Wind brushing his long hair and the dark of night surrounding him, the son of the general danced gracefully around his company; their eyes large in awe. Admiration gripped the audience as the youkai glided to the ground. He stood as the wind slowly grazed his hair and the grass swayed along. As he turned, the youkai looked down at his admirers in slight shock. Among them was a foreign figure. His scent emanated his youkai origin, but it was somewhat… familiar.

"Sesshomaru," the figure whispered as if recalling a memory from long ago. Seeing the uncertainty and confusion in Sesshomaru's bright eyes, he spoke again. "Oh, come now. Surely you remember."

"How dare you speak to the great Lord Sesshomaru like that! Why, if he wasn't in a good mood you would-"

"Jaken!" Lord Sesshomaru scolded causing his servant to cringe in fear. "I do not recall meeting you before, and yet-"

"I smell familiar?" the figure finished. Curiosity taking over him, Sesshomaru strode closer to see his face. Alarmed, he saw his father. No- similar, but not quite. His face became ghostly when he remembered some… repressed memories.

"Milord, do you know this man?" Jaken questioned in shock when Sesshomaru turned his back to the mysterious figure.

"I would hope so, I am his uncle after all," the man spoke in satisfaction, "So you do remember. You scared me for a moment there, lad."

This man is nothing like Lord Sesshomaru…

"Those were some good moves. You dance like a true woman. Ha, a woman!" he thundered in laughter at his joke. Taken aback, Jaken looked at Sesshomaru to see his rage but was surprised to find no change in his emotion. Suddenly their other companion stepped forward.

"Sesshomaru-sama, you never told me you had other family," the young girl replied gently pushing past Lord Sesshomaru.

"That's because I had forgotten," he muttered in response.

"A human?" His uncle looked down at the girl in astonishment. It soon turned to laughter. "You're not going to eat her are you?"

"No, I-"

"Oh, how I've longed to see that day. Of course your father questioned if you would ever soften up. But I told him, I told him that you would. Not really in the way I imagined, of course. I mean you aren't in love with her or anything? Oh, of course not. That's just rubbish. She is adorable, much like you were at this age. Though your other uncle didn't think so. He said 'nothing produced from that traitorous bastard could ever be worth anything'. Of course that was after everything, and I could understand why he thought poorly of your father. Good man your father. You know I remember when-"

"Master Jaken?" the girl asked under the rambling of the man.

"What is it Rin?"

"Where did Lord Sesshomaru go?"

"What? He's right-"The loyal servant looked frantically around for his no longer existent master. "Lord Sesshomaru left me! Oh, how terrible. I knew it was only a matter of time." He said between wails.

"What? Where did that boy run off to? That's rude if you ask me." Sesshomaru's uncle frowned in disbelief and highly offended. Looking out in the horizon, he spot his nephew flying toward them. When he finally arrived, the hurt man looked to Sesshomaru for answers but received none.

"Is that all Saburo? I have better things to do," he replied, walking past his uncle.

"Well, yes. There is, actually, a matter of business. It has to do with your father." Gaining interest, Sesshomaru sharply turned to face him. "As you know he died many years ago, but there was a, uh, problem with his will. You see, you and your brother inherited his swords, but he had more than that. Care to take a guess?"

"Everything probably went to InuYasha, so I-"

"Land: he had land. That caught your attention, didn't it? Have you ever wondered who received his title, his land? Well there is an old tradition passed down through this family for generations."

"I'm listening," Sesshomaru reassured very curious as to where this might lead.

"All the members of the family, of both sides, compete and challenge each other for the title that belonged to Inu no Taisho. However, every member of the family must participate-"

"Which is why you could not do this immediately after his death. InuYasha-"

"Exactly. Your father went through these same challenges and trials."

"Trials?"

"Well, the winner of these 'games' will have to prove themselves through vigorous trials," Saburo explained.

"There is one thing I don't understand. Why is it you come to me now when over two hundred years have passed since the birth of InuYasha?"

"Ah, well you see, sometimes we forget about things, and don't remember until a certain brother brings it up at a 'reunion'. Your other uncle got us all together just to bring up the topic. That Hirato, always coming up with clever schemes to get his way. Of course, right when I heard the words 'family' and 'reunion' I was out the door. No one else bothered to show up though, funny thing. I guess they had other things to do. Then again when we change it to 'bloody reunion that where we all fight each other to get some land' everyone comes the next second. And when I say 'bloody' I mean actual blood, like the stuff in your veins. Speaking of which, I can see some bulging out on your head, Sesshomaru."

"I can't imagine why," Sesshomaru muttered in aggravation.

"Anyways… wait where was I?"

"I think you were talking about blood," Rin replied intently listening to his story.

"Oh right, this can get bloody, and I mean bloody. Like die from losing too much blood bloody. That happened once. I believe it was my great-great-great-great-uncle. Right, because our line has won every time. Though, that might change since your mother's siblings are participating as well, but I have faith in your fath- I mean you, sorry about that. Anyways, speaking of your mother-"

"Come Rin, it's getting late. We should return to Kaede before she worries," Sesshomaru interrupted while looking up at the moonlit sky.

"Yeah. When will you see me again? Hopefully it's not as long as last time. I missed you a WHOLE lot. And then Kaede-"

"Rin," Sesshomaru gently warned.

"Sorry," she apologized bringing her gaze down to her feet.

"I have nowhere to be, so I shall stay another day." A smile was printed on her face. In pure delight, she ran over to him and, without thinking, hugged the youkai.

"I always miss you when you go away," Rin added as she buried her head in his clothes.

"Come, off to Kaede's," he said, showing the slightest emotion.

"Okay." Contempt with his reaction, she skipped off towards the village where the priestess stayed. Looking behind occasionally to make sure Sesshomaru was following, the two left Jaken and Saburo.

"Hm, interesting. Very interesting," Saburo murmured. Turning to Jaken he added, "please be sure to convince him to go. Otherwise my brother would not be happy and he needs to- well never mind. He shall see soon enough. Oh, listen to me go on. Stress how important it is he attends."

"Well, Lord Sesshomaru will not be easy to sway, he does as he pleases. If he should accept your invention, where should he meet you?"

"He will know," the man answered, looking quite satisfied with his visit.

"What is that supposed to mean? Enough with your riddles. The great Sesshomaru has no time to solve such silly-" he was cut short as Saburo walked away from their conversation.

"Hey, where are you going? That was very rude of you. If Lord-" realizing Sesshomaru's absence, Jaken ran in the direction he and Rin had taken.

"Lord Sesshomaru, wait for me!"