Inukimi paced the dungeon's corridor, a clawed hand raking through her silver hair she hadn't bothered with since she arrived. The snarling had ceased some days ago, flitting down into hoarse growls that voiced the pup's displeasure. She had tried everything to bring the boy back. The calming growls of a mother, the distraught whimpering of concern, the harsh snarling that demanded obedience, and finally, she had subjected the boy to a torrent of her youki - slamming it down against him in an attempt to gain his submission.

All attempts had failed, and she was left lost, a feeling she was unaccustomed to having.

Even Sesshomaru had attempted to bring the boy out of it, even going so far as to fight him for leader's rights. It had resulted in nothing but bloodshed and a downtrodden lord.

She slowed her pacing - halting altogether as her eyes took in the sight of her son.

He looked as awful as she supposed she did. Silver hair nearly ash gray from the dirt and muck of the dungeon walls he had been leaning against - some strands darker than the rest from the dried blood of the fight.

Dark circles marred his eyes, pallor gaunt.

His silks dirtied and stained to the point they would need to be burned after - after.

"I know you are concerned, but perhaps you should go rest. If only for a moment. Bathe and change, sleep if you can. I will remain here."

His eyes shadowed in grief flickered to her, the obvious message received and she sighed but bowed her head.

"We do need to talk, however. As much as I hate to bring this up now, you need to decide what you are to do about the Southern Lord."

She watched as his eyes hardened and narrowed, a fang peaking out as he sneered.

"He and his son," he hissed, "can go join father in the afterlife. I will not negotiate compensation for the events that occurred. He was warned to keep his son under control. I will not deal with fools."

"Be that as it may, you need to at least have a meeting with your general's. Let them be aware of the potential threat of war we may have on our doorsteps. As atrocious as the little brat is, he is still the South's heir."

She rose a hand to silence him when he opened his mouth, ignoring the sharp gaze he sent her in warning.

"I know Inuyasha is also yours, but it does not change the fact that the other Lords do not expect his position to remain as it is. Any credibility your father's blood offered him was shadowed by his mother's. After the events that happened nearly two weeks ago, it will be surprising if they recognize it now."

She paused, making certain she held his full attention, that he understood just what was coming for him, his brother, and the West.

"They will call for his death."

Sesshomaru's eyes clenched shut, head thumping as he leaned it against the wall behind them. The scent of his blood wafted between them, and she glanced down at his clenched hand that was atop his raised knee.

"I know."

She turned away, shielding herself against the broken sound of his voice as his pain echoed between them.

Sesshomaru watched from the window of his study as Inuyasha worked with his tutor. His hand's waving animatedly as he told whatever story he had thought up.

Golden eyes shining bright.

"How is he, Lord Sesshomaru?"

He didn't bother to take his eye off the scene as he answered the flea perched on his shoulder.

"Well."

"That is wonderful!"

"Hn."

It was, though he would not air his agreement out loud.

The night before the new moon, Myoga returned. He and his mother had sent him out in search of answers on how to fix whatever had turned Inuyasha into the raging beast he had become.

Sesshomaru watched as he bounded down the corridor, the sound of his brother snarling announcing the flea's presence.

"My Lord, Lady Mother."

Sesshomaru's youki pulsed.

"Do not waste our time with greetings. Tell us what you have found."

Golden eyes pinned the flea to the spot, watching as his hands fiddled about nervously.

"Well... you see, My Lord, I - I traveled to the bear clan in the North. There is a tribe that accepts - uh... interracial couplings, and they had quite a few hanyou's among them. So, I asked to speak to them. To see, if they had heard of the same plight that afflicted the young lord."

Sesshomaru snarled. His patience reaching a pinnacle.

"I care not for a detailed report. Get on with it."

"Y - yes! Of course, My Lord. Forgive me. They, fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, had heard of such a thing. They... said the only thing that could settle the bloodlust was the youki or aura of the father or mother."

It was silent for a moment. The gravity of the situation settling before Sesshomaru reached out, quick as lightning, and snatched the flea between his claws.

"My orders were to find a solution, and yet you return with useless information."

His eyes began to bleed red as he snarled his displeasure.

They had neither father nor mother there, so what point was there to inform him of such? He expected answer's not more examples as to how he was incapable.

His mind whirled as he contemplated ending the flea's miserable existence - only pausing the pressure of his claws as he sensed a familiar youki descending into the dungeon.

He watched as Totosai walked in, though he did not come empty-handed. In one hand he held the sheathed Tessaiga, the other a staff that had the faces of two individuals carved at the top - it was Tessaiga that caused him to start, eyes widening ever so slightly.

He had not realized it still existed.

"Heard you needed something of the Generals. It showed up out of the blue when he died."

His brows had furrowed in confusion.

Who would have taken it?

"It still has his youki, given it was made from his fang. Figured it would do the job."

"You would let a pup wield such an item?"

Totosai's eyes bugged almost comically.

"What do you take me for? Course not! I'll put it in the pearl we had made for your father's tomb. He may have left it for the boy, but Tessaiga is silent. It hasn't accepted him. Until he's ready, it'll be hidden away - protected, until he is ready for it."

He couldn't help the stiffening of his limbs.

Father left him... the Tessaiga?

Frigidness settled in his chest, numbing him to the events.

"Your inheritance is with Bokuseno by the way. Figured you would have gone to see the old tree by now, but I guess I was wrong," the old dragon just shrugged his shoulders and set his father's tomb on the ground - a black pearl enchanted by a sorceress.

Using the staff he held, he gently placed the end on the pearl, one side that resembled an elderly male, began laughing manically before a portal opened.

Sesshomaru watched, curiosity and something else swarming his mind, as the dragon and flea jumped in, taking the sword with them.

He thumbed the pommel of his own sword as his mind brought him back to the present.

Old hurts resurfacing as he wondered at his father's decision to leave one son, who had so much to protect with a sword that could not cut, and the other, who had nothing to concern himself with, a sword that could fell an entire army.

War was on their doorstep. The South had been showing increasing hostility towards the West after the events nearly sixty years prior.

They had initially asked for compensation in the form of land. Sesshomaru had refused.

They then moved to crops, and he had responded by burning the scroll in front of the messenger.

After that, the requests came more frequently.

Gold, troops, weapons, a mating proposal, and then finally they reached the pinnacle - Inuyasha's death.

The messenger had given him the parchment with a sadistic grin, his obvious enjoyment at the threat the South was issuing and the hope of seeing his brother's head severed from his body had Sesshomaru's eyes canting to the side.

It became apparent they would not cease in the number of messages they would send him, so he decided to send one back.

Blood sprayed as he sent the messager's head flying and ordered the servants to have it packed and delivered to the Southern Lord with a message - Come and take it.

Sesshomaru knew what he was subjecting his lands to when he sent the challenge, knew that some of his people would die because of his refusal to do the very thing he had set out to when he had first learned of the pup, but Sesshomaru found he did not care.

The boy was his regardless of his currently mixed feelings - his family, his pack, his responsibility.

He would war with even the kami if they tried to side against him.