Author's Note: Things will hopefully start to pick up from here; I'm going to flash forward a few years and get some actual dialogue rolling. Any suggestions are welcome, and reviews would be greatly appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha...

It was night and heavy rain was falling over the western lands. The great dog general Inutaisho was steeped in thought as he watched his enemies from a secluded spot on the mountainside. He felt that the darkness and cold pelting rain fit his mood on this night. It had been almost five years since he had been named general of the northern and western armies, not to mention the supreme ruler of the western lands that had always been his home. However, there were still uprisings left to quell, and although most of them were easily defeated, the dragon clan that had for many years held a strong foothold in the west refused to go quietly into submission. Their leader, Ryuukossei, held particular disgust for the new leader of the west. He had worked for many centuries trying to accomplish what the young general had in only a few years, and his rage kept him and his clan constantly at odds with Inutaisho's army, as well as each other.

"My lord, should we attack?" asked his second in command.

"No, Makura," he responded. "Nothing we have tried thus far has been successful enough to defeat them, let our spies do their work for now."

Makura stood uneasy for a moment, he could tell something else was bothering his general, but was uncertain if he should ask his superior personal questions, though they had known each other for many long years. "Permission to speak freely, my lord?" came the shaky question.

"Of course," he said "you have nothing to fear from me, you should know that." he told him. Makura thought for a moment. "You seem as though something is troubling you master, something other than problems of battle." he offered.

Inutaisho gave a heavy sigh. "I will soon have other matters that need my attention. My son is nearing the age to begin training, yet I have never had to teach a small child anything before, let alone fighting techniques or proper battle etiquette." he said. "I'm ashamed to admit I have my doubts on how exactly to go about it."

Makura smiled in spite of himself, remembering that although Inutaisho was his leader, he still surpassed him in age. His sons were already well past grown, and he was well aware what a challenge teaching a child could be. "If I may say milord, in my experience I learned that it may take some time to realize the child's strong and weak points, as well as to keep in mind that above all, it is still a child you're training. In a way it is as though you must follow their lead, even though you are doing the teaching."

"Thank you, old friend."came the warm reply. "Let us return to the camp for the night. I have a long journey to the north ahead of me come morning." Makura turned and signaled the other soldiers, and they quietly made their way back to their encampment.

It was not rain, but snow that fell in the northern mountains that night. The Lady Kagetsu sat down to ready herself for bed after another day that had tried her patience. Her husband had sent word earlier in the week that he was to arrive in a few days to begin training their son. After learning such news, the boy could barely contain his excitement. He was well-behaved of course, but his impatient pacing and difficulty in settling down for meals and bedtime were becoming quite bothersome to her.

Of course she loved her son greatly, but over the past few years she had been surprised at just how much work and energy went into raising a child. Even though he had servants that took care of him much of the time, he still wished to be around his mother, especially at times such as this. She had been raised as her father's only daughter, and her brothers were much older than she. She had lived a life of quiet practicality. Children, she had learned, were rarely quiet or practical. Even as an infant, her son's crying for his basic needs had grated her nerves, although she never said so. Now his crying had become never-ending questions, and that bothered her almost as much. She did not wish to be short with her son, but often found herself snapping at him to be quiet or asking him to busy himself with other things.

As she thought of these things, she once again heard the soft, short footfalls of a small child approaching her door. She sighed. She was certain she had told his nursemaid to put him to bed. "Mother?" came the cautious voice. "May I come in?"

"Yes, Sesshoumaru, you may come in." she called to him. Before the door was completely open, he was already asking questions that she was sure had been answered multiple times that day.

"Is father going to be here tomorrow? Is he going to start training me to be a strong fighter? How long will he stay?" came the barrage.

She cut him off with a quick answer. "Yes, your father will arrive tomorrow, yes he is going to begin training you, and I do not know how long he will stay." Now, please my son, calm down and return to bed, or you will be tired when he does arrive tomorrow." Sesshoumaru winced inwardly at his mothers growing agitation. He wished that his mother would share his excitement and happiness about his father's visit.

When he thought about it, he had never really seen her happy or excited, she rarely seemed to show much emotion about anything, except frustration, usually over something he had done. He was beginning to learn that being quiet and to the point was the best way to avoid aggravating her. "I will return to bed now, goodnight mother." he said, and bowed respectfully before he turned to leave.

"Goodnight my son," she said. "Rest well, and please stay in bed this time." Sesshoumaru slid the door to his mother's chamber shut and made his way back to his own rooms. He lay down once again, and willed himself to go to sleep.