Author's Note: Gonna try and pick up the pace and get Sesshoumaru back in the central perspective before too long, sorry the last chapter wasn't all that great. Please send reviews and any suggestions this way, they are always appreciated! Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha I wouldn't be broke

Inutaisho waited outside Toutousai's forge after breakfast two mornings after he had arrived. He could hear the sounds of his hammer coming down, and he was becoming anxious. He hoped Toutousai could make the two swords as great as he had imagined them to be. Of course, he had hoped that the powers could be combined into a single weapon, but he also felt that Toutousai was correct in saying that the separation of the two abilities would enable them to be more thoroughly mastered. He only wished now that he had pursued this goal before the great battle with the dragon clans that had left so many of his comrades dead.

"Toutousai says he should be finished with the first sword by tomorrow morning." Myouga announced as he jumped onto the great lord's shoulder. "Everything seems to be coming along quite nicely." he assured him.

"Good." Inutaisho replied. "I hope everything will turn out the way I desired." he told Myouga. "I hope this can be my answer to reviving my domain and being able to protect those I hold dear." "I have failed in those endeavors too many times before, and I must find a way to change that." he said.

Myouga said nothing in return to his newfound lord. He had never met a demon with such feelings of compassion and loyalty, and certainly not a great demon like this one. He had heard rumors of the great dog general of the west, but he had paid it little mind and certainly never expected to meet him or become his vassal. He hadn't even bothered to steal a sip of his tasty blood in a few days, and discovered that he really didn't mind, he was proud to call this worthy and noble demon master.

Inutaisho was awoken the next morning by Toutousai's high-strung voice. He had slept outside the previous night to allow the swordsmith as much room as he might need to work, and to spare him the distraction of having someone standing over him. He woke with a start, his night had been filled with dreams of battle.

"Come and see your new sword, great general.""I have finished the one you wished to use to cut down a hundred enemies at once; I think you will find it much to your liking." Toutousai said proudly. "I believe you will find it to be of the utmost quality." "I have endowed it with the powers you have described to the best of my ability, I hope it will be up to your great standards." he told him as they made their way inside the forge.

Once inside, Toutousai proudly held up his newest creation. Inutaisho looked at it and was quite surprised by what he saw.

"It looks like a dilapidated old relic!" Inutaisho exclaimed before he realized it. He couldn't believe that the supposedly great swordsmith had made a sword that looked so awful. The blade looked rusted and chipped, and the leather on the hilt was gray and frazzled. It didn't look like it could cut through a blade of grass, let alone a hundred enemies.

"Ah, but you have not taken it into your own hand and wielded it." Toutousai explained. "You wished to have it draw on the power of your own demonic energy as its strength." "You must concentrate on your intentions to use it to protect others in battle, then its true fortitude will be shown." "Until then, it will look like a useless, unassuming piece of scrap that no one would even want to steal." he explained dramatically.

"You are indeed a crafty old smith." Inutaisho told him. "Forgive me for my surprising outburst." "You must understand, I have a lot riding on the ability of these swords." he said bowing low to the old demon. "You have my sincerest apologies."

"You needn't worry about that." Toutousai said, waving it off. "You can go outside and try it out if you like, while I work on the next sword." he said leisurely. Apparently, he was used to his clientele being somewhat taken aback at the weapons he made for them. Or perhaps, he was just grateful to have a commission that gave him a chance to use his skills and give him a challenge.

Inutaisho turned and left the forge while Toutousai prepared to work on the next sword. Outside, he stood with his hand on the hilt of his yet unnamed sword. He had been so shocked by its appearance that he really hadn't thought of what to call it. He decided he would wait until the other was finished and name them at the same time. He closed his eyes and concentrated as Toutousai had told him to. He thought of the last battle with the dragon clan, and he could see the faces of his comrades that had been killed. Makura, and his grandson Shintaro, along with a myriad of faces that he had known for years flashed before him, now all gone.

Suddenly, he felt a pulse of energy radiate from the sword at his side. He looked at it in mild shock. "Should I try it?" he wondered to himself. He grasped the sheath, turned it a fraction, and pulled the sword out in a quick horizontal stroke. His jaw slackened at what he saw in front of him. The sword looked completely different now. It had widened many fold into what resembled the fang that it was made from. Energy radiated from its flawless blade as it gleamed in the sunlight. He could feel the energy it held, and knew without question it could do everything Toutousai had told him. The old man really was as good as he said. He brought it down from over his head in a quick downward stroke, pouring his energy and intentions into it. Streams of energy shot out from the blade, and left deep trenches in the landscape as it tore through earth, trees, and stone. This was the sword he had visualized.

"Master, that was amazing!" Myouga called from below him. "What a destructive force!" he said in awe.

"Yes, it truly is a masterpiece of weaponry." Inutaisho said in wonder. "I can hardly imagine what it would be capable of once it is mastered." he said. "At least I can count on this, and use Souunga only when it is completely necessary, which shouldn't be very often." he continued. "It is as powerful as this sword and maybe more so, though it pains me to say it." "But I would much rather depend upon my own energy than that of whatever malevolent demon possesses the sword on my back." he told Myouga.

"Souunga is indeed a frightful sword." Myouga said with a shudder. "It is better to have a sword that depends on your own power." he agreed.

Returning his new sword to its sheath, Inutaisho sat down on a nearby rock and contemplated what his new powers would mean and how much he could accomplish with his new swords. He listened to the steady clang of Toutousai's hammer inside the forge. This would be the sword that could bring others back from the afterlife. He wondered how powerful Toutousai would make it, he had only brought the jewel that Hokutouki had given him without doubt that it possessed the powers his ex-brother in law said. All he knew was that it could revive the dead, he did not know how. "I guess I'll just have to wait." he thought. He felt like an impatient child waiting for a new toy in a strange way.

He waited with as much patience as he could muster for the next three days, and just as he had with the other sword, Toutousai presented him with the second one in the morning on the third day. This sword looked much more like a regular katana, the blade and hilt looked brand new. The red guard and binding on the handle matched the red jewel that had been used to make it.

"This second sword is the one that will be used to bring dead souls back from the afterlife." Toutousai said gravely. "Unless you come to me and require that it become a battle sword as well, I will leave it as it is, to be used for the one purpose only." he told Inutaisho. "Only a compassionate and merciful person such as yourself will be able to use it effectively." he continued. "It draws its power from the sympathetic feelings one has for the beings they wish to revive." he finished. "However, it seems that there is no way to test it right now, for I don't believe any of us on are on the verge of death." he quipped.

"I understand Toutousai." he replied. "Though I can't use it right now, I have no doubt that it will be just as effective as the first sword you made." He bowed low to the old sword maker. "I can not express the extent of my gratitude for your services, and I do not believe there could be a craftsman in all the land that could have done a better job." he told him humbly.

"You are quite welcome." Toutousai said in return. "Of course, you must use them properly and take good care of them." "They are like my own children in a way." he said wistfully. "What do you intend to call them?" he asked.

"Oh, I had almost forgotten." Inutaisho said. He thought for a moment. They were both made from his fangs, and were very powerful. "I think they should be called Tessaiga and Tenseiga." he said at last. "How does that sound?" he asked.

"The iron shattering fang and the fang of heaven." Toutousai said. "Yes, I think that will do fine, they are noble names indeed." he answered.

Inutaisho thanked Toutousai again, and he and Myouga took their leave of the sword maker. They made their way down the mountain before Myouga finally asked his lord where they were going. Inutaisho had accomplished what he had set out to do, and the old flea wondered what adventures awaited them in the future. If they became to perilous, he felt he may need to take a temporary leave of absence from his new lord.

"Master, if you don't mind me asking, where are we going?" he asked as night fell. "Do you have any particular plans now that you have the swords that you desired?"

"I will return to the west, to my home, Myouga." he answered. "There are many things that I need to attend to in my own domain." "My armies were recently decimated, and I have few warriors or vassals left to protect my lands." "I must find out what I have left and how best to begin restoration." he told him.

"I see." Myouga said. "I'm sorry for your great loss." "I am sure that you can set things on the right path again with your new swords." he told him.

"I truly hope so, Myouga." he said with a sigh. "I wish I had wisdom enough to never have let it happen in the first place." he told him sadly.

The two companions traveled on the next morning, eventually returning to Inutaisho's homelands in the west. The weeks faded into months, and the months into years as Inutaisho set about the time consuming process of piecing his domain and army back together. As the years passed, however, he discovered that his domain and army alike would probably never reach the grandness that they once had been. He managed to protect his lands and keep stability among the domain and all its creatures. He decided that what he had pieced back together would have to be enough.

After spending so much time and energy on its restoration, he found himself wondering if it was even worth it at all. He had restored his lands to peace, and fought many battles with the army he managed to rebuild. He mastered the swords that Toutousai had made for him, and they always swung true. He was known throughout the lands as a noble, wise, and above all unconquerable ruler. But, he still had an empty spot in his heart somewhere, and no amount of lands or conquest would fill it. He had learned that the hard way. He decided to return to the north, it had been quite a long time since he had heard from his son.