. Izayoi swallowed the lump in her throat and took a step back to bow, though shakily.

"This-s Izayoi tha-a-nk Sesshoumaru-sama for his mercy." Izayoi stayed in that posture for a few more seconds before sweeping her kimono backwards and straightened her back.

Her remaining servants wasted no time to pick up their luggage before disappearing before the demon lord's sight with their princess. Sesshoumaru stood at the same spot, as the humans' scents became thinner as they escape. Ah-Un twitched every now and then, capturing the lord's attention. The tall demon released his hold on the monster and a snarl formed on his lips.

"Try escaping again and your life shall be forfeited."

Ah-Uh lifted its heads and whined pathetically before collapsing back to the earth again. A small green head poked out from the bushes behind Sesshoumaru and looked around frantically, before leaping out of his hiding place. Jaken waddled to his lord and bowed.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" he squawked irritatingly, "should we be letting those insufferable humans free? They trespassed the Western Lands, my lord!"

Sesshoumaru glanced sharply at the now cowering retainer, and looked back at the spot where the fleeing humans had occupied.

Izayoi.

The scent coming from that human wench told him she was of noble birth. The smell of her fear and her flowery scent was rather intoxicating though. The stoic lord spared a discreet smirk and turned away. Glancing at Ah-Uh from the corner of his eyes, the demon lord barked at the exhausted monster to get up, and when it did, Sesshoumaru began to trek through the forest back to his home.

aaa

"Takemaru-sama!" a frantic scout yelled as he fell to his knees in front of his lord, "Izayoi hime and her entourage have been sighted nearby."

A man clad in his formal robes straightened his back on his seat on a raised platform, as he demanded eagerly, "Where? Bring her immediately! See that no harm comes to her."

The scout messenger inclined his head and scurried away to do his bidding. Setsuna no Takemaru relaxed his posture once his soldier had left the courtroom. The crease on his forehead had been persistent throughout the night when his bride should have arrived. The absence of his bride-to-be or any messenger from the general had worried him to no end. He had been informed of the route the princess would be travelling but his scouts around the region had sighted no such occurrence. Furthermore, the route Izayoi was supposed to take was dangerously close to the agreed border between the demon and human lord residing in the Western Lands, but it was the only path to his castle from her home. Not to mention youkai were abundant in that area.

The shuffle of feet and robes from the hallway leading to the courtroom reached Takemaru's ears, and he stood up expectantly. His eyes burned for staring at the same spot and finally, the person of his concern appeared within his view, tired and pale.

The young lord hurried to her side, taking her arm as he led her to the platform he had been sitting on. Izayoi's tense body relaxed at the gentle touch of his betrothed and she allowed him to lead her. She obeyed his wish to sit down and raised her head to meet two warm pools of brown. Unable to control her emotions any longer, the Asian beauty allowed the dam to break. Takemaru gathered his bride-to-be in his arms as she sobbed. A feeling of sympathy and protectiveness swirled at the bottom of his gut as he rocked her affectionately.

"My lady…you are safe here." He breathed.

Izayoi choked back a tear and looked at her husband-to-be, and decided that she could not bring herself to tell him her encounter with demons. He would think it's inauspicious and brand her a jinx to their country. With that in mind, Izayoi let out an undignified wail as she buried her face in Takemaru's chest, effectively staining his clothes with her salty tears.

The soldiers and servants watched on as their lord calmed the princess down. Princess Izayoi's entourage had arrived with her, looking as tired and terrified. As soon as Lord Takemaru's scouts found them, some of the servants terrified beyond words broke down on the spot, while some begged for assistance.

The commander of the scouts' team ordered his subordinates to return to duty while he speaks the lord. Takemaru averted his warm gaze onto his soldier and gave out his orders. The commander inclined his head and left the courtroom in silence.

He returned his gaze to the lady crying in his arms and felt his heart constricted in response. Whatever had happened to Izayoi last night was sure to be of significance for her to be so shaken. Whatever it was, he will investigate till the end for the sake of his bride.

-nUndefinedSoul-

Ching Sparkle Sparkle: Thank you for reviewing! J

Author: Finally! I realized the last two chapters were too boring and slow. So this new addition will give all readers a little insight to what will be happening in the story. I'm guessing most of you can predict what's gonna unfold and that's right! This story has no link to the series Inuyasha or its movies. I am rewriting the story. And I will be reshuffling the characters. A few of the pairings will be changed. You have been warned! Hehe…(smiles) Okay okay, resized the words. . Just wanted to make my point. Seriously, for anyone who is expecting any linkage of the plot to the series 'Inuyasha', you will be greatly disappointed. But don't worry, I will still be using the original characters, and adding a few new ones if I have to. So please R&R after reading it! Thanks! J