Disclaimer: refer to chapter1.

Sorry when I went to edit this chapter I accidentally deleted it.

NOTE: I have not seen the episode in which Ryuukotsusei actually appears, though I have seen screencaps from that episode, so I know what his dragon form looks like, and I know that he fought and mortally wounded InuTaisho, so he must be damn strong. However, I do not know what his human form looks like so I'm just going to go on how I pictured him. Also my more sympathetic portrayal of Ryuukotsusei was inspired by the fanfiction "In The Dragon's Claw", byWheezambu.

I drew a picture of Ryuukotsusei's humanoid form, you can click the link to viiew it in my profile.

Royal Family

The Dragon

They were dead.

With all of his power and all of his strength he could do nothing to bring them back. They were gone, lost to him forever. The ones more precious too him than his own life, from ripped him by the claws of the Inu no Taisho's soldiers, simply because they were in the wrong place and the wrong time.

How could he go on with out them? Simple, he could not.

While still cradling the bloody remains of his mate and child he extended the spikes on his arms and put it to his heart and core, intending to fall on the spike and end his misery.

No.

He stopped as he realized with a heavy heart that his soul would never be at peace if he ended his life now, when he was broken. He had to have retribution to the youkai that was the father of this act. He would start a cycle of vengeance and would not rest until it was complete.

From that day onward with every breath he took Ryuukotsusei vowed to make the Inu no Taisho suffer as the inuyoukai had made him suffer this day.

0000

Sesshoumaru, only son of Inu no Taisho was in the garden, standing on one foot as straight as an arrow. He had held this position for a little over an hour, with little or no flinching, his best time to date.

"Switch." Came the deep silken voice of Sesshoulara, his mother.

With slow fluid movements, Sesshoumaru changed positions. Now the other foot was supporting his weight, while the one that had done the supporting before leaned against the first with the knee turned out, meanwhile his right arm was stretched straight out, while the other was extended downward to his outturned knee. The fifth position in his regimen of balancing exercises his mother had set up for him.

Sesshoulara turned the page of her sketchbook, and started to sketch. It was a very quiet day in the palace with her husband InuTaisho away talking trade negotiations in the north. No meetings to sit in on, no festivals, or holidays, or parties and banquets to plan for. The day was completely free.

Lara set her sketchbook down.

"That's enough for today Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru broke his pose and looked at his mother in surprise. He was only on the fifth position and he couldn't have been holding it for more than five minutes.

" I should like to go for a walk in the sakura garden, and I should like for you to come with me. I want to discuss a few things with you." She smiled.

Sesshoumaru nodded.

The sakura blossoms were in full bloom, some of the petals were starting to fall, so many there were that it was like snow flakes in spring.

Suddenly Sesshoulara giggled.

"I was just remembering when you were little, and you and your father played hide and seek amongst these trees."

An amused snort escaped Sesshoumaru before he could stop it.

Sesshoulara looked wistfully at the trees, then a sad smile crossed her face. "And now my little pup is grown up, already studying to compete in the alpha trials."

"Is that the subject you wanted to discuss?" Sesshoumaru smirked.

"Yes." Sesshoulara's voice turned serious. "Leaving your father and the court aside, do you feel ready for it?"

"Yes, I do. I've been doing better than ever on the balance exercises, perfect scores on my exams and papers, and I overheard my combat trainer telling father that I was one of the best he ever trained at my age level. And now I want to add "youngest to dominate the Alpha trials" to my repitoire."

"Hm. You intend to beat your father's record." Sesshoulara raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Every son wishes to exceed his father's accomplishments, and I intend to start with the Alpha trials." Sesshoumaru said proudly.

"If you keep up your ambition and work for it, I think you will do that and much more my son." She gently stroked her son's cheek.

The tender moment was interrupted by a loud explosion that rattled their eardrums. After the initial "boom" subsided they could see smoke rising from the northwest wall, only fifty yards from where they stood. The sounds of yelling and screaming of the guards at the wall reached their ears, then the smell of blood reached their noses.

Sesshoulara closed her eyes, concentrating on the different scents in their air, trying to sift through the smell of blood, smoke and cherry blossoms to find out who or what was attacking them.

Dragon…

Sesshoulara's eyes snapped open as she caught the scent of the enemy. Immediately her mind went to how to protect her son, who was now drawing his sword for a fight. If it were another inuyoukai then she might have let her son defend his father's house, but this was a dragon, and a vengeful one at that.

"Come!" Sesshoulara grabbed her son's sword arm and began pulling him toward the palace, where they could take a shortcut to the stables. "We must leave now! We must go to your father in the North!"

"No, I will defend my father's house, I will not run away with my tail between my legs!" Sesshoumaru stood defiantly.

"This is a dragon! And a powerful one, you are not ready! Come!"

"I am ready! I --!"

"This is not training! You have had no real combat experience! You are not ready!" Sesshoulara tightened her grip on Sesshoumaru's arm so the tips of her nails began to dig into his skin. "I will take you from here my son through any means that may be necessary, including knockout venom."

Sesshoumaru turned to his mother and nodded. If there was one thing you did not want to do, it was disagree with his mother when she meant business.

"Come let's ---" Sesshoulara stopped in mid sentence when an eerie silence covered the sky. Though there was still the crackling of fire and smoke, the yelling of the guards at the gate had been silenced. That meant one of two things, either the guards had subdued the enemy, or the guards were all dead. Judging by the scent that made her nose wrinkle up and her stomach turn slightly, Sesshoulara guessed it was the latter case.

"We must go!" Sesshoulara pulled her son toward the route they could escape. However just as they were picking up speed a large shape dropped down in front of them, and roared.

Sesshoumaru and Sesshoulara slowly took in the sight of the giant dragon standing in front of them.

Then the dragon transformed, taking its bipedal form. The dragon demon had lavender hair tied into many braids, his armour was the color of the night sky and covered in spikes, his long scaly tail curled taught, ready to strike. Long razor sharp spikes jutted from his forearms, and his face held no emotion, but his narrow reptilian eyes showed a fathomless hate and loathing for the ones standing before him.

"Intruder!" Sesshoulara called out, stepping in front her son. " I am the mate of Lord Inu no Taisho, and this is his son, if you dare harm us, Inu no Taisho's revenge will be swift and ferocious upon you!"

The dragon's face did not change as he spoke in a voice that would send shivers down an icicle's spine. "I know."

"Who are you dragon?" Sesshoulara hissed, her own claws beginning to extend and fill with poison, changing their color from clear to green.

"I am Ryuukotsusei, the dragon of the south and I will start my cycle of vengeance with you." He took a step toward them his forearm blades extending even longer.

"Sesshoumaru." Sesshoulara turned her head toward her son standing behind her, but kept eyes on the approaching dragon. "I will fight him, you are to run, run as fast as you can to your father in the north."

"NO! I will not leave you here to battle him alone!" Sesshoumaru protested.

"Do not question me now! GO!" Sesshoulara yelled now turning her frightened, but determined eyes toward her son.

Sesshoumaru hesitated for a moment, but then turned to go.

"Maru-chan." Sesshoulara spoke, her voice returning to its usual softness "Never forget that you always have my love. Now go, live for me."

With that, Sesshoulara turned and charged toward the dragon.

Sesshoumaru did as his mother dictated, he turned on his heel and ran, not daring to look back.

He was at the hole blown in the northwestern gate, when he heard a blood curdling scream made his heart stop.

She was dead.

He couldn't move as the phrase repeated over and over in his head and take control of his body. A red haze covered his vision, his claws extended and his fangs enlarged. All logic and reasoning flew from his mind as he let out a great howl of rage and charged on all fours toward the dragon.

Ryuukotsusei gently slid the body of Inu no Taisho's mate off his forearm spikes, and carefully laid it down on the ground. The first stage of his cycle of vengeance was complete.

Suddenly his ears rang with the sound of an enraged howl, he look from the ground to the sky. His eyes took in the sight of a giant white dog, it's teeth bared and snarling.

The dragon demon jumped up and out of the way as clawed paw came down on the spot where he was standing just moment before.

In midair Ryuukotsusei began his own transformation and by the time he landed, he was once again the full dragon.

Sesshoumaru leaped at the dragon, his fangs punctured the steel strong scales in the dragon's neck. In turn the dragon brought up its claws, and dug them into Sesshoumaru's back and shoulders. The dog howled, letting go of the dragon's neck, but the dragon's claws still had a hold on him. The next thing Sesshoumaru knew he was being thrown across the yard, and ended up crashing into several trees.

He jumped to his feet, pain shooting up and down his front legs from his torn up shoulders. He barely had time to fully regain all his senses before he had to jump out of the way of Ryuukotsusei's spiked tail.

Sesshoumaru leaped at the dragon again, this time lashing out with one of his clawed paws. The dragon dodged, then threw himself forward and struck the dog square in the chest.

Sesshoumaru felt his ribs snap as Ryuukotsusei rammed into him, but it didn't stop there, as he fell backwards the dragon jumped on him, crushing him into the ground, smashing up his right shoulder and scraping the right side of his face.

When the dragon was no longer on top of him, Sesshoumaru transformed back into his bipedal form and staggered to his feet. He was virtually blind in one eye, and the other was beginning to blur, but he could see Ryuukotsusei had also turned to his bipedal form.

With the exception of the bite on his neck, which had downsized during the transformation, the dragon didn't look any more worse for wear than before they started their fight, while Sesshoumaru himself could barely stand up.

The dragon began advancing on him, extending the forearm mounted spikes for the kill. Sesshoumaru frantically tried to work his sword out of its sheath using only his left hand, since his right shoulder had been smashed up, in turn rendering his right arm useless.

When the dragon was only a few feet away from him Sesshoumaru finally managed to get the sword free. Sesshoumaru thrust the sword forward, but Ryuukotsusei caught it between his forearm blades, he twisted the sword to the side forcing it out of Sesshoumaru's hand. The dragon then retracted the blades on one of his forearms and brought his fist forward, plunging it into the younger demon's abdomen, sending him into one of the trees.

Sesshoumaru coughed, the wind completely knocked out of his lungs. When he breathed back in deeply trying to regain the lost air, his chest felt like someone had lit a scorching fire inside it. He slid down the tree into a sitting position on the ground.

Ryuukotsusei winced as he detached of the spikes from his forearm, then kneeled down in front of Sesshoumaru. He grabbed the younger youkai by the throat and pinned him against the tree. With the other hand he raised the spike and brought in down.

Sesshoumaru let out an involuntary scream as the spike was plunged into his left shoulder, with the tip of the spike punching through his shoulder blade and embedding itself in the tree behind him, effectively pinning him to it.

Suddenly all of the muscles in the dragon's chest involuntarily clenched up, including his heart. Automatically he stood up clasping his chest turning away, faintly hearing the young youkai's cries in the background. After a few moments his heart continued its normal beating and one by one his muscles relaxed.

It took Ryuukotsusei a moment to realize that the poison Inu no Taisho's mate had injected into him had tried to take effect. Unfortunately the demoness did not know that Ryuukotsusei's body was well trained in adapting to new venom and poisons. Apparently the demoness' poison was so different from any other he had come in contact with over the years, it took his system a little while longer to develop an antidote for it, thus allowing a momentary effect. However, this was a signal that the dragon should take his leave to fully recover.

"Father…help…." Sesshoumaru whimpered through bloody lips.

Ryuukotsusei stopped.

Father…

Every warrior instinct was telling Ryuukotsusei to just leave. The pup would certainly die before his father arrived, there was no stopping the cycle of vengeance that would avenge the souls of his loved ones, and put his own soul at peace at last. Yet, every parental instinct was screaming at him to help the young pup.

"Father…" The pup whimpered again.

The sound of a child in distress calling for their parent, the heart wrenching sound that no doubt his children had made when Inu no Taisho's soldiers slaughtered them, was enough to break the wall of separation between the suffering InuTaisho's child was enduring and the suffering his own children had endured.

Would it really interrupt the cycle if the pup survived? Perhaps it would be enough that he had spilled a good deal of blood. Either way it certainly was not right to just let the pup sit there and suffer.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes trying to drown out, the pain that wracked his entire body and the realization that his father was not coming to his rescue, that he was going to die. He felt ashamed that he was afraid to die, and ashamed at the tears that were now falling down his cheeks.

Ryuukotsusei kneeled down next to Sesshoumaru, and open his jaws, allowing his long forked tongue to slither out and gently licked away the tears of the young inuyoukai's right cheek. A gesture he had used to comfort his children when they wept.

Sesshoumaru's eyes snapped open, and he automatically recoiled away. This movement resulted in the spike tearing further along his shoulder and he gasped. Ryuukotsusei used this moment of vunerabilityto reachout his hand and gently stroked Sesshoumaru's cheek as a loving parent would.

"Poor child, the parents make the quarrels and the children bear them." The dragon spoke gently, no trace of the malice and coldness from before was left in his voice. I know you don't understand now, but you will. If you live through this, when I kill your father you may come and kill me if you wish and end the cycle of vengeance if you wish."

Without warning Sesshoumaru turned his head around and sank his teeth into Ryuukotsusei's outstretched hand. Ryuukotsusei winced as the fangs sunk in deep, in fact if he hadn't been wearing armor, part of his hand might have been bitten off completely.

"Fair enough. A will await your coming, if you live." Ryuukotsusei smirked. "You were smart to bite me, nothing replenishes strength better than dragon's blood, if they can survive all the poisons that are in it. You being you mother's child, my blood might keep you alive long enough for your father to return"

"And this," Ryuukotsusei said as venom began to flow into the nails of his other hand, though this time they turned a pale lavendar instead of the deep purple they usually turned. "Is so you won't suffer too much while you wait."

Ryuukotsusei dug the tips of the claws containing the venom into the back of Sesshoumaru's neck, eliciting a gasp from the young youkai, forcing him to let go of the dragon's hand.

Sesshoumaru suddenly felt numbness in his fingers and toes, and then it began to spread through out the rest of his body. Heavenly relief washed over him as the numbness reached his injuries. However, he had still lost a great deal of blood, and his consciousness was hanging by a thread. With the last remnants of his vision he watched as the dragon got up, took one last look at him, then left Sesshoumaru to the hands of fate.

0000

Sniff! Poor Sesshoumaru, (or should I say Maru-chan) I'm so mean. I really hate to kill Sesshoulara, but it has to be done for the progression of the story.

Sesshoulara knew she would not be able to defeat Ryuukotsusei, so she put all her effort into preventing him from pursuing her son, (aka injecting some poison into the dragon.)

So how did you like my portrayal of Ryuukotsusei?

Don't worry he didn't posion Sesshoumaru at the end there, it was a very weak venom that acted as a very strong pain killer, like giving him a good dose of morphine.

The next chapter will be up soon. Even faster if I get a lot of reviews!

Till Next Time,

Vega Sailor