The remains of several smoking buildings were all that was left of the once-bustling village. Merchants who made it out alive told tales of the village's horrific destruction. Of how dearly loved the Lord's wife was and how stupid it was of the village chief to try and take her from him by force. All asked the same question, why would anyone do this to the Lady? She was a compassionate soul, who saw the good in everyone and had a strong sense of justice.
The Merchants quickly found that the Lady's kindness made her a favourite amongst the people of the West. Many were in favour of her Lord-husband's drastic actions, saying the Village Chief deserved the ending he got.
Some claimed that she was nothing but a demon's whore, that as a human, she shouldn't have married the Youkai Lord of the West and that what happened to her was divine punishment for defying the ways of nature.
Back at the Lord's castle, a little ghost stood watching as the old squat kappa came in and immediately bowed to his Master, her much-missed Lord-husband. A glare from him was all the old kappa needed to begin giving a detailed report of the previous night.
The chief had been found dead. His hands and head were cut off cleanly, clothes were torn to shreds, with a dart-wound right above his heart. The old kappa bashfully confessed, he didn't know which of their soldiers made the kill. However, in the fire, the chief's young ward escaped with an elaborate box that had been the real target of this attack. As the report continued, nobody noticed the very confused little ghost in the corner.
"Sesshomaru-sama, this lowly servant believes that the boy who escaped is headed east, where the Lady Mother's cousin lives. Our source tells us that the two have been in correspondence."
The current Lord of the West, Sesshomaru felt his eyes turn crimson and the purple stripes on his cheekbones widened, while the crescent moon on his forehead darkened in color. The confused little ghost wanted so badly to go hug her husband.
Jaken knelt on the floor before him, started sweating bullets and shivering as he felt his Master's anger rise. Dread filled the old kappa. He was ordered to kill everyone, and ensure that nobody got away.
"Chichiue!" the voice of a girl called from down the hall. The little ghost scrambled up in alarm at the sound. And the old Kappa would have sighed with relief if he didn't get a good look at what the child was wearing. No doubt the Master could smell it too.
"Let us go recover the item. We can blend in with the humans," the voice of a boy said.
Without looking at his children, Sesshomaru dismissed their suggestion, "You are not ready."
"Chichue! W-we.." the boy started trembling and stammering. "We are ready a-and we can prove it!
"We already did something big." The little ghost could have sworn that the girl speaking was Setsuna, but she couldn't comprehend it...How much time has passed?
"We went to the village tonight, and s-s-stole something!"
"We did it for Hahaue's sake!"
Sesshomaru glanced at his children, noting their blood and soot-covered clothes, their lack of injury, and their human appearance. Meeting his eyes, the girl brought out an elaborate golden comb with flowers carved on it. His amber eyes widened. He looked at the nervous kids kneeling before him and nodded his assent. The two smiled brightly at each other, before disappearing back out the door, happy to have their first mission. They were determined to do it well. Despite their age, they were more than willing to kill if it meant helping their family.
At a riverside a few hours from the destroyed village, a boy sat down on a rock, panting heavily. His feet were terribly burnt, throbbing with pain and his face was covered with soot. A group of people noticed him and felt sympathy. They had seen the burning village and heard the story of why it was destroyed. But the blame fell on the chief and everyone close to him. This boy was only about eleven. For an entire village to suffer because of the mistakes of one man, was too much. Especially to one young lady.
"Sumimasen, I noticed that you are badly injured, I can treat your injuries if you'd like," the young lady wore a white blouse, navy blue skirt, and the oddest looking shoes he'd ever seen.
"You are Kagome are you not? The priestess who traveled Japan in search of shards of the Shikon jewel a few years back?" Relief filled the boy's eyes. Meeting a woman dressed unlike any other in Japan was said to bring good luck.
"Yes, I am, how do you know?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he looked back towards the group.
"That one in red with silver hair and dog ears, is he perhaps your familiar, the Hanyou, Inuyasha?"
"Yes?" The way the boy spoke of Inuyasha vexed the priestess, it wasn't right. But she brushed it off assuming some people of Sengoku Japan likely agreed with the (in)famous Master Ungai's view of Youkai.
The boy sent a prayer of thanks to every local Kami as he followed the young woman, Kagome back to her campsite. Sitting down, he introduced himself and told the group his dilemma. Perhaps he could finish his assignment after all.
"Hajimemashite. My name is Taro. I was the village chief's ward. His son's study-buddy. I was sent to deliver something to the Eastern Lord. I ask that you please accompany me and help me protect this important item." He held out a beautifully carved wooden box.
"What happened to the village?" a young man in dark blue monks robes spoke. Asking the question on everyone's mind.
The boy blinked owlishly as Kagome took a device from an odd-looking bag, the horseshoe-like end went to her ears, and the other end went to his heart. "It was burnt down by the youkai Lord, who rules the Western Lands. I believe he is a relative of yours Inuyasha-sama. You have the same hair," the silver-headed young man just huffed in response.
"Why would a Lord attack a village in his own domain?" the young lady, Kagome asked, in confusion, as she began carefully applying some unknown substance to his burnt feet. "And one so close to his own home."
"Well, that's a long story. It has to do with the item I'm to deliver." The boy shifted holding the box carefully. "There was a girl in the village, known simply as Rin. She was the most beautiful girl in the village, probably in the entire Western Lands. When she danced, the scent of sakura filled the air. Everyone in the village loved her. My Master was one of the many men who wanted her. But we all knew deep in our hearts that she was destined for something greater. However, a few years ago, she married the youkai who rules these lands."
"And, what? Your people deemed her a disgrace and tortured her to death? Is that it?!" The silver-haired young man with dog years ground out through gritted teeth. He'd seen this type of damage many times. A human suitor with power, unable to stand that the girl he wanted, chose a youkai...jealousy gradually turning to hatred, until finally to insanity.
"No, we...we tracked her down...and our Chief, my Master, entered an agreement with the Lord of the Eastern Lands, who had long coveted the West. If my Master helps him bring the Lord down, he gets to keep Rin...to do with as he pleases." the child looked down in shame, face turning a beet red.
"I assume your chief did the unspeakable to her because she's a youkai's whore and then killed her?" the monk spoke again. The story was familiar. A few years ago, the group encountered a man, so consumed by his thoughts, his emotions that he attempted to kill her. In this case, the monk glanced at the beautiful box, the man committed high treason.
"Miroku how can you?" a lady dressed in a skintight black and pink ninja suit exclaimed, horrified. But the monk wasn't listening, his mind slowly putting the story together.
"Tell us child, is that what happened?"
The boy glanced up and nodded. "She was also pregnant at the time. After the Master had his way with her, he ordered his servants to cut her open. We discovered the unborn, barely formed babe. A meeting with the entire village was immediately called. It was decided that the monster would be burnt and it's mother along with it," the boy's tone showed that he didn't fault his master for killing the mother or the child, but for something else entirely. The Kunoichi looked like she was going to be sick, imagining what sort of demented person the chief must have been. Glancing at the 'precious box' she shuddered as she envisioned what it contained.
Inuyasha stood up and glared at the child. He couldn't believe he had considered helping the child and aiding in his mission. He remembered clearly how the people treated him and his mother with disdain. They were avoided like the plague. Any sympathy for the village evaporated and all Inuyasha could feel was misery and anger.
"I think your village deserved what happened. Perhaps you should die along with your village-members!" His head suddenly jerked up, golden eyes searching amongst the tree branches. Finding the scent somewhat familiar and bearing no malicious intent, he decided to leave it be, opting instead to scowl at the boy.
The boy looked at the horrified priestess who did nothing to silence the Hanyou. Instead she simply took a small elegant pair of blades with round handles, and used it to cut some gauzy material. Then at Inuyasha, still in shock at the amount of disgust laced in his words. He couldn't comprehend how the priestess and her familiar could feel sorry for the "youkai whore." That had to be the relationship between her and Inuyasha right? Why else would a human priestess, a powerful one, travel with a youkai?
"You're all more heartless than most youkai!" A little fox demon spoke up this time, bouncing up and down shaking his fist. The rest of the group nodded in agreement. Incensed the boy stood up forgetting all formality and politeness.
"How could you talk like that? Your mother must be ashamed of you!" the boy shouted. "If you had any humanity in you, any honour, you'd…"
The boy didn't get to finish before a dart pierced his throat. Inuyasha's hand immediately went to his sword as he looked around, trying to detect where the dart may have come from. Instinctively he knew the culprit was the one he scented earlier. But his nose detected nothing, nobody was hidden in the trees.
In the wind a childish voice called, "Uncle Inuyasha, thank you for helping us stall this murderer and thief. We will try to repay you!"
Soon after, a swirl of leaves and twigs blinded the group. When they could see again, only the body remained. The boy's hands and head were gone, along with his box. Nobody in the group knew what to think of the extremely clean cuts, and expert aim of the dart.
Back in the Castle, sitting in a frozen room by the edge of a Chinese dragon-bed, the Lord of the West gazed at his wife. When he found her that day years ago, he felt sick. Her clothes torn, blood soaking through from a knife wound to her stomach. She laid there in the dark shed as if someone had- He remembered clearly how his mind rejected the idea, even as his nose confirmed it. He smelt males...lots of them, and what else made him almost lose himself in a haze of red.
Next to her was a child. A girl by the looks of it, already dead. A few seconds after he arrived, the shed went up in flames. They were going to burn his wife and child. He remembered saving her with that sword he always thought was useless. Although his healers said she would live, she never woke up. She'd been in the special room lying as if sleeping, arms folded carefully to hold Tenseiga, ever since.
He on the other hand, tried to find the culprit's motivation and enough proof to warrant a death sentence. What he found was something much larger. The culprit was just a tool in a larger political game. His wife was simply the bait. It was all an elaborate scheme. Sesshomaru was certain that the goal was to weaken him and conquer his domain. He didn't notice the little ghost who slowly pieced everything she saw together and came to the same, sad conclusion. She was a pawn, sacrificed, and used by another against her husband. In her corner the little ghost swore that she'll make the person who tried to hurt her family pay.
At almost the same time, the little ghost and the young Lord of the West said, "Aishiteru"
Japanese Vocabulary:
Chichiue: Honorable father
Hahaue: Honourable mother
kunoichi: female ninja
Sumimasen: Excuse me
Hajimemashite: Nice to meet you
Aishiteru: Love you