The Blood I Shed for You

Disclaimer: Considering I am posting this story on a site called fanfiction.net, one would assume that it is exactly that, a fanfic. One would also assume any writers on this site would be immune to lawsuits in any way, shape, or form. Though, this may not be the case, and I do not wish to trustingly leave myself in the hand of another. I hereby announce I have no ownership of the Inuyasha series, manga, and movie. Ownership and all rights go to Rumiko Takahashi. I write any and all stories merely for entertainment of others, and myself. I receive no money for my efforts. Any original characters I may or may not use in any of my stories are of my own making, and though none of them may be protected as mine by law and I will have no power should someone decide to use one, I do appreciate permission, first.

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Sango was the first to speak. "Inuyamainu?"

Before Inuyamainu could speak, however, Miroku came to stand in front of her, grasping her hands in his.

"Here we go again…" Sango sighed with exasperation.

"Inuyamainu… would you bear my child?"

Inuyamainu's expression never changed as she calmly spoke.

"I've never killed a human before, though I think I just may change that…" She said, glaring daggers at Miroku.

Miroku smiled sheepishly as he released her hands and stepped back. Kaede, who had been watching the exchange, spoke up.

"So this is Inuyasha's youkai sister." She said matter-of-factly. "The resemblance is unquestionable."

Inuyamainu nodded. "It is a pleasure to meet you Kaede-sama."

Kaede seemed a bit surprised, along with everyone else.

"How did you know my name?" She asked with incredulity.

Inuyamainu smiled. "I've been looking for Inuyasha's friends. When I arrived, a villager was kind enough to inform me that they were with someone named Kaede. Since you are the only one here I do not know, I assumed you must be Kaede."

"Why were you searching for us?" Sango asked.

"Thank you for bringing me directly to the matter at hand, Sango." Inuyamainu said. "I want to know about the well inside the Inuyasha forest. I followed Inuyasha and Kagome's scent to the well, where it disappeared. I assumed it was a sort of portal, but upon inspection I found nothing out of the ordinary, save for the scent of dead youkai."

"That," Kaede began, "would be the Bone Eater's Well. For many generations, people have discarded the remains of youkai into that well, where they mysteriously disappear. Somehow, that well has become a link between Kagome's time and this time."

"Interesting." Inuyamainu said. "A time portal. How does it work?"

"We're not exactly sure, though we believe it has something to do with the Shikon no Tama." Kaede commented.

"I see." Inuyamainu said, nodding. "So in order to use the portal, you must carry the Shikon no Tama?"

"Or a piece of it." Miroku spoke. "Though, for some reason, Inuyasha can pass through the well freely, whereas even Kagome requires at least a piece of the Shikon no Tama."

Inuyamainu nodded once more. "Interesting. Where would I be able to find a piece of the Shikon no Tama?"

"Some pieces of the Shikon no Tama are still scattered over the land. In most likeliness, though, they've already been found by youkai." Sango replied. "Though it will be very hard to find a shard with out Kagome. She is the only one that can sense them."

Inuyamainu looked thoughtful for a moment. "So then you don't know where I could find one?" It was more of a statement than a question.

She was quite disgruntled at the way things turned out, but decided to let it pass. There was no use getting upset over trivial matters. It was about then that the little fox cub, Shippo, spoke up.

"Kouga has a shard. In fact, he has two."

Inuyamainu's eyes flashed with renewed vigor at this statement.

"Who is this Kouga, and where can I find him?" She asked.

"He's the prince of the wolf youkai clan. I know where his den is." Shippo said proudly. "I can show you were to find him."

Inuyamainu smiled. "Thank you, Shippo, but that won't be necessary." With that she turned and walked out the door.

"Rather reclusive, wouldn't you say?" Miroku commented.

Sango merely nodded silently.

Meanwhile, outside Inuyamainu was tracking Kouga. Every youkai has a distinct scent. Each type of youkai smells different, and each individual youkai smells a bit different than its fellows. True, she did not know Kouga's particular scent, but she had spent her life around wolf youkai enough to know their general smell. Wolves are pack animals. If she found one, she'd surely be lead to Kouga. She caught the scent of wolf youkai in the wind and bolted towards the general direction. She soon found herself at the edge of craggy terrain. She sniffed the air, taking in the scent of both wolf youkai, and Gokuraku-chou. Although she did not know everything there was to know, and humbly admitted it, she knew enough to stay on top of things. She knew since her most formative years that knowledge was power, and took it upon herself to learn all she could as quickly as possible. Many of the clan thought her inquisitive nature was either endearing or annoying, sometimes both depending on what mood she caught people in. She was always one to question everything around her, and never one to accept anything with out proof. Most would have considered such strangely pessimistic behavior in such a young child bad, but she took no heed. She wanted to know what was going on in her world, and accepted no less. Inuyamainu had even surpassed her mother's highest expectations, not only having the blood of a leader, but also showing such strong leadership qualities at the tender age of 19, not even 3 in youkai years. To most children around that age, human and youkai alike, 'no' was the word most frequently leaving their lips. To the silent horror of those she grew up around, her favorite word was not 'no' but 'why'. She would innocently interrogate everyone she came upon with an endless bombardment of 'why', thus driving anyone but the most patient running in the opposite direction. The noble clan's library of parchment and scrolls ne'er saw a day's rest for nearly an entire century once Inuyamainu had learned to read. It was sadly ironic in some ways; she spent her entire childhood being the adult most adults were not mature enough to be.

Shifting her weight, she leapt to the apex of the closest and highest precipice, sniffing the air again. The scent of death was everywhere. The scents of the Gokuraku-chou and wolf youkai were old, replaced by the fresher scent of death, if the stench of death could be considered fresher. Her lips instinctively curled, bearing sharp fangs, at the offensive odor. She snorted out to get rid of what was in her nose and, holding her breath, raced over the land that reeked so heavily. Once she found herself upwind from the odor, she began to sniff around for live wolf youkai. Having such a powerful nose was a pain at times. Death of any kind stank, but lesser youkai like the Gokuraku-chou reeked to no end. She also noticed that the wolf youkai smelled nearly as bad, meaning this clan she was tracking wasn't powerful by any means. She continued scanning until she found a trail. She smirked in triumph, but her smirk faltered lightly as she analyzed the scent tail. Fresh, yet scarce, this wolf could move incredibly fast. It was amazing what a simple smell could tell someone with the ability and knowledge to decipher what it was saying. Her smirk soon returned full force. This weak wolf youkai with incredible speed meant one thing. Somehow, he was enhanced, and she knew exactly how. With speed that put Kouga's to shame, she flitted through the woodlands as nothing more than a breeze, soon finding herself looking at a high rock face

She hesitated. A stranger waltzing onto a clan's territory in the middle of the night, searching for the leader, and making demands wasn't the best way to introduce herself. She ran different ideas through her head, but instead decided upon using the universal wolf greeting. Tilting her head back slightly, she let out a low, melodious howl that sang through the night with a ghostly resonance. Soon after her impromptu song had ended, several wolf youkai rushed out of a cave at the summit of the cliff wall. One was a bit thin looking with hair that stood straight up in a thin line that followed along the shape of his head. Another was a bit older looking, slightly balding, and didn't look too bright. In fact, none of them looked very bright. The last one that she noticed looked fairly young, though still older than her, she was sure. He was fairly cocky looking, and she assumed he was the leader, Kouga, since the other two seemed rather submissive.

"Who's there?" She heard Kouga demand.

Inuyamainu continued to observe them for a moment, trying to decide what approach would allow her to walk away with a Shikon shard. She could have easily overpowered all three of them, and any others from that wolf youkai pack that faced her, but she wasn't one for avoidable violence.