Chapter 21: An Interlude Elsewhere

"... flurry of activity along the border, Sesshoumaru-sama. It seems as if the dragons are confused and don't know which way to look," reported Kazuaka, one of the Western Citadel messengers.

Sesshoumaru did not acknowledge his words for some time, turning everything he'd been told over in his mind as he considered the takayoukai's* report. After a few minutes, he said, "Return to your commander. Tell him to continue to guard the border, but to allow a couple of the dragon's spies here and there through the lines. His smaller spies, mind. It would look ridiculous were a heavily guarded border to be so porous as to let large dragons and other cold-bloods through."

Kazuaka bowed, then saluted and left the room, knowing that Sesshoumaru wasn't one for many words and would not be offended by his lack of verbal response. That he had heard his orders was enough.

After the messenger had departed, Sesshoumaru stood from his desk and turned towards the window into the gardens below. He could only be too glad that Arata had gotten that whore, Takako, to quit languishing beneath he and his sire's windows – the stench had been most abominable. He scowled, then. Her very existence was abominable, as was anything with cold-blood; dragons were just the worst representatives of that race. He would be happy to see the day the last dragon perished from the face of the earth.

Irritated, though no one would ever know it from his lack of expression, he left his study once more heading for the dojo. He needed another spar to stop him from driving himself crazy wondering at the machinations of his father. And the fact that he obviously had secrets that he hadn't shared with him, his firstborn son and heir. The thought that his sire did not trust him kept picking at him, and his temper was becoming dangerously inflamed.

Something would have to give, and soon, or he would blow and then who knew what would be left of all the cronies and toadies and hangers-on in this great pile he had lived in all his life.

As he strode down the hall surrounded by his guards, he kept part of his senses turned on Kajiko.

She was another mystery he had still been unable to unravel. The only thing he'd been able to discover is that she had a particular hatred of Takako – though that was not much in the way of news, since everyone in the Western Citadel hated the bitch. He almost felt sorry for Arata, knowing the male also detested the wench, but was stuck with her for some time – long enough for his errant sire to return – dragging a human bitch into the palace. As if the dragon wench wasn't enough stink. Although he had to admit to himself that he would rather smell a rancid human than a coldblood any day. There was just something about their particular stench that thoroughly offended an inu's nose.

Still, the thought of what his father was really off doing had him gritting his teeth. Now that he knew that the woman was a miko of the caliber of Midoriko he understood what his sire was doing. Ryukotsussei would never be able to counter a miko of that power. But why his father couldn't just negotiate her as an ally instead of as a wife, he just did not understand. He dreaded the day he would have to be faced with the human filth and forced to hold his tongue. But he knew exactly what would happen if he didn't – his father would destroy him in the dojo, leave him hurting for days for the rude words he would so desperately wish to speak.

His powerful father – being reduced to defending a helpless human wench? So she was a miko. But she probably had no kind of combat skills and would need constant protection. And as for marching with the army to face the dragons in battle? He snorted inwardly. She would probably complain and whine the entire time, and gods forbid if she had to do any physical work.

Even more aggravated by the time he reached the dojo, he motioned for Kajiko to join him on the mats again, and with a raised brow she stepped forward and removed her boots and armor. She didn't even have to ask about her sword at this point, since he'd been calling her out for spars regularly in the last few weeks.

She wondered what had him so aggravated that he was constantly needing to release stress through fighting. She didn't think it was really the situation with the dragon Lord. That had been going on for some time, and Sesshoumaru was quite ready to go to war with them at any time. No... this had something to do with his father, and his reasons for being away from the palace for so long, she was sure of it.

But whatever was going on, unlike the rest of the palace she wasted no sleep in attempting to find out what the powerful Western Lord was up to. She had no need to. She would find out when he returned, and that was good enough for her.

No... her only stress here was that bitch Takako. The sooner she would be allowed to kill her, the better.

In the meantime, a good spar with the Western Heir worked just fine to relieve her stress.

However, it didn't seem as though she would be getting that spar; there was the sound of pounding feet as a second messenger opened the shoji and ran into the heir's presence, a look of panic barely concealed darkening his face. Sesshoumaru turned to him, ready to reprimand him severely for his actions – until he heard the male's words. "Lord Sesshoumaru, Ryukotsussei has invaded the border by himself – he seems maddened, and we cannot hold him back!"

In the sudden noise that followed that announcement, two beings regathered their armor and slipped on their boots much faster than they'd taken them off, and then Sesshoumaru and Kajiko, along with the rest of his bodyguards and any nearby that could fight took to the air.

Just as his feet left the ground, Sesshoumaru barked orders to those left behind to grab Takako and throw her in a cell. With her sire attacking over their border, she became an official enemy and a prisoner of war. But they were warned to say nothing to her of why she was being locked away.

He would do so when he returned – with great enjoyment.

~oOo~

In the suddenly terrified silence the heavy thud of a body hitting the ground was heard loudly, and then the stench of innards overpowered the air in the dragon Lord's throne room. As his remaining counselors cringed in abject fear, Ryukotsussei flicked a drop of blood from one deadly claw and ordered the servants to come clean the mess he'd made in his frustrated rage.

Terrified and trembling, several servants scurried into the room, barely keeping from gagging at the sight of one of the oldest of Ryukotsussei's counselors laying in a widening pool of blood, having been very messily eviscerated.

"What the hell is that damn dog doing, and why can't anyone seem to find him?!" he roared in a temper. "Are all those in my service as incompetent as Takako? He should be easy to find what with that disgusting stench of his – it brings a being near to passing out – even those who do not smell well, as we dragons do not!" He slammed a great fist into the wall behind his throne, and the stone shattered beneath the force of the blow, leaving a great rent in the wall of the room.

With a disgusted snarl, he stormed out of the room with an admonition to get the hole fixed immediately – or else.

Reaching the roof of his palace, he took to the air in a sudden rush of strong magic and intense hatred, and every being in the palace breathed deep in relief – and a great many of them wished that the Great Dog General would finally eliminate the vicious Dragon Lord, before there were no more people left alive in the North at all.

It was a litany that was constantly going through his mind: where was Touga, and where was the Shikon no Tama? He could no longer sleep for the need to know the questions to both those answers, and even his spy high up in the counsels of the West had no news. It was like both had disappeared from the face of the earth. He was beginning to think that all the maneuvering going on by the army units was nothing but a cover, and that Touga – the damn bastard – had the jewel with him wherever he was. And maddened finally by a summer spent finding nothing, Ryukotsussei's blood slipped his control and he burst across the Western borders, attacking everything in sight and hoping to either get well into the western lands and track down Touga himself, or force the Western Lord to come to him to defend his borders.

The field was a madhouse, because, even though none of the soldiers were of the caliber of Ryukotsussei, they were all fiercely loyal to Touga and chose to die defending their realm from being plundered by the bastard dragon; and even though they were all fighting one who was far above their level of power they held on long enough, to Ryokotsussei's fierce rage, for rescuers to appear.

An orb of light shot across the sky, nearly blinding Ryukotsussei; out of it appeared Sesshoumaru and just behind him came Kajiko, who, though she did not have the ability to form the orb as could the Western heir, really didn't need it as she could fly almost as fast as the orb could move. She let out a fierce scream of challenge to Ryukotsussei as soon as she arrived, turning back into humanoid form literally in mid-flight to hover just behind and to the left of Sesshoumaru.

Faced with Touga's heir, Ryukotsussei also turned, his dragon form folding into his human form to hover just across from Sesshoumaru and Kajiko and the rest of his guards, along with the remnants of the army also forming up quickly behind them.

And even though neither Sesshoumaru nor Kajiko was quite up to his standards, since he was so much older than they, still, together, along with their backup they would be able to stop him since he had come alone. But he was just so damned frustrated that still, even with such provocation, Touga had not appeared. It would almost seem as though the filthy dog were dead; but he knew better, wishes nothwithstanding. There was nothing in this realm that could kill Touga but he, Ryukotsussei.

That frustration pushed him into attacking the two that stood so calmly against him, and made incautious by his frustration and rage he was soon injured, blood pouring from strong strikes from the pup and the firebird chick. Still, he pressed on and the battle soon became a dangerous dance that the soldiers and the rest of Sesshoumaru's guards watched with interest and awe.

Going back into his dragon form with one last challenge to Kajiko, "And you, the South's precious little heir, think to defeat me and gain vengeance for your pathetic grandmother? Come then, and draw blood on me again!"

Kajiko was too angry to really care that she'd been made, and in front of Sesshoumaru, no less. She attacked, her claws making great rents in the dragon's hide, her fire quickly burning those wounds and making the dragon scream in pain. Sesshoumaru, while a little surprised at the information on who Kajiko really was, was more annoyed at himself that he hadn't figured it out – and not about to be outdone by the Southern heir - took his true form and clawed his own hole through the dragon's hide with his poisonous claws, seeping said poison into the system of a dragon that hadn't known that the western heir was a poison youkai. With a great cry, he heaved his body mightily, shaking them off of him and disengaging.

While he would never admit it, Kajiko's fire and Sesshoumaru's poison, which he was not immune to, were steadily weakening him. Drawing his jyaki in, he opened his great maw and targeted the both of his opponents with a blast of it. It was so strong that it vibrated the air for miles around, but it was unwieldy, and both Kajiko and Sesshoumaru were able to dodge it, though by the time they recovered Ryukotsussei was gone, back across his border trailing blood, poison, and fire, his screamed, "This is just the beginning!" ignored as the Western troops regrouped under Sesshoumaru's approval of their loyalty to their Lord. He ordered the dead buried and then reordered the remaining troops to best be able to hold their section of the border until reinforcements arrived. It would not be long, as he had one of his guards with the most speed head for one of the other units with orders from him to reinforce this depleted group with all haste. They would arrive within a couple of hours.

First blood to the West.

Finally, after thinking it all over, Sesshoumaru turned and made his way back to his citadel, completely aware that had been the prelude to war. Ryokotsussei would go home, lick his wounds and then regroup. But when the attack would finally come, he was still not certain, though he did not think it would be too soon.

Landing on the front portico of the citadel he motioned for Kajiko to follow him and headed for his study, calling for the remainder of his father's Generals to attend him. When he reached his study, he had his guards remain outside in the corridor as usual, except Kajiko, who he had follow him into the room.

He took his seat and motioned for her to take one also, and then without wasting any words, asked, "Southern Heir?"

She shrugged gracefully. "So?"

"Why are you following me around as a bodyguard, which is largely a ceremonial position since I can defend myself quite well?"

"My father and yours thought it would be a good idea, since one day we would be forced to work together as Cardinal Lords in their places."

"Hn. An... adequate answer – for now." Looking away, he smoothed his torn garments, courtesy of Ryukotsussei's claws, and closed them as best he could, the light wounds he'd taken already healed – as had hers. He glanced up as his sire's Generals entered the room, exclamations of surprise from them at seeing his condition waved away with barely held impatience.

His words were spare, and right to the point. "Ryukotsussei has attacked across the border. He was by himself, but it is only a matter of time before war comes to us. You are to prepare the soldiers, but keep them back in these positions here, here, and here, and await word. I do not think it will be soon, however, we cannot take the chance."

Not one General said a word; they knew what was involved and what was coming – and they also knew better than to question the heir in the Lord's absence. If he had made the wrong choices his sire would deal with it and change things as he saw fit. But considering what had just happened, they didn't think he would be changing anything his son had seen fit to do. With no questions, they all filed from the room and began to make preparations to move the army towards the border and hunker down until the attack came.

They had no doubts that it would.

As soon as they had left, Sesshoumaru turned to Kajiko. "You are no longer a bodyguard, but the representative of your House here in the West. Come. We will go see to Takako's comfort." That was said with very little inflection, but Kajiko had been around Sesshoumaru long enough to have learned to read him, and that was definitely sarcasm.

She smiled, a smile full of fangs and spite.

"Why don't we?" she purred.

~oOo~

A bored sigh sounded in the room, and the few Ladies that had been assigned to her in the last few days watched her with well-hidden dislike, wishing that the female would just go home. If she weren't the Northern Lord's daughter and untouchable because of that, most of them there would have slit her throat gladly any chance they had.

She was boorish, boring, stupid, though she thought she was not, and she had a sharp, unpleasant odor that was part and parcel of most of those youkai with cold blood. There were a few, kame* and umibouzu* youkai, that did not carry that smell but most did and were therefore not favorites of warm-blooded youkai – or at least not those who had strong senses of smell.

Pretentious, as well, she always held her nose in the air as though she were better than everyone else, and considered herself a skillful seductress as well as the most beautiful woman in the palace. Sure, taken in her human form, she was attractive – but so was almost every youkai female out there. The only ugly youkai were oni. Even when youkai females were hoary with age they little showed it, unlike humans.

She also had no conversational skills. It appeared that her sire thought of women as good for only one thing, and that was so much like humans that they all had long since begun to wonder if he was part human himself.

So when several guards and one of the citadel's Generals walked into the room they were all in and ordered Takako to come with them, the other females watched with glee and scarce-hidden curiosity. What was happening? They expected to find out since Takako was demanding the same answer, but not one of the guards or the General made a sound as they quickly bound her in youki-binding manacles to keep her from transforming and attacking or attempting to flee.

Every one of them watched avidly as she was dragged down the corridor shrieking threats and imprecations, and every single one of them just couldn't wait to see Arata's face when he found out he was no longer going to be forced to keep her company so as to keep her attention on him instead of his Lord. They all knew the situation – he'd been ordered to keep her busy and he'd done just that even though it was becoming common gossip that after every boring encounter he was forced to have with her, he would go and steam himself before bathing, using the strongest soaps he could find to erase her stench and touch from himself. This had obviously been the most distasteful task he'd ever been given, and most in the palace would be quite happy to pass on the news that he no longer had to sacrifice himself for his Lord.

The gossip swiftly followed the group as they marched down to the cells beneath the palace proper; as was appropriate for a political prisoner that may actually live to see the outside again, though not likely in her case; she was placed in a fairly well appointed cell with an actual futon to sleep on and clean blankets. Once escorted in, the manacles were removed, though a neck ring was placed around her to keep her youki subdued to much smaller levels, and she was left alone in the cell to rant and threaten them all with things that would never happen.

The Captain of the guard stayed behind and had his assistant attend him. "She is to be given her meals in a timely manner and allowed to have as much water as she desires. Beyond that, no one is to have any congress with her and she is to be kept away from the younger, more inexperienced guards." He watched her now sullen form watch him, and then said, "Anyone that speaks to her is to be reported to Lord Sesshoumaru right away, are we clear?" he asked, and the guard nodded.

"Certainly, sir. I won't allow anyone to speak to her and will keep her isolated from all contact as much as possible." The guard bowed and his Captain nodded, looking at the angry female once more, before turning and heading up the wide, well-lit stairs from the equally well-lit dungeon – at least, when there were prisoners down there. When it was empty, most of the lamps were allowed to go out. No point in wasting light just to impress the dark.

Once the room was quiet, Takako sighed and sank down onto the surprisingly soft futon, wondering what the hell was going on. Was she being thrown in the dungeon for spying? But how would they have known what she was doing? It wasn't like anyone knew the secret of her mirror, so how would they? Had Sesshoumaru achieved a coup against his absent father and that was why she was down here – because the younger dog was about to attack the North? It couldn't be, though... while the dog was a brat to everyone else, he worshiped the ground his father walked on; though as of late they had obviously had some kind of disagreement it hadn't seemed to be important enough for the son to overthrow the father, especially as, while he was indeed strong, he was nowhere near the strength of his sire yet and was still far too young to rule unless there was no choice. Perhaps that was it, she thought – had her father finally killed the bastard dog?

She actually found that idea amusing in some ways, and smiled widely as she glanced over at the guard. "So that's why I've been thrown in here... my father finally killed that lowly dog Touga. If so," she said, looking down at her claws, "it's only a matter of time before he takes over this citadel and kills every trace of dog off. I will not be down here long."

Her words surprised laughter out of the guard, and suddenly she was not so sure that was the truth. If Touga had indeed been killed by her father, the guard would not be laughing at her. Still, he followed orders and didn't answer any of her heckling, simply ignoring her completely as she ranted.

It fell quiet again after a while as she tired of trying to make the guard talk, and she laid back on the futon and sighed, wondering at what was going to happen to her. Death seemed to loom all around her, and she slumped, her only thought that at least if she was executed by Touga it would be quick. If she did something to give everything away, though, her father would take a good long time to torture her to death. Suddenly, she wondered why she hadn't sued for asylum as soon as she'd appeared here in the West – but she knew why. Because she could never escape the reach of her father. If she'd done such a thing, he would simply have slipped an assassin into the Citadel and had her killed that way. While Touga and Sesshoumaru were far too well protected and strong for an assassin to gain access to them, she was not so lucky.

"Damned if I do, and damned if I don't," she finally said to herself. "If I turn against father and help the dogs or simply fail in his instructions to me, he will kill me. But if I don't turn from him, Sesshoumaru or Touga will kill me. I was doomed as soon as I was born, and simply because of who sired me, a circumstance I could do nothing about. It didn't matter whether I had Western blood on my hands or not."

Silence fell again for a time and she dozed, since there was nothing else she could do. A chittering and scurrying was heard, waking her from her doze and causing a distasteful expression to cross her face... rats. It seemed that was why they'd allowed a little of her youki to remain accessible – just in case. But just as she sparked her youki to shock the rat, it disappeared and a feline yowl was heard – it seemed that the dog kept cats in the dungeons to keep the rats down.

How... clean of him, she thought acidly, letting her youki fizzle out.

Just as she went to lay back down, wondering if she would ever find out why she was in that cell a disturbance was heard as she made out the footsteps of two beings, and she could hardly wait to see who it was – perhaps it was the mid-day meal? She had lost track of time down here, and wasn't sure what time of the day it was.

She looked over just as the being's rounded the corner from the stairs into the upper parts of the citadel and caught her breath in confusion as Sesshoumaru, followed by that firebird hawk female that was always trailing him, headed towards her. If they were here, then maybe she'd finally find out what was going on. Maintaining her silence with difficulty, she waited for the pup – which he still was, at least to her - to speak.

He studied her with those cold, cold eyes of his for long moments before finally doing so.

"It seems your sire is most impatient to know where my sire is. So impatient that he attacked across the Western borders by himself in a temper for his failure – meaning at least partially your failure – to find out what my sire is doing." A smirk curled his lip as he stared at her. "So I will tell you what my sire is doing – what your sire was so eager to find out about that he has given you away as a political prisoner and soon to be a prisoner of war, as well, since he is building an army to attack and try to take what my sire guards so closely. My sire is courting a female and is soon to be married. I hope that information was worth your imprisonment," his smirk widened as her jaw dropped, "though I would think it a rather mundane thing for your father to so stress himself over. After all, marriage is nothing earth-shaking, is it?"

Takako was so stunned that she couldn't even think of anything to say. That was what all the secrecy was about? The dog was getting married? His disappearance from the palace really didn't have anything to do with what her sire was seeking? She wanted to scream in frustration. All of this time spent here was a complete waste. And now she was in the dungeon because her sire had lost his formidable control because he hadn't managed to find out that the dog was getting himself a female to rut on.

"What? The information not to your liking, wench?" the firebird-hawk asked sarcastically. "That is too bad, since it is most likely going to cost you your life to gain it. But that is the fate of those that play at these games... and lose," she said, her expression going cold. "And I will be petitioning the Lord of this place for the right to be the one to kill you. I think he will be amenable to my request."

Takako paled, but glared at the female, wondering why she hated her so. "What have I done to you for you to wish my death so badly?" she asked tartly, pushing her fear to the back of her mind.

"You father is the one who ordered my grandmother killed – for no reason other than he felt like it, near as we can learn. So, you will die in payment for his murder of my grandmother," Kajiko hissed, obviously still very angry and clearly wanting revenge.

At that, Takako's shoulders slumped and she laughed, though it was a sound without any amusement in it whatsoever. "If you think to kill me in vengeance for your grandmother, then you may as well not even bother. My father won't care if you kill me at all. You could kill all of us, all of his children and he would probably thank you for ridding him of the 'pests haunting his palace'," she said sadly. Turning away from the two, she sat down on the futon and tuned them out, now at least knowing why she was down here and probably staring her own death in the face.

The only question now was when the killing blow would land.

She wasn't aware of Sesshoumaru and Kajiko leaving the dungeon – or the faint look of surprise and curiosity mixed with suspicion in Kajiko's eyes as she took in what Takako had said to her.

Perhaps things weren't so cut and dried. If they couldn't get their vengeance killing one of his own, then the only option left was to get it by killing the sire, himself. And maybe, those in the North wouldn't be upset with that loss.

It was a possibility that neither she nor Sesshoumaru had ever considered.

Maybe it was time to.

~oOo~

Hayate slipped from amongst the horsemen gathered in the center of whatever town they were in and demanding to be taken to the nearest inn and headed out, ready to report to his Lord on the matter he had been so curious about.

Tadayoshi was still fomenting rebellion against his brother, the Shogun, which was hardly news since it had been going on for years. The thing that had caught the attention of his Lord, however, had been the reason behind the Mori clan's sudden defection from the Shogun's side to being new allies of Tadayoshi and his adopted son Tadafuyu, instead.

It hadn't taken much to find out the truth of what had happened, despite all the gossip and misleading talk. And it was truly nothing more than a bunch of silliness, a fight over words spoken that had gotten out of hand, and the current Lord of the Mori, a small-minded man that was easily offended had withdrawn his support and turned and given it to the Shogun's estranged and trouble-making brother, instead.*

Just a bunch of pettiness that his Lord had no need to be concerned with.

Making his way out into the wilderness, the strangely different looking Hayate straightened in his saddle and put his hand to his sword, his senses tingling – there were youkai near. He narrowed his eyes and tightened his senses as he swept the area, trying to pinpoint where the youkai were and if they were a threat.

It was not known by anyone, but he had a small amount of reiki. Not enough to really use much; he could kill smaller rodent youkai and some of the insect youkai, as well. But for the most part it was just enough to tell him when there were youkai around, and with a bunch of already blessed sutra that he always purchased whenever he had a chance he could charge them just enough to add to the effect of them, using them to make a barrier over himself if needed, or sometimes, if the youkai was just a little stronger than him the charged sutra would be enough to kill what he couldn't alone.

This time, however, he'd stumbled on a small band of ragged hanyou, several of them still very small children. Shaking his head as the older ones growled fiercely, trying to frighten him away from them and their small campfire, he put his sutra away and said, "Calm down, youngsters, I'm not going to attack you. I'm a little too old to be attacking children. What are you all doing out here like this?"

One of the older ones, eyeing him suspiciously but sensing no ill will from him, answered him cautiously. "We're from a village of youkai n' humans that got together. So, to be safe they went and created this hidden village, and we all lived there for a long time without bein' bothered. But somehow, someone musta found out, 'cause a few days ago our village was attacked, and... and we're all that survived. Our parents stayed behind to give us the chance to get away." His voice had hardened over the last few words, and it was clear that he and the other two older ones were trying to keep themselves together to take care of the littler ones, who were shivering and obviously still in shock.

He sighed, then dismounted carefully, taking out his supplies and giving the self-appointed leader of the group most of his travel rations. It wasn't the best food, but it was much better than anything they'd probably had in days.

After the littler ones had settled down with the food, the older male ate the little bit he'd taken for himself and asked, "Why are you giving us your food, anyway? Most humans try to kill us."

Figuring he'd spend the night here with the kids and then lead them to his Lord, he said, "My Lord has taught us differently, I suppose you could say. His daughter is about to marry the Western Lord, the Inu no Taisho, as they call him. My Lord Hiraku believes that the only way is for us to combine our fates together, I guess just like all of your parents thought. And it's obvious he means it, since he's giving Touga-sama his most precious possession – his daughter."

The young male, who was named Hoshi, scoffed. "Human Lords don't care 'bout their daughters, so that don't mean nothin'. They give them away as concubines all the time."

Hayate chuckled a little. It was obvious that he knew quite a bit about life outside his village. Their parents must have taught them about it. "Most are like that, you are right. But Hiraku-sama is not. He loves his daughter and his son more than anything else, even his great wealth. He loved their mother the same way. When she died... for a time we all thought he would die of a broken heart and follow her into the other world. But he managed to hold on, and his daughter... well, that's basically why he won't give her to a human Lord. She's very beautiful and there have been requests for her hand but he refuses. She is very intelligent and also is a priestess, though, for some strange reason her reiki is different than any other priestess ever – she can actually heal youkai with it. She did, once. She came upon a dying kitsune kit and healed him. He was eventually taken into Lord Touga's service," he smiled, watching the wide eyes of the children with amusement.

After a moment, the boy shook his head, a frown on his face. "Yeah, maybe such a fairy tale is true, and maybe it ain't, but you're talkin' full youkai there. We all aren't, and youkai hate us as much as humans do."

"If that is so, then why does Touga-sama wed my hime Izayoi-sama? If he is youkai, and she is ningen, then what will their children be?" he asked the boy gently, not surprised he didn't believe such a tale could benefit him or his charges.

It appeared that such a thing hadn't occurred to the youngster, who couldn't really be all that old himself, and he looked uncertain at that. "She's marrying Touga-sama? Truly?" the boy asked, obviously knowing the name.

"Hai, hai, Touga-sama. He has spent the summer in the summer palace of my Lord Hiraku. They have been allies for years, you know. It is too bad your village was not on Setsuna lands – if such an attack had been made against your village in Setsuna, those responsible would have been hunted down and killed." Hayate looked around the small fire and tried to make out what kind of hanyou each child was, but it was just too difficult in the low, flickering light. "Look, kid, I think you should follow me home. You can't just wander around out here, you know, and Lord Hiraku would not wish to see you all homeless; even less Izayoi-sama, who has a soft heart would wish such a thing. If you can show me where your village was, we will look to see if anyone else survived and then take you to my Lord. If there were other adult survivors, I think that he would help you set up a village in his lands, where you would have the same protection as any other village he protects."

The youngster, looking over his charges with a weary, smut-smudged face, finally nodded, not knowing what else to do. "But what if we come across more of the people that attacked my village? No offense, but you couldn't beat them all off yourself."

"Perhaps not, Hoshi-san, but I have some more of my men that are within a few miles of here that were to meet up with me in the morning, and I think that would be enough. We are near enough to Setsuna lands now that were I to show my pass as Hiraku-sama's man, none would bother me, hanyou children or not."

Hoshi thought about it for a few moments, and then sighed. "Okay. I don't know what else to do, and you don't smell like you're lying. Thanks for the food and help."

The boy's words surprised a soft laugh out of Hayate, and Hoshi looked over at him. "Keh. What was so funny 'bout that?"

"You youkai and hanyou and your noses. Many times this summer Touga-sama's nose has proved quite valuable to his new family." He shook his head, amused as the young boy tried so hard to stay awake. "Listen, kid, get some sleep. I'm gonna need you awake and sharp tomorrow if you're going to show me the way to your former village. I'll keep watch."

"But you can't s-sense things like I can," Hoshi yawned, barely awake.

"Oh, yes I can. I'm going to tell you somethin' even my Lord don't know, little Hoshi-san – I've got a bit of reiki myself. Not much, mind, but enough to sense youkai and danger. How do ya think I found you kids? Let yourself sleep. I'll wake you up for second watch, how's that?"

The boy finally nodded and seconds later was deep asleep. Hayate shook his head again – the poor kid probably hadn't slept since the attack, taking over care of the smaller children with little help but the two other slightly older children. He looked to be the oldest, perhaps ten in human years, while the other two older kids, one boy and one girl, looked to be about eight. The rest of the children seemed to range from around two for the youngest, to six for the oldest. It was sickening what had been done to them.

Hayate himself had never grown up hating youkai. He'd had a neko youkai, a mononoke as a friend when he was younger, and though the idea of hanyou hadn't really ever occurred to him until the first time he'd seen one, he just couldn't find it in himself to hate them. It seemed to him that there was enough darkness already in the world, they certainly didn't need to make more. His gaze sweeping over the youngsters, he really couldn't understand the kind of hate that had left these children orphaned, frightened, and alone. It was just ridiculous.

And so he would bring them along with him, as well as any other survivors they could find and let his Lord deal with the issue. But he certainly didn't envy anyone responsible for this atrocity – if his Lord ever found them they would be paying for their actions in blood. Hiraku-sama was a fierce protector of those on his lands or that swore to him as Lord, and he had a feeling that no matter what they found tomorrow, whether there were adult survivors or not, Hiraku-sama would find a safe place for these children.

He spent the rest of the night thinking over everything that had occurred over the summer, letting the boy continue to sleep past the time second watch should have taken over – he was obviously much more tired than he'd let on, because he was still deeply asleep, and Hayate had caught sight of some blood on Hoshi's clothes. Apparently he'd been injured and his body was probably still trying to heal. He would need sleep to do that, and he didn't begrudge giving it to the kid – he was used to going for two or three nights with little to no sleep.

Yes, he'd let the youngsters sleep, and he could catch up on his own sleep when he made it back home.

He'd be fine until then.

~oOo~

Morning came quickly – too quickly for the kids he was watching over, and with sleepy yawns and solemn faces the kids all looked to Hoshi, who was surprised that he hadn't been woken up to keep watch.

"Oi, why didn't you wake me up?"

Hayate shrugged. "It's no big deal, Hoshi-san. I'm not that tired, and I'll have plenty of sleep comin' to me when we get back to my Lord. Anyway, we'd better get going if we want to find your village and see if there are any survivors." He frowned, looking at the other kids. "Though I think we might want to leave the littler ones with one of my men somewhere outside the village – these kids don't need to be seeing what's left."

Hoshi nodded, his face grave, and Hayate had to give him some respect – the boy was obviously still weary, pushing his grief for his parents away to take care of the other kids and now was faced with going back to the scene... and he was being strong for them. He decided that he'd have him stay with the little ones, too – he didn't need to see any of that, either.

They were ready to head out in short order, the three youngest sitting astride Hayate's horse as he led him by the reigns. It helped them to move a little faster, as well, as they couldn't move very fast with their little legs. He surmised that the village they'd come from couldn't be too far away, since the kids had probably only managed to get a few miles in the last several days, tops.

It was mid-morning by the time he met up with his men, and once apprised of the situation, they soon were on the trail to this village that had managed to remain hidden for so long. Once they arrived in the vicinity, though, they could all see why the village had succeeded as it had – it was truly well-hidden. It was in a rather remote area, deep within a huge, truly massive cavern. Even if you'd come upon the opening to the cave, which was rather small compared to what it opened up into, you wouldn't know there was a village there unless you explored inside and found it.

Once they reached the entrance to the cave, from which a thin trail of smoke was still lazily weaving, Hayate managed to convince Hoshi to stay with the others with the excuse that the younger children might become frightened and try to run from his men without him there. He reluctantly agreed to stay, although his eyes seemed to say that he understood the real reason behind his words and was thankful for the understanding.

Face grim as he led two of his men into the cavern, leaving the other four outside protecting the children in a little hidden dell a quarter of a mile away, Hayate was quick to pick up the smell of death and burned bodies, and was pretty sure that Hiraku-sama would be sending a group of his men to this place to take care of the remains of the people here. Though they hadn't been on his land, still, they deserved a decent burial and though he didn't have enough manpower at the moment to take on such a large job as it would turn out to be with the size the village had been, he would make sure that something, at least, was done.

They made a thorough sweep through what was left of it, surprised at how large it had been. The group that attacked must have been quite large – fifty or sixty men at least, and it looked as though the villagers had made them pay for the attack, as there were some, dressed differently and carrying swords, that were obviously the attackers. Those bodies wouldn't be buried, they would be left for carrion animals to dispose of. The clever idea of having the village hidden in such a place became a not so bright idea once the place was detected, because really, even though there was another exit, it was a small one and allowed for only a few to get away, like the children. The rest were basically sitting ducks.

It was the corpses of the children, some mere infants, that offended him the most. It angered him so much that he decided to ask his Lord for leave to look into who had carried out such an attack. After all, that was his job – finding out information. He was pretty sure Hiraku-sama would agree to his request.

To their surprise, they found several older teenage youngsters and several more younger children, including one infant, still alive, along with five adults, two human and three youkai, and in short order Hayate convinced them that they were not there to harm them and already had taken the other children that had escaped under their protection. Thankfully that sense of smell struck again; the adult youkai, two inu and one neko, could smell the children on him and that they were unharmed. One of the inu and the human females were husband and wife and were Hoshi's parents. Hayate was pleased to tell them of their son and his bravery and honor in taking care of the younger children to the best of his ability. Overjoyed to hear that he had even survived, they were very proud to hear of how he had taken care of the children that so many adults had died to help escape.

Of course, the inuyoukai knew of their clan's great leader, Touga-sama of the West, though none had ever even considered that he would accept their human spouses and hanyou children under his protection; they were considerably stunned when told of his choice to wed a human hime – not only for her strengths that would be needed against the North when war came, but just because of his love for her. They were even more amazed to hear tell of her father and his stance on human-youkai relations, and that he would be performing the wedding himself - and also that she was a priestess with the power to heal youkai of deadly injuries.

Amazed, weary, and still healing, the survivors of the attack organized themselves to follow Hayate and his men out of the cavern, and were soon reunited with the other surviving children.

Sadly, only two of the other children had a surviving parent, but many of those in the village were related in one way or another and so all the children were soon taken in and placed with an adult who would accept responsibility for them and raise them. Once again placing the children on the horses, the group got under way, Hayate figuring that it would take them about six days at their current rate to reach the Summer palace of his Lord.

Each day was spent in bouts of walking interspersed with stops for water and food, or relieving oneself. But surprisingly, they moved quicker than just humans could alone and they made good time, Hayate's men taking it upon themselves to hunt for the group's meals when they would stop in late afternoon and make camp for the night. Though excellent hunters, the youkai adults were also still healing and not able to move at their normal speed.

Needless to say, though they trusted what their noses were telling them, that the human men were genuine and not leading them into a trap, it was hard for them to believe everything that Hayate was telling them and they were very cautious in following him. The Inu no Taisho... wedding a human? It was so difficult to believe, for everyone knew of his heir's hatred of the species. The only thing he hated more than humans was dragons. Of course, when that was brought up it gave Hayate a good laugh, and when asked, he explained his hime's fiery personality and that she would never allow Touga-sama's heir to intimidate her.

"I daresay he's in for a big surprise," he chuckled upon mention of that particular topic. "Your Taisho has said several times that Izayoi-hime is as strong as, or even stronger than Midoriko-sama ever was. And she's proved it. I'll never forget the day her father had her show her control over her reiki, and she called her kitsune adviser and friend out to demonstrate exactly what she was capable of. I watched her power spread all over the both of them – and it didn't harm him at all. And then she had him cut his hand with his claw, and she healed it just like that," he said, snapping his fingers. "Pretty much astonished the entire group that had gone out there to see. But there ain't no doubt she could just as easily kill a youkai that got on her bad side, like this dragon Lord Touga-sama keeps talkin' about. She's just that strong."

Finally, arriving at the Summer palace a little early just after evening had settled in on the fifth day, Hoshi's father, Yozei, who seemed to be the spokesman for the group, told Hayate that the group would wait outside the palace while he went in and talked with his Lord. If Hiraku-sama was truly the benevolent lord Hayate claimed, perhaps he and this Kenji, the hime's adviser, would come out and speak with them – to reassure them that this was not all some trap. "I mean no disrespect, and you have been kind and honorable, Hayate-san, but I must be certain that I do what is best for us and I wish to be as sure as possible that we will all be safe."

Hayate waved away his concern. "After what you have lived with, having to hide yourselves away to remain safe and then surviving such an attack merely because of your mingling of the blood, I understand your hesitance. I would do the same. I will go and talk to my Lord. I don't know if Touga-sama and the hime-sama will appear, as I believe their wedding was held just this morn, but Hiraku-sama and Kenji-sama, and possibly even Hikaru-sama, who is Touga-sama's ambassador to this court, should appear and speak with you."

Yozei and the other adults bowed to Hayate, who was leaving his men to stay with the group since they were familiar to them, and Hayate bowed back and then turned on his heel and entered the palace, the giant gates swinging open upon those inside seeing who was there.

With hopeful glances at each other, the group all settled down to await this Lord of Setsuna's coming. If he was truly as compassionate and as unprejudiced as Hayate-san claimed, then perhaps...

Weary souls almost begged the kami that all that they had been told would turn out to be true.

~oOo~

Tired, Hayate awaited his Lord's pleasure outside the sitting room the wedding celebrants had found themselves in, wishing to get this all done. He was quite weary, but even more so were the littlest children outside, and they would need to seek their beds soon.

When he was beckoned inside he was surprised to see the newly wedded couple looking happy and content just to sit near each other, and surmised that before they went off to enjoy their 'wedding night', they would probably be involved with the group sitting outside the gates, helping to soothe their fears.

He bowed in a general direction to everyone in the room, then spoke. "My lord, on my way home from finding out what you requested of me, I ran into a group of young children, some with minor injuries, and they told me a chilling tale. It seems that they are-" he glanced with a serious expression at the newly married couple, "-hanyou children. Their parents had created a hidden village so that they could all live in peace, but were recently betrayed and attacked. When the children led me back," he continued into the sudden shocked silence, his face hard, "the scene was one I wish I had never been exposed to. It was as savage as any field of battle I've ever seen. We did discover a few more surviving children along with five adults, two of which are inuyoukai. I brought them with me, for I could not countenance leaving them as I found them. But, not surprisingly, despite all that I have told them of you and your alliance with Touga-sama and his wedding of Izayoi-sama, with all that they have lived through they fear to just accept my words and the leader of the remaining villagers, Yozei, asked that if you are truly willing to offer protection to youkai and their human spouses and hanyou children, that you come forth and speak with him. I was thinking, myself, that perhaps they could be helped to build a village somewhere on Setsuna lands where they could be safe, my Lord, though of course I made no promises of what you would choose to do," he sighed as he finished relaying the pertinent information.

Unsurprisingly, it was Izayoi that spoke first, her voice outraged. "You are telling me that there are mixed race children outside the palace, tired, hungry, and even injured?" At his nod, she stood from her place near her new husband's side and exhorted the males to get a move on. "Come on, this is no time for dallying! These people need to be taken care of!"

Within moments Hayate found himself following the entire wedding party back out of the palace doors and through each bailey as the soldiers and people of the palace watched in confusion. This summer would truly be talked of for many, many years to come, hopefully as the year when the first peace between the races began.

When the group of dispossessed villagers saw the large party heading their way, they were at first quite wary, though the fact that none of them were soldiers eased them somewhat; but when the inuyoukai males caught sight of Touga, their eyes widened and they submitted to him instantly, eyeing him in awe.

Once everyone had taken seats on the soft grass across from the palace gates, Hayate introduced Yozei to his Lord, and then let the talk wash over him as he once more took a backseat – the place he was most comfortable being.

Yozei, eyes wide, took in the group before him, unable to believe that what Hayate had been saying all along was actually true. Finally, he said, "When Hayate-san told me of this place and the people that lived here I was reluctant to believe him, though I scented no lies. Is it true, Touga-sama, that you have wedded the hime-sama of this house?" he asked, though it now seemed as though it was true.

Touga eyed the inuyoukai and then growled lightly, beginning an exchange that continued on for several seconds in the inuyoukai language. Afterward, he turned to Hiraku and the other members of the party, a smile creasing his face as he took in his wife's interested face, and said, "Yozei has confirmed what your man has explained." His expression darkened then. "He says that they are all that is left of a village of almost two hundred. Many of those dead were little more than infants – around forty or so." He sighed. "It is up to you, Hiraku. Right now, with the war with the North coming, and the fools still in the West who would hassle these people they would be safer here. My own heir doesn't like humans, let alone hanyou, and while he would not actually attack these people he would not defend them, either. Until and unless he changes his attitude, he will not inherit my lands – if I must go outside my line to find an heir that I would find fitting then I will, though I would hate to do such a thing. I can only hope my little wife can knock some sense into him," he finished. "Still, until the dragons are taken care of, I can commit to nothing else, for in facing him with my army I am keeping him from destroying all of Nihon."

Hiraku surveyed the group of people for a moment, then turned to his own heir, wishing to hear his thoughts on things. "What say you, Ichirou?"

Izayoi looked over at her brother with an expression urging him to hurry, and with a quick smile in her direction, he said, "If they are willing to swear to Setsuna, father, then I see no reason not to take them in." He met the male inuyoukai's gaze. "What skills did your village have? Farming, hunting...?"

Yozei answered readily enough, though with a tired look that gave away the thought that they would be turned away for not having the wealth to pay no doubt high taxes. This Lord had not gotten rich by giving up income, of course. "Living in a cave gave us little chance to farm, though we had a few small garden plots. We hunted. Though we would probably not be able to give much in tithe for the favor, since there are only the five adults, and of course our human females don't hunt, doing the cleaning of the kills, instead."

Ichirou smiled at him, seeming to understand his expression. "That wasn't why I asked. I wished to ascertain where you would best be able to make your home. But really, you need many more people with differing abilities to make a viable village."

"What are your taxes, if I may ask? If they are too high, then there is little point in continuing, since we would be unable to pay them," Yozei asked bluntly.

Hiraku shook his head. "Until you are able to be a viable village able to pay taxes, nothing. Once you are, then five percent of the village's take – for hunters in meat and skins, and farmers, rice and wheat."

At that, there was a frozen silence for a moment, and then Yozei managed to sputter out, "Five percent?" in disbelief. "You must be joking – I have never heard of a Lord taking less than thirty percent. Five percent?" he asked again, uncertain that he had heard correctly.

Smiling, Hiraku nodded. "Five percent," he reiterated, and watched Yozei as the inu looked around at the group sitting around the human Lord and the Inu no Taisho.

After several moments, he sighed and shook his head. "I guess what Hayate-san said was true. Five percent. It is unbelievable." After a moment, he straightened. "There are two more villages, hidden, of mixed families. They are small, but with the residents of both and what is left of us we would be able to create a viable village. I can find them and inform them of the offer to live here in peace. It will take a bit of time, but we should be able to become viable in two years."

"Then," Hiraku said, "as long as you are all willing to swear to me, it is agreed. Come," he said, standing, "you all should be seen by healers, and I am sure you need food and sleep. Anything else can be discussed later."

And just that quickly, the first openly mixed village was created – even if only in the minds of its creators and proponents and prospective inhabitants. It would take a little work to get it off the ground, but one day soon...

Setsuna would have a population of youkai and their human spouses and hanyou children.

It was the very beginning of a wonderful future...

With Setsuna at its epicenter. Depending on the outcome of Izayoi's wish, of course.

Everything always seemed to come back to that damned jewel.

She wished, suddenly, that it had never been created...

~oOo~

*Takayoukai- falcon youkai.

*kameyoukai- tortoise or turtle youkai

*umebouzuyoukai- sea monster turtle – sea turtle youkai of great size like the one in the fourth Inuyasha movie.

*Mori clan's reasons for changing alliances-I couldn't find any particular reason that was noted, just that after about 12 or 13 years they returned to their alliance with the Shogun. So I just made one up for the purposes of this story, one that was vague enough to cover multiple possibilities.

Edited 11/05/13