Author's Note: Getting somewhat dark again in this chapter. . .please read n' review, all suggestions are welcome, thanks for reading and reviewing!

Disclaimer: I'm afraid I don't actually own Inuyasha.

The rain had not let up when Sesshoumaru woke up the next morning. He had slept little the night before, his dreams filled with bloodshed and the screams of dying men. Sesshoumaru decided to rise early and go for a walk by himself, needing to clear his mind. He hadn't been very far from the fortress in his life, but he wasn't a small child anymore and it was time he went where he pleased. Before there was any light in the sky, he slipped beyond the castle walls unnoticed by the guards.

By the time the sun rose, the rain had slowed to a slight drizzle. Sesshoumaru stood at the edge of the mountain, on the opposite side from the castle. He looked down over the valleys below, and saw that there were a few small villages strewn amongst them. Human villages. He continued down the mountain. Appalled as he was at what he had seen the day before, he still wished to observe them further. His mother's words and his father's decision to use them as an example for battle left him searching for his own answers to their nature.

Inutaisho was headed down the corridor to his son's chamber. He hadn't seen him all morning, and it was time that they talked at length about the events of the previous day.

"Sesshoumaru, I need to speak with you." he called through the door. There was no answer. Perhaps he was in the dojo, training. He found no one there either.

At last, he went to his wife to inquire if she had seen their son that morning. "I have not." she said. "Sesshoumaru sometimes goes into the garden early in the morning, perhaps you should look for him there." she told him. The garden was also empty. Dread was rising in the back of Inutaisho's mind. It was unlike his son to be difficult to find.

Finally, he questioned the servants. "We have not seen him this morning milord, he was not in his chambers." they replied. They had all thought he might be out with his father. Inutaisho nearly ran out onto the castle grounds. None of the guards had seen him either.

Suddenly a faint scent caught his nose, nearly washed away by the rain. The scent of his son, trailing off beyond the castle walls still lingered on the morning air. He snatched up the nearest guard, hoisting him off the ground. "How could you have let him slip past you!" he shouted. "You are supposed to be watching for any movement near the castle grounds!""How could you have missed my son leaving!

"For. . .Forgive me milord!" the terrified guard stammered. He was certain he was about to be struck down. Instead, Inutaisho threw him to the ground and leapt the castle wall, running fast on the trail of his son's scent. "If only I can find him before he gets in real trouble." he thought desperately to himself. "If only he is still safe. . ."

Once down the mountain, Sesshoumaru was drawn to the scent of humans in a nearby village. Other scents assaulted him as well. The scent of fear and blood was strong on the damp morning breeze. A scent he didn't expect was mixed in also. The scent of a demon. "What could be going on?" he wondered. "Why would a demon be in this village?" He soon had his answer. A gruesome scene met him as he entered the village. Bodies of villagers were strewn in the street, badly mangled. He then saw the demon he sensed. A giant of a demon with endless sharp teeth and rows of spikes on its back still held one of the villagers in its mouth.

A terrified villager half-crawled his way to where Sesshoumaru stood taking in the scene. "You are a demon as well aren't you?" the man asked.

Sesshoumaru looked down at him, but didn't answer. He found his mix of emotions surprising. This demon, though large and fierce, was still far below him in strength. It was still to be considered a petty demon. He didn't feel much real fear toward it, but was at a loss as to why it was tearing this human village asunder. He had read about such things in his studies, but hadn't paid it much thought. Strangely, he didn't find it nearly as horrific as the scene he had witnessed the day before, when the enemies had been on equal terms.

"Please, help us." the man at Sesshoumaru's feet begged. "If you kill this beast, you can have my daughters as a sacrifice to do with as you like, just don't let it kill me!" the man half-sobbed.

"What did you say, you coward? "I should end your miserable life for making such a disgusting suggestion." Sesshoumaru growled. The man cowered to the ground. Sesshoumaru looked up at the hut the man had come from. A woman and two young girls clutched each other in the doorway. They cringed when he looked toward them.

Suddenly Sesshoumaru heard a voice booming above all the commotion of the frightened people. "Well, I am in luck today!" an animalistic voice stated loudly. "Not only do I get to eat my fill of humans, I also get the pleasure of killing and stealing the powers of a demon child!" the monster laughed.

"Child." Sesshoumaru scoffed. "Perhaps.""But well more than a match for the likes of you." Sesshoumaru studied the movements of the demon. They were slow, and unguarded. It was obvious that it was overconfident. He waited for the demon 's move to attack. He knew that his training had only partly prepared him for real battle, but he had little doubt that he could defeat this creature. His heart began to quicken its pace.

"I'm going to tear you to pieces and drink your blood!" the monster shouted as it charged. Its movements were fast for its size, but not nearly fast enough.

It was over before Sesshoumaru really knew what happened. His mind went blank and his body reacted as if from its own memory. Suddenly he felt something warm on his hands and arms. He looked down. Dark, almost black, blood covered his hands and the front of his clothes. At his feet lay what was left of the large demon, dead from multiple slashes to its throat and torso. He took a step back. He had killed the beast. He wasn't sure what to feel. To his surprise, he found he felt almost nothing. The threat had been exterminated, and that was all the lumbering demon had been to him.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" some of the villagers cried as he turned to walk away. He had probably been missed at the castle by now. He stopped as he heard a voice calling out to the villagers behind him. Another man, apparently the headman of the village, stepped through the crowd.

"Wait!" he cried. "Do not forget this creature is also a demon, one that can take on a type of human form!""It is more dangerous than the one it has killed; we must destroy it before it changes its mind and wishes to kill or curse us as well!""If we band together we can kill it, it is only a child!" he urged them. The other villagers began to murmur in approval.

"Fools!" Sesshoumaru spat out. "You wish to rise up against me after I have spared your lives by killing the demon that was destroying your village!""And you have the audacity to think that I, Sesshoumaru, can be defeated by you, a band of groveling cowards?" "Their petty need for dominance." His father's words echoed in his mind. His anger was nearing its peak. These creatures really were the feebleminded insects his mother had described. What kind of creatures would destroy someone who had just saved them? If they came at him, he would kill them. It was what they deserved.