Amaryllis: The Tragic Fairytale

Chapter 1: Fall's Bloom

Disclaimer: Based off of the manga Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi, and all affiliates. I, myself, have no affiliation with the manga/anime and the like. I make no profit from writing and displaying this.

To prepare himself for an intense battle in which he would not already know the outcome, the Inu-no-Taisho would stand upon the tallest peak of his territories. It was there that he would spend many hours looking out into the horizon with the wind blowing in his face, and remind himself of why he loved these lands so much, why he continuously risked his life for them. He would also mull over battle tactics and war strategy so as to march into the fight fully prepared. Such mental preparation was necessary for life-and-death battles.

To prepare for a battle in which he knew would be tough but not life threatening, he'd spar with Sesshoumaru. The inu taiyoukai prince usually came with the Inu-no-Taisho to these particular fights, making these preceding spars important. To spar fluidly together in practice always resulted in a perfect and deadly force on the battlefield.

To prepare for a battle in which the Inu-no-Taisho KNEW he would win hands-down, he'd take a relaxing soak in a hotspring to loosen his muscles before these "exercises", mulling over the best way to kill the being or beings foolish enough to challeng him.

Such was the case on this early, autumn evening. The sun began to sink behind the trees, bleeding an orangey-pink color across the sky. The taiyoukai sat against the water's edge, his arms propped up on either side of him. He sighed, bored, as he leaned his head back against a rock. Hair normally bound on top of his head now hung around his body like a curtain of silvery-white silk, moist strands of it clinging to the hard, corded muscle of his shoulders, chest, and back. He stared off into the distance, at nothing in particular, his mind lost to his thoughts and the soothing hot water.

He knew nothing of the band of youkai that had challenged him, not even of what species they were. The challenge had come in a simple, hastily scrawled note, challenging the Inu-no-Taisho for his lands.

He did not worry, for it was quite typical for youkai that chose to be anonymous before battle to also be the weakest of his so-called "challengers". Wiser youkai were more aware of the Inu-no-Taisho's power, thus did not waste any precious time or energy trying to come across as mysteriously intimidating. Idiot youkai like these, however, thinking that they could actually put the Lord of the Western Lands at unease with secret identities, would usually enter the fight with a laid-back mindset, over-confident in their strength. The fools.

They usually paid with their lives in a quick, bloody scuffle. This so-called challenge, like most other challenges the Inu-no-Taisho had received lately, would be anything but. To him, this would be a light exercise.

Thus, he engaged his thoughts on how he should spend the rest of the evening after the battle.

He would have to travel quite a ways northeast, because these latest jokers wanted to fight in their home territory. Traveling there and back would take up the most time, but he should be back for an evening meal. Heck, maybe he could even bring back some of his kill to prepare as part of the meal.

He would fight them in his true form, but not in his true size. He usually reserved his mountain-size appearance for those rare opponents that could match those measurements--it was a lot harder to kill even weakling youkai when they were small enough to zip around his feet. For this particular group, going into battle as an average-sized large dog would be sufficient enough. He did not expect these latest challengers to be powerful enough to fight in humanoid form.

After the scuffle and the meal, he would wind down by either taking an evening trot along the borders of his lands in the same planned form and size, or revert back to his humanoid form to find some random, willing youkai female to share his bed with for the night. Maybe he would do both, though in which order he still had to decide.

Then I shall spend the remainder of the night bored out of my mind, waiting for the next day to come, only to repeat all of today's events over again.

The Inu-no-Taisho sighed once more, standing up from the water. Though he never regretted his power, his status, or his life's longevity, he hated the drawback of being bored all the time. There were only so many things that could amuse a taiyoukai such as him, and the fact that he was approaching one thousand years of life on this earth did not make his monotonous lifestyle any more exciting.

He climbed out of the hotspring. Still dripping wet, beads of water rolling off his skin, he stretched, clasping his hands together and raising them high above his head. As he did this, his entire body began to pulsate with light, until he was enveloped in a blinding white glow. Appearing to be nothing more than a tall mass of energy, his figure morphed, the white image shifting closer to the ground. The energy dimmed and faded away, leaving behind what appeared to be an ordinary dog with shining, silvery-white fur, and pointed ears.

Yes, pointed ears. Most humans that managed to survive a sighting of a large inu taiyoukai often mistook the Inu-no-Taisho for Sesshoumaru, or his mother, who both had floppy ears.

Finally, the Inu-no-Taisho dried himself off, beads of water flying as he shook his whole body from head to tail. So much easier than using a towel.

Licking his chops, he trotted off, heading into the Eastern forests. He weaved through the trees, their browning leaves floating down gently around him. Autumn had arrived. The presence of the blood-red higanbana flowers, as he brushed past them, confirmed this. He thought nothing of their ties to death as he moved through them, for he, as well as most other youkai his age or older, had come to terms with death a long time ago.

This will be an easy fight, the Inu-no-Taisho decided. I'll definitely be finished and ready to eat before complete nightfall.

The last of the sun's rays had long since surrendered the sky to the purplish-black of night. A cool evening breeze pushed through Edo's forests, the trees restless for morning.

Only a 5-minute walk from a small village existed a meadow, concealed by the surrounding forest. The deep red of the higanbana overtook the usual browns and greens of this meadow, the flowers gently bumping and swaying into each other with the breeze.

A girl knelt among the flowers, very long dark hair shifting with the rhythm of the breeze. The bulk of many kimonos concealed her figure, save for her slender neck, sweet face framed with the dark silk of her hair, and small, slender hands. She knelt very still, her head bowed and palms pressed together in prayer.

Every year since her mother died, during the week of the higanbana's bloom, she would sneak out at night to pray among these flowers. They were her mother's favorite, and she too had grown to love them. Others vaguely admired their unique beauty from a distance, afraid of their mythical power to bring an early death to those that touched them. Izayoi had long since dismissed such tales, having touched the delicate petals many times in all her 16 years, without so much as a threat of danger. Though she knew that they were poisonous if ingested, she saw no harm in admiring these short-lived blooms in close proximity.

Like her, the higanbana flower was a rare and unique beauty, unsurpassable by any other flower, though also so very misunderstood. Since childhood, the villagers portrayed Izayoi as a strange child, unlike any proper hime. A tomboy, she preferred to climb trees and chase bugs rather than collect flowers and learn proper tea ceremony. She preferred the light-weight, practical hakama worn over a simple kimono, instead of the heavy, awkward multi-layered robes she was recently forced to wear. She dreamed of independence, of adventure, of anything that did not make her life as monotonous as it was now, instead of being a loyal wife and home-maker to any nobleman or daimyo that would have her.

Uniqueness, however, was the reason why Izayoi's mother loved both her and the higanbana. Both were so very different, so bold, so delicate and seemingly perfect. Many times, Izayoi wished that everyone else shared that view. Then perhaps she wouldn't clash with the other girls, alienate the boys, and displease the adults with her sometimes less than princess-like behavior.

Throughout the years after her mother's death, Izayoi believed that since the higanbana had such a strong tie to death, it must also bloom in the afterlife. Therefore, she never failed to pray among these flowers year after year, hoping that through them she could possibly see her mother one last time, even if just to say goodbye. Her mother had died one night while young Izayoi slept. Her illness had been merciless.

This night with the higanbana was no different than the many other nights Izayoi spent with them in the past. She had managed to come to this little clearing, against the wishes of both her father and her fiancé. In this age of war, they preferred to keep an eye on her at all times, to protect her against the corrupt soldier or the bloodthirsty youkai. To her, she felt as though she was trapped in a cage, unable to move or do anything on her own without anyone noticing.

Alone at last, after a day of acting like a proper princess to please both her father and her betrothed, after a full day of careful observation from anyone and everyone around her, Izayoi let out a little smile. She enjoyed the silence of the night, the cool breeze against her face, and the sweet smell of her favorite flower surrounding her.

"I'm back again, Mother," she whispered, her voice barely audible above the soft rustles of the surrounding trees. "It is Father's birthday, so the entire village celebrated. Everyone, including Takemaru-san--I believe I told you about him before, didn't I?--were drunk, which is why I managed to come here undetected. They're all fast asleep.

"I miss you, Mother. But then again, I tell you that every year, don't I."

The tone of Izayoi's smile turned bittersweet as she reached out to touch one of the delicate-looking flowers, her gaze distant with memories of her mother. She blinked, fighting back tears she always battled with in this time of year, whenever she thought about her mother, and how much she loved her. "I wish you were alive so that I could share my thoughts and feelings with you, like when I was a little girl. But, I suppose this...will have to do for now."

She took a long moment to sort her emotions before continuing. "My arranged marriage with Setsuna Takemaru is finally drawing near. He and Father haven't decided on a day yet, but probably sometime next year. I met him a few months ago for the first time in years. I haven't seen him since that day many years ago, as children, when his father took him to train in battle tactics and such. We finally met again a few months ago. Do you remember the two of us as young children, how we would pretend to sword-fight with sticks?" Izayoi's smile softened once more over the return of childhood memories. "I always played the youkai, and Takemaru-kun was always the victor.

"He's changed so much over the years. He's quite a handsome man now, I'll admit that, but that is all I can credit him with thus far." Izayoi sighed, and paused to find the words to describe her betrothed. "He is so self-absorbed with his life and with becoming a powerful daimyo; he barely even acknowledges me most days. And when he does, it is only to smother me with his insistence on protecting me from anything that so much as breathes. He constantly mentions that by marrying him, he'll gain more power and expand his territory, as though I am nothing more than a small power gain. He doesn't see me as a woman, or his future wife, or even as the childhood friend he used to know. Instead, I am...I am..."

Izayoi struggled with another wave of emotions, resting her hands on her lap and clenching them into fists. She fought desperately not to let the tears fall from her eyes, teeth clenched and body trembling, angry at herself for crying over her betrothal to her former childhood friend. "Look at me," she chided, her voice quavering. "Here I am, crying over being forced to marry a young, handsome man who is not a complete stranger to me, and who at least treats me with enough respect not to strike me or to treat me as nothing but a...a baby-maker. Meanwhile, there are men forced to go to war against their will, children becoming orphans, families living in poverty--all around me, every day. My situation isn't so bad at all compared to so many other people, yet here I am crying about it. How selfish I've become, Mother.

"It is my duty to marry whomever Father wishes, and he was kind enough to put my thoughts and feelings into consideration when choosing Takemaru. Our union will ensure the village's security and prosperity. Our people can live peacefully, generously, happily, with Takemaru as their leader. My marriage to him is for the good of the village; I cannot let everyone down. Therefore, I must go through with this, I must endure it, as is my duty as Hime. And as long as I think of the smiles on the villagers' faces as they talk about the upcoming wedding and the good it will do for their lives, as long as I keep that in mind, I can go through with this. As long as I remember the content, funny, kind Takemaru of so many years ago, and the hope that he can once again become the person I once knew, I can endure this..with a smile."

And so smile she did, though forced and with eyes brimmed with tears. She took a deep breath, wiping her eyes and struggling to calm down, to stop feeling sorry for herself over what she felt were utterly petty insecurities.

With a sigh, she flopped backwards onto her back, the thick, soft grass cushioning her fall. She stared up into the sky, red higanbana surrounding her, their color almost overwhelming the pinks and blues of her clothing, and the shining raven-black of her hair fanned out around her. She stared up past the swaying flowers, past the shadows of the treetops shifting in the breeze, to the night sky riddled with stars. She allowed her mind to wander, as it always did lately, to life outside of her village, to a life where she could be free to choose what she wanted in life, to a life that she could lead for herself.

It was then that a flash of white caught her eye. She turned her head in that direction, catching sight of a single white amaryllis flower, almost completely engulfed by its crimson red neighbors.

It was normal for an albino higanbana to appear every once in a while with the reds, a result of a genetic abnormality. Its pale color stood out from the deep red of the neighboring flowers, making it appear glaringly conspicuous, and so very different from the others. Izayoi never minded this; she thought the white higanbana as more beautiful than the red, because of its rarity and uniqueness.

She reached out, gingerly cupping the delicate bloom in her hand. "If only Takemaru was how he used to be," she whispered into the night. "If only I could marry someone that truly loved me, who could see me not as a power gain, but as an equal, a partner. If only I were born an ordinary girl, and not a daughter to a nobleman. If only--"

She fell silent, another movement catching her attention, though this time it was from a distance. Izayoi rose slowly to a sitting position, pushing thin strands of her hair back from her face. She caught a flash of white fur among the flowers, forming the shape of a tail, and the sound of a panting canine.

Suddenly alert with fear, Izayoi crouched down, hoping that the higanbana would conceal her. A wolf! she thought, her mind racing frantically for a way not to be spotted by the creature. She raised her head slowly, just enough to peak over the tops of the flowers, to try and spot the exact whereabouts of the wolf. It moved very slowly through the meadow, heading away from her.

Upon a longer look, Izayoi realized that this was not a wolf at all, but merely a dog. A dog that seemed to be moving with quite a limp. Feeling more relieved, Izayoi sat up fully, expecting the dog to take notice of her.

But it didn't as it practically dragged itself through the flowers, not so much as turning its head in her direction. She could see many cuts along the dog's body, blood flowing from every one of them. The dog looked worn, beaten, and exhausted. It wheezed through each breath, its whole body trembling as though supporting its own weight was a tremendous task. Izayoi guessed that the dog would have looked very well kept if it weren't for its wounds, and it did not look malnourished. This dog could not have been a stray.

Who would do such a thing to the poor creature? Izayoi thought, watching the dog struggle to move, every step looking excruciating. What is wrong with people when they do nothing but torture a poor, defenseless animal! She knew that the dog did not have much life left, for it was apparently too weak to even detect her presence. Her father being a dog owner himself, Izayoi knew that it was extremely difficult to sneak up on such an animal. For this dog to be completely unaware of its surroundings...

The dog took another shaky step, then another, before its legs finally gave out from under it. Its body disappeared within the higanbana, the sound of its descent to the ground barely audible.

Izayoi sprang to her feet, ignoring the weight and restriction of her many robes as she rushed as fast as she could in the dog's direction. She could not will herself to ignore any person or creature that she knew was dying, this dog no exception.

Dragons. They had been dragon youkai. The Inu-no-Taisho cursed himself for allowing his arrogance to cloud his judgment. I am letting my age and experience get the best of me. I entered the battle like a foolish pup. He managed to kill them all, of course, grateful that these dragon youkai were not powerful enough for him to have to completely sever the hearts of all 100 opponents in order to kill them. However, even a weak dragon youkai was not a force to be reckoned with, and a whole army of them certainly was a challenge. The Inu-no-Taisho won the fight, but he did not win unscathed.

Normally, dragon youkai existed in solitude, rarely seen fighting together in groups—unless severely threatened, or provoked. The last time the Inu-no-Taisho had seen such a large number of bloodthirsty dragon youkai in one place was during the reign of his nemesis, Ryuukossei, when he ruled the Western lands as the Ryu-no-Taisho.

In his younger years, the Inu-no-Taisho had fought and killed Ryuukossei, regaining the title and lands that were rightfully his. Or, so he thought. Later, he had realized that Ryuukossei's supposed death was merely staged, because his heart had never been destroyed. Since this realization, the Inu-no-Taisho had ruled with his guard up, always expecting Ryuukossei to return to try to steal back his territories. Decades had passed, then centuries, with no sign of the powerful dragon-youkai daimyo. The inu taiyoukai lord had even begun to forget about the threat.

But this sudden incident with the dragon youkai could only mean one thing--Ryuukossei had finally returned. The challenge from the dragon youkai was probably a test, to let Ryuukossei know the strength of the enemy he would be up against. He knew I would come to battle expecting something easy. He...he may even have been close enough to watch the fight!

This disturbing thought stunned the Inu-no-Taisho, as he lay motionless on the ground, his blood beginning to pool around him. Now here I am, lying someplace unfamiliar, bleeding to death.

He struggled to rise to his feet, desperate for his claws to find enough grip on the ground to move. However, he had lost too much blood already--all four legs felt like the heaviest of lead. The strain of unsuccessfully standing left him dizzy and nauseated. If my body doesn't rebound from this soon, I will die here.

It was then that he finally noticed movement all around him. Squinting through the blurriness of his failing vision, he could just barely make out the unique, looping shape of higanbana petals swaying in the breeze. He then realized that he had fallen in a giant bed of these flowers.

If the Inu-no-Taisho were in his humanoid form, he would most certainly let out a choked, bitter chuckle, to express the sad irony of it all. To think that I am about to die in a bed of the death flower. He relaxed, no longer having the energy to even think about trying to move, as he quietly watched the higanbana dance around him. Despite his thick coat of fur, he felt chilled. The warmth of his blood seeping out from under him therefore felt almost soothing. Every wound on his body throbbed, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He struggled with his vision, his hearing seemed muffled, and all he could smell was the sweet, metallic scent of his own blood.

Come on, body, don't fail me now, he told himself, the tone of voice in his head sounding as weary as the rest of him. I MUST live, to defend my homelands...I cannot let Ryuukossei take them over this easily...I cannot let him destroy everything I've worked hard on restoring, everything that I've come to know and love...

He struggled with sleep, feeling his eyelids grow heavy. He knew that if he'd succumb to his body's sudden urge to rest, waking up to see the next day would be even more uncertain than it was already. The desire to sleep was powerful, however, a mental feat almost as vigorous as his most recent physical one. But he had to stay awake, he must...

His eyes slowly shifted to another movement he could just barely detect, and all desire to sleep left him at that moment. The movement was that of a human, moving quickly towards him.

The Inu-no-Taisho bared his teeth and growled, unable to defend himself any other way. He felt a human hand touch the fur on his shoulder. Acting on instinct and adrenaline alone, he lashed out with his teeth, managing to move fast enough to feel the human's skin brush against his nose as the hand jerked back, but not enough to sink his teeth into the opponent's flesh.

"It's ok!" came an urgent whisper, sounding very much like a young woman.

Still snarling, his ears pressed flat against his head and the fur on his back raised, the Inu-no-Taisho struggled with a closer look at the source of the voice. He almost did a double-take, staring not at the figure of a foolish man intent on killing him, or of a recklessly curious boy intent on prodding him, but of a girl. He could barely make out the concern strained on her face and lavender eyes as tranquil as the night sky above them...

Izayoi bit her lip, studying the dog's body with an uneasy, nervous expression. Never had she felt so helpless. The dog's wounds, up close, looked a lot worse than when they did from a distance, and Izayoi felt certain that this dog would most certainly bleed to death. However, she knew very little of how to treat such wounds. The dog himself did not help; Izayoi could not get close enough to him to even touch him. Apparently, this animal saw her as a threat.

How do I let him know that I'm not here to hurt him? Izayoi attempted to touch the dog's shoulder yet again, and was almost bitten a second time. The dog never took his eyes off her, the look in his gaze telling her that he had every means to hurt her if she gave him a reason to. If he is even able to, she thought ruefully.

Suddenly, she remembered a conversation she had with her father one day about dogs using their sense of smell to get to know other dogs and creatures. With great hesitation, Izayoi extended her arm out towards the dog's face, just enough that he could hopefully catch her scent, but not close enough for him to bite her. At least, she hoped her hand wasn't close enough.

As her hand approached, the dog growled, his eyes locked on her trembling fingers. He bared his teeth as much as his lips would allow, waiting for this human girl to dare touch him again. But she didn't, leaving her hand to instead hover a few inches from his face.

Izayoi could see the surprise and apprehension on the dog's face as he perked his ears towards her, his eyes wavering back and forth from her face to her hand. He took a tentative sniff, paused, sniffed some more, and then relaxed. Izayoi also relaxed as the dog's teeth disappeared behind his gums, the growling ceased, and the hairs on his back settled.

The Inu-no-Taisho considered it highly unusual that any human would not kill him, a youkai, on the spot. Humans usually considered any youkai a threat, and would not hesitate to attempt to kill even a taiyoukai, despite the meager odds of winning against such a creature. But this foolish girl, however, did no such thing. Instead, she had her arm extended, as though waiting for him to give her something. He eyeballed the bare, empty palm, wondering why this girl wasn't taking advantage of killing a taiyoukai daimyo.

What in hell does she want from me? Is she planning to trick me? Why would she not kill a being that will surely flatten her village and kill all of her people? Why is she not afraid of...

The reason suddenly hit him; this was evident in the girl's concerned, nervous, and earnest gaze, and the way she acted around him. Of course! This girl thinks I'm just an ordinary dog! Feh, she probably thinks some other human beat me and now, being a typical sentimental female, thinks she can have pity on me and save my life. I…I can use this to my advantage.

The Inutaisho was wise enough to know when to swallow his pride. In such a life-or-death situation as this, he knew it would be a better idea to play along with this human's assumptions, be taken under her care, and possibly live than to die a slow, pathetic death alone outside of his territory.

And so, struggling greatly with his dignity and pride, he did the one thing that, though humiliating, would save his life: he whimpered.

He tried his best to sound like a helpless pup. To increase the effect, he managed to lift his head ever so slightly, looking the girl straight in the eye with as much of a doe-eyed expression as his pride would allow him to give. He even managed a brief tail-wag, though the weakness of the motion was not an act.

The Inu-no-Taisho watched as the girl's expression relaxed, and though she did not speak, he could see "Aww, kawaii!" all over her face.

No longer apprehensive, the girl began to pet him, running her hand down the side of his body, and it took everything he had not to rip her arm out from her body right then and there. To allow a human to touch him, especially to pet him, was a sign of submission, and someone as powerful as the Lord of the Western Lands would never submit to a mere human girl. Unless, of course, I'm dying, and she happens to be my best chance to live. As long as…as long as no one's watching...

Ah, the power of being petted. The Inu-no-Taisho had watched dogs allow humans to pet them many times, and had even had discussions with these dogs about why they allowed such a thing to happen, but could never understand what the allure of it was. Now, with this girl's hand running through his fur with such care, he understood. The sensation was surprisingly soothing, like how a mother dog would lick her pups in a loving fashion.

The Inu-no-Taisho flopped his head back down, his embarrassment and fear melting away with each stroke, but not the pain. And as the girl whispered to him about how everything would be ok and that she would take care of him, he thought briefly of his deceased mother, and all the contentment she gave him when he was a young pup.

Sleep tugged on the Inutaisho's consciousness once more, though he knew he no longer had the strength to fight it. As his vision blurred and darkened, he caught a glimpse of the cluster amaryllis flower waving in the breeze, as though to mock him.

I've cheated you once again, he thought with weary smugness, the deep red and delicate shape of the flower burning in his mind. Once again, you'll have to wait, and take my life another day...