Musings
Methyl p-hydroxybenzoate has been identified in the vaginal secretions of female dogs in estrus. When small amounts of this compound were applied to the vulvas of anestrous or spayed females, males placed with these females became sexually aroused and attempted to mount them.
This is where it began; with this chemical. However, there seems to have been an unintended effect of the pheromone. Further research was required to be able to identify the source of the discrepancy.
The dog is a mammal in the order Carnivora. Dogs were domesticated from wolves less than 15,000 years ago, or perhaps as early as 100,000 years ago based upon recent genetic fossil and DNA evidence.
Dogs, like humans, are highly social animals and this similarity in their overall behavioral pattern accounts for their trainability, playfulness, and ability to fit into human households and social situations. This similarity has earned dogs a unique position in the realm of interspecies relationships. The loyalty and devotion that dogs demonstrate as part of their natural instincts as pack animals closely mimics the human idea of love and friendship, leading many dog owners to view their pets as full-fledged family members. Conversely, dogs seem to view their human companions as members of their pack, and make few, if any, distinctions between their owners and fellow dogs.
Being that dogs still maintain pack-like behavior even after thousands of years of evolutionary history, perhaps a closer look at wolf habits is in order.
Rank order within a pack is established and maintained through a series of ritualized fights and posturing best described as ritual bluffing. Wolves prefer psychological warfare to physical confrontations, meaning that high-ranking status is based more on personality or attitude than on size or physical strength.
Now doesn't that sound familiar. I have seen positioning for dominance between Inuyasha and Kouga countless times, but could the frays between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru be a similar behavior? Then again, if attitude is more pronounced in wolf aggressive displays than actual aggression, there may just be a relation between this particular wolf trait and the battling brothers.
I think I am starting to see a real connection here. Pack behavior seems to be engrained in both wolves and dogs. That being so, pack mating behavior may also be engaged in by dogs.
During the mating season, breeding wolves become extremely affectionate with one another in anticipation for the female's ovulation cycle. Overall, pack tension rises, as each mature wolf begins to feel the urge to mate. In fact, during this time, the alpha male and alpha female may be forced to aggressively prevent other wolves from mating with each other. Under normal circumstances, a pack can only support one litter per year, so this type of dominance behavior is beneficial in the long run.
Is it possible that Sesshomaru believes our group as part of his pack and is establishing his dominance as alpha? Could his behavior during the last pheromone experiment be resultant of his keeping rule within the pack and not allowing mating between two members? Perhaps he thought that my scent, which mimicked a bitch in heat, would have been detected and acted upon by Inuyasha. But if that were the case, what could have produced Sesshomaru's unusual behavior once the threat of my being mated was eliminated?
I can only come to one conclusion.
I am the alpha female.
As such, not only would it not be permitted for me to breed with any other member of the pack, but it would be expected of me to breed with the alpha male; that, of course, being Sesshomaru.
But still, I am uncertain if this is the case.
If Inuyasha was a member of Sesshomaru's pack, would he not know as much? Would he not tell us, or at least me, that his bouts with his brother were not necessarily attempts on each others lives but merely a public display establishing the hierarchy of the pack? More so, would he not at least think to inform me if I were the alpha?
Perhaps he doesn't know. Perhaps all of the solitude he endured in his youth has prevented him from thinking with a pack mentality. Perhaps his human blood has dulled his animalistic instincts somewhat.
If Inuyasha is unaware that his brother believes himself alpha of our pack, then perhaps he sees himself as such. If he believes himself the alpha, would he then seek to mate only with the alpha female? Would he show preference to me over any other from our group? Would he even see me as alpha?
I am inclined to believe that I am the alpha. If the pack behavior I have observed has led me to the correct conclusion, I can only assume I am alpha because I have not been challenged by anther female. Perhaps it is Sesshomaru's winning personality that has attracted so many females, but no matter how many have approached him (if they even dared or lived through the experience) it seems obvious that none were ever marked. I believe this because Ayame of the wolf demon tribe was quick to confront me when she believed I had taken her position in the wolf pack. Since I have not been forced to endure such a confrontation with any females seeking Sesshomaru's courtship, I think that perhaps I have been the only female bearing his mark.
That of course means that I do bear Sesshomaru's mark in some way. If it's true, then I think that may have been enough to allow Sesshomaru use of the well. If in all the crossings I have made, I did while bearing his mark, the well would have identified that connection and allowed him passage.
I think I may know how I have been marked. It was a very long time ago, and I never would have thought about it again if it weren't for him. It may not have started out as an intended mating mark, but I think that is what it has resulted in. But I should, once again, review what makes me think this.
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It all happened so fast that I barely even knew what was happening. Immediately after I had heard the police sirens and told Sesshomaru we needed to leave, the world disappeared in a white blur. When I was finally able to focus my eyes again, I found that I was still looking at the stars, only not from within the observatory.
I was hundreds of feet in the air, being held tightly by Sesshomaru's good arm.
I could feel the heat and the hardness of his body against mine, his deep steady breaths, and even the pounding rhythm of his heart.
I'm not sure if it was the height, the fact that I was being held by a youkai, or that I was being held by him; but I was suddenly driven by what I can only describe as instinct to try and pull out of his grasp.
"Don't." His silky voice sounded in my ear as his arm secured his hold on me.
I quickly realized that I could not escape his hold if I wanted to, and that even if I did there would be nowhere for me to go but down. I was not very optimistic about the prospect of someone having to scrape splattered Kagome brains from the ground below, so I really had no choice but to get comfortable where I was. It actually wasn't too hard of a task. Even though Sesshomaru always presents himself as a block of ice to his opponents, I found that when I was with him then he was incredibly accommodating, and the warmth he radiated soothing and comforting.
In no time, we were back at my house. He brought me through my bedroom window which I always leave open, and set me down in the middle of my room. When he released me I turned around to face him. I had hoped that he would be more forthcoming with answers now that I had shared so much of myself and my time with him. I asked him my question again.
"Why have you come here Sesshomaru? I almost died once because of you poison. You have never given me anything more than a passing glance. What has changed to bring you here now?"
He was silent for a moment, apparently contemplating whether or not I deserved an answer, then finally gave his reply.
"You were able to pull Tetsusaiga from its resting place when I was unable to do so. I considered that to be unacceptable, and decided that such a presence would not be tolerated. My poison should have killed you, it would have any other. But you did not die. You lived, and even were so bold as to attempt to shoot me with one of your arrows."
"But why would that change anything?"
"For an intelligent woman, you are not very bright."
After his insult he turned to leave, but paused when he reached the window.
"Tomorrow marks the third day. You will repeat the last phase of your experiment."
"Wait!" I called out before he could depart. "If you lost control because of the pheromones scent, what's to say that Inuyasha will not?"
His form immediately stiffened from my comment. He didn't turn back to face me, but I knew that he had once again donned the blank mask that is so feared by all who have confronted him. His voice was cold, and filled with chilling promise.
"He will not touch you."
And then he was gone. Into the night he had vanished; leaving me alone with nothing but my thoughts for company.
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I think that he was implying that since I managed to pull Tetsusaiga from its pedestal, and lived through his assault only to use my own strengths against him; I had proved myself as powerful in his eyes.
I also believe that the poisonous mixture he doused me with may have contained pheromones similar to those secreted by wolf glands which mark pack members as such. Being that I lived through the attack, I had forevermore labeled myself as a member of Sesshomaru's pack.
If I continue thinking along these lines, then I must also give thought to my friends who travel with me. Sesshomaru has never attempted to assault those members directly; aside from his once employing the Saimyoushou against Miroku. In fact, he has gone so far as to tell Inuyasha to keep us out of their fights. This might suggest that he sees them as insignificants who are of lesser station than Inuyasha and thus not worth fighting, or perhaps as lesser members of the pack brought in by myself, which would be my right as an alpha female.
But if I am the alpha female, was it the pheromones which triggered Sesshomaru to take an interest in me, or had that interest occurred before? Or is it just that I had unintentionally become a member of his pack and that resulted in a shared bond that was converted into something more with the pheromone serving as an activator?
Does he even have an interest in me in that way or am I just speculating too much? Did his last comment mean that he would protect me because I am his intended mate, or was it simply meant to explain that he would not allow Inuyasha to mate with or harm a female member of his pack?
But if Sesshomaru does have an interest in me in the sexual sense, why has he been so elusive to the matter? Even more, why am I putting so much thought into it? Before I would have either laughed at the prospect of Sesshomaru having a sexual interest in me, or been so frightened that I would have nightmares for a week; but now…now I'm not even sure how I'm taking the information.
I don't think it is wise to continue asking these kinds of questions without any evidence to support my thoughts. I need some answers and there is only one way I can think of the get them.
I must again put my hypotheses to the test.
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-sniff, sniff- do I smell another experiment? It would seem so. I wonder what Kagome is going to discover, or if she will like what she finds.
LOL oh wait…I think I do know.
But you don't :P –ducks beneath flying objects-
Kukukukukukuku
Bye Bye
ShadowsWevaer1
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters I am about to weave into my web of chaos. Any and all definitions have been taken directly from Wikipedia the online encyclopedia because I am far too lazy to do any further research to support my Inuyasha obsession.
