XXV.

Of The Days Of Darkness And The House Of Fire

The days were passing quickly, one after another. In the privacy of Shippou's bedroom and the room beyond his secret door, Rin and Shippou devoted a good deal of their waking time to the picture they had begun together; by the fourth day, it had become a series of pictures, and by the seventh, more of a book - but they were both quite proud of their work.

Sesshomaru spent those days planning things that he would share with no one - not with Kinawai, who lingered even now, when there was business for him to attend to in his own lands; not even with Kagome, who was aware of his preoccupation but distracted enough herself to ignore it.

Her distraction was his fault, and perhaps he had intended it that way; she was buried in papers, in scrolls and carefully bound books. Every morning he left something out for her - at first, as he had said, it was the simplest beginnings - the songs one would teach a child, the legends of a few great heroes. She was not surprised to find his father's name among those heroes, but she found there for the first time a reference that called him not only Inu no Taisho, but Godslayer; the ancient text named him as He-Who-Killed-The-Bright-Crimson-Shining-Divine-Radiance.

Kagome had almost laughed at that one - what kind of title was that? How many years had it been since these words were first written down? How many times had they been copied? When she had asked Sesshomaru, he had looked at her with the faint amusement she had begun to recognize, and barely shrugged.

"I recopied many of these texts myself when I was a pup, and more later, when I had the time. The words, though...they are ancient, and the histories of the Days of Darkness were penned by Eldest herself, six thousand years ago when men who were barely more than animals first came to this place."

He had refused to answer any more of her questions, though; he had brought her to the baths in the basement of this place, the ancient springs...and she had not brought her questions back out of the water to torment him with.

But that was only the second day.

The third and the fourth and all the rest since, it had been the same, and while she understood some of his urgency she couldn't help but feel that his real motive in all of this was to keep her from asking other questions. She had heard him talking to Kinawai, and she knew that her presentation would be the night of no moon - the new moon, when the sky was darkest.

She had tried, reading carefully, to find any hints at all as to what might be going to happen to her, but there were none; many of the things that Sesshomaru had given to her to study were in his own hand, gradually strengthening characters that took on a greater elegance and precision as she read - and as she read, she was convinced that he had chosen things that were informative and interesting, but without a single clue.

She was positive that he had done this on purpose - and not withstanding her unsuccessful detective work, she was also irritated that his calligraphy was so...perfect. She had been proud of her handwriting before, had won awards for it in school, back when such things had still mattered - but now she couldn't look at it without cringing and scowling at the same time.

Sesshomaru!

It was quickly becoming obvious to her that there was probably nothing he could not do, and do well. Nothing! It was aggravating, to say the least, but Kagome found that it was not so difficult to forgive him his perfectionist tendencies.

After all, he was...Sesshomaru.

The scrolls Sesshomaru had first handed to Kagome were only the beginning - so he had said - and as the hours and days ticked by, Kagome felt the truth of his statement begin to overwhelm her. There really was more than ten thousand years of history piled in front of her, writings that spanned so much time it made her head spin.

This morning, the seventh morning, the first thing she looked at had made her scowl and rub her eyes, made suddenly itchy by an explosion of dust. Gifted by youkai stamina, unaware of passing time, Kagome slowly became so absorbed in her new texts that she forgot she was reading. The words in front of her did not look like they had been recopied; the hand was not Sesshomaru's now-familiar one, but a more feminine calligraphy of fine, wispy strokes.

The scroll was fading in places and the parchment had cracked; it was neither a legend nor a war story but it had some of the flavor of the Songs of the Beginning Sesshomaru had given to her that first day. Still, this writing was obviously not for children; it had all the attraction and holding power of the most fantastic myths in her experience.

Kagome had come to the Chronicle of the most ancient days of youkai history - the Days of Darkness.

Before youkai knew of anything but power, before we knew any language but violence, any speech but the scream of battle - those are the days we now call the Days of Darkness. Those were the days when the kami still walked among us, interfering in our lives, seeking worship and then retribution when we did not obey. Those were the days of war between youkai and kami, the days of greatest power and greatest strife.

They are gone now, those days, vanished into the past; even my grandsire did not remember them, and he has been dead for a thousand years. The legacy we carry with us from those days is the legacy of the Dragonlord, and now that the line of the House of Fire is broken, now that first has become last, that legacy must be committed to something more than my fragile memory.

The story of the Darkness is not a quiet story: in the beginning, there was only violence. But as the shattered world turned under the light of the sun and moon, something began to grow in that violence, stirred up now and again into a tempest of conflicts and Challenges. A demon's heart has always beat strongly, but in the Days of Darkness that beat was a steady drum pounding out the pulse of death; and the Dragon and the Inu, Ookami and Kitsune, Oni and Ayakashi, all moved to the rhythm and call of that same drum, and basked in the glory of Blood.

The kami moved among youkai, and saw the great violence that was done, from one kind to another and from one individual to another, and they were displeased; for they meant the great span of the world to be a land for men only, and the kami railed against the demons who tore the earth and riled the sea, exclaiming against them in the Celestial Kingdom and demanding that they cast themselves into the pit.

One by one, seeking an end to the conflict, the kami sent warriors down into the world to slay youkai without discrimination - but the warriors of the kami, though they themselves knew no fear, also could not awaken fear in a demon's heart.

Only wrath.

Under the pressure of that wrath the slow sprouting seed of the ages, the accumulated wisdom and instincts of thousands of seasons burst outward into a flowering of alliances. Among us came the subtle birth of a language that was more than the screech of battle in the ears, a language that could engage the heart, if not yet the mind. And in battles both furious and timeless, spanning ages beyond the perception of thought, the kami struggled, and our kin struggled, and no gain could be made by either side.

But a youkai heart, once awakened, is a great and terrible thing.

As if the words had some strange power over her thoughts, Kagome felt suddenly released, as though from a spell, by that single sentence.

...a youkai heart, once awakened, is a great and terrible thing...

She felt intimately connected to those words; they spoke volumes to her in their simplicity, outlining the difference of her new self from the old, limning it in darkness.

I wonder what it was like for them, the demons of those days? To know nothing but fighting...and then, one day, to find speech, thoughts, compromise -

Carefully, wary of this ancient scroll and its crumbling composition, Kagome unrolled another section, scanned it.

What is this?

It appeared to be a list of names, but they were unlike any names she had ever seen, and the reason was quickly made clear; they were the names of gods and demons, the names of the participants of great battles that had been fought beyond the ken of humankind. She was beginning to wonder, now, about what she had skimmed over earlier, the reference to Sesshomaru's father as Godslayer.

Could he really have slain one of the kami? But all this stuff seems to be before his time, so...how?

Swiftly, still carefully, Kagome rolled the scroll up again and reached for the next one, slid it out of its case and unrolled it more carefully still, wary this time of the inevitable dust. The characters at the top of the page continued the great list of names, and Kagome let her eyes scan downward until she came to something of interest.

...Omohi-kane no kami, who defeated Kenta, a lord among Kitsune...and Kouki, son of Kenta, who did himself defeat Omohi-kane no kami, earning for himself the name of Godslayer and a place among the mighty.

For a moment, Kagome paused - there it was again, that reference, that title - Godslayer.

But this is talking about someone else, a Kitsune...not the Inu no Taisho. Hmm...

She read on.

So it was that though many were slain, others achieved their vengeance, and time wore on and the battles between one youkai and another gave way, and ceased, and the great alliances became sturdy as the bamboo, to be bent but not broken. The battles between demon and god, youkai and celestial warrior, became the great test of every youkai soul, and there were no nights of silence, no hours that did not contain the sounds of battle and pain.

Then came Ryuunosuke, and with his rise everything changed. He was the one who would become the first Dragonlord, the son of an ancient Dragon out of the darkest of the Dark Days. His fangs were long, his claws were sharp, and his Sight was keen; he could see many things at a distance, and his far-reaching thoughts perceived the shadows of both deeds and intentions.

In battles great and small, he traveled, from the coasts of the islands to the great land in the West, and perhaps further. For a thousand years, he moved among foreign Bloodlines, seeking strange beasts and new powers. He encountered men and their civilization, and saw in them only a faint reflection of consciousness, but great potential. Nothing like their kind had yet been seen in this place.

When he returned, it was to find the ways he had left behind him unchanged. The same dark drumbeat still moved the hearts of all his kin, all of his kind, and for a time it moved him; for a time, a thousand years, he could not resist it.

But the land was finally changing. Men were come to the shores of the islands, men like those that are with us even now, and they were as little like the ape-cousins that we had known as they were like us. In fear and in awe of the power of our kind, they worshiped us, and we grew strong from sacrifices and the muttered faith of thousands. The kami, more displeased than they had ever been, redoubled their efforts to no avail.

We continued to watch over men, as one watches a pet that has been made out of prey; their petty quarrels, their flowering culture...but it was Ryuunosuke who watched their battles.

It was Ryuunosuke who saw that a youkai alliance was not the same as a human alliance - that not fighting one another was not the same as fighting together; it was Ryuunosuke, who learned from the example of the humans and their glut of warfare. A single warrior, however mighty, however proud, will fall eventually and with him fall all his hopes but that he may be avenged - but an army! The hope of an army is in its leader, yet when that leader is killed such hope can grow stronger; the banner may pass to other hands.

So it was with battle and wily words that Ryuunosuke sought leadership over the others of our kind. Many fought against him. Superior knowledge and greater strength supported his goal, and when at last he was victorious against the final Challenger, it was as if the thing that had become clear in that moment had always been clear: the Dragon is the lord of youkai; his nature is the possession of all other natures.

To be Dragon is to possess the hunting-consciousness of the Wolf and the Inu, the cunning of the Kitsune and the Nekomata, the monstrosity of the Oni...all and none belong to him, and he can draw upon their power at will. It is this unity that allows the Submission of a Dragon female, the gift of her change to match a mate of power.

Kagome stopped reading then and rubbed her eyes; they were gritty and sore. Despite this, she turned back to the words she had just gone over, read them again.

...the gift of her change to match a mate of power.

"So that's...what he was talking about!"

Kagome leaned back in her chair, stretching her back, and then closed her eyes, pressed the heels of her palms against them. So many words...so much history! But she was pleased, because she had found her first clue, even if it had nothing to do with her presentation. It was nice to have an explanation that was - for once - not dependent on Sesshomaru's proclivity for the mysterious.

"A Dragon female, huh..."

And she thought over the words she had read, the revelations they contained - the tale they told about the nature of youkai, the origins of the demon-rhythm that beat like a taiko in her breast. She thought of Sesshomaru, and what her thoughts implied about him, about the fire that must burn in him as in her, about the amount of effort he must expend to conceal that furious heat...and she heard his words in her thoughts, exact, down to the languid, possessive tone he had spoken in.

"Beautiful Inu, you are mine now. Did you know that you are Inu, now, that the Dragon changed even as you changed?"

She shivered, and then shook her head and returned to the scrolls - to the story of Ryuunosuke and the birth of the Youkai Army, the story of the victory that had won him the title Dragonlord and the submission of a thousand youkai clans to his claim as the Ryuu no Taisho.

When there were only six days until the new moon, Kinawai made ready to leave Sesshomaru's fortress so that he could return with appropriate ceremony. He did not, however, plan on going without a few choice words. Sesshomaru stood by him with a suspicious expression, but when Kinawai spoke he could not help but listen.

"You told your visitors that it was by the old Rite you would present Kagome - tell me, does that mean you will summon your mother to bind her under the Ink?"

He grinned suddenly, as if with some secret amusement, but Sesshomaru was not amused, and Kinawai could see it. Merely seeing it, however, was not enough for him to contain his curiosity.

"How do you think she will respond - your mother?"

"Haven't you meddled enough, Kinawai?"

Kinawai fixed him with a dangerous smile, and smoothed a wrinkle from the shoulder of his tunic. If Sesshomaru did not want to answer him...that was fine, for now. There were other questions he could ask that would be equally disturbing...and enlightening.

"No. Well...then tell me, how close are you to your miko, now, Sesshomaru?"

"How…close?"

But Sesshomaru knew exactly what Kinawai meant by his question - the presence of Kagome that lived in the back of his thoughts now, his strange attunement to her feeling and her intent. He had thought that claiming her would ease the temptation of her presence, not expecting that it would grow, that he would want her near him, always near him, that he would feel…soft with her, that he would care for her. Though he had taken her, claimed her, he had not believed she could touch him – and she did more than touch him, she was wrapped around his soul.

For a moment of wide awareness, Sesshomaru searched Kinawai's face and kept his silence, thinking how strange and dangerous it must be for his friend. Was Kasuka in Kinawai's thoughts the way Kagome lived in him? What a trial - what a hell!

But as for me...

"Close enough, Kinawai, she is close enough."

And then his voice gained a sharper tone. Sesshomaru was more than tired of innuendo and cunning words; it was not his way.

"What more is it that you want from me?"

Kinawai responded quickly, his voice equally sharp.

"I want to know your definite plans. What are you going to do with her? The voices that question me, that is the answer they are really seeking, because they do not dare to come to you. Rumor frightens them with the possibilities, with the actions they may be forced to take against you, and apparently I am easier to approach."

Lazily, Kinawai smiled and spoke with raised eyebrows.

"You know you have to show her to them...why you had to Chase her, Sesshomaru, I can't understand -"

Sesshomaru growled, felt his hands tighten on empty air.

"Oh yes, you do. She moved, and I had to have her – and you knew it would happen. You made it happen! And it was you who told me - "

Sesshomaru stopped, took a deep breath. Now was not the time to lose his temper.

"It was my intention to follow the Rite, to mark her under the Ink; I told my kin who visited as much. But she is not born to us and I have been thinking that it might…disturb her to be seen under the Ink by so many."

"Disturb her? You misjudge her, I think, but either way that is not the greatest concern. She is of no House, Sesshomaru, no Line that we can speak of, and you have taken her as mate, made her a great lady in one of the High Houses. How many females have you sent away, whose fathers and brothers might look at your new mate and be angry that their Blood was not good enough for you?"

Kinawai spoke with warning but Sesshomaru's words were keen enough to slice through his thoughts.

"You told me yourself, Kinawai, she is descended from the line of the Dragon-miko. In all truth, that means she belongs to your House, the House of Fire. Or, she did. Now she is Inu, and mine – is there anything else that matters?"

Almost furious, Kinawai stepped closer and punctuated his words with dangerous gestures, his smile faded now, his face intense.

"Did you not hear me? You cannot tell the Council something like that!"

"I already have. At least, those who came."

For once, Kinawai was shocked into silence, and Sesshomaru took that silence as an invitation to elaborate.

"She did well, Kinawai; she showed them her power, and the one who dared to speak against her..."

Sesshomaru smiled thinly.

"I do not think he will do so again."

Kinawai tried to reassemble his shattered thoughts.

"By nature and training she is the enemy of our kind, even if now she is our kind! No miko has ever been among the lords of Council; not one of the lords who sit at the Great Table has ever even heard of - "

"There is Eldest."

Kinawai rolled his eyes heavenward.

"Eldest! She will not even cross their minds! The last Dragon-miko to mate a lord of High House was the mate of the last Dragonlord; do you mean to bring up the memory of those days? In power, in raw strength, you are unmatched by any of the Blood. I know it – and you know it, but even you could not win over them all!"

He shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest, but the intensity did not leave his face.

"And tell me, Sesshomaru – did you just happen to forget that by claiming Kagome, you have also claimed the shikon no tama?"

Sesshomaru gaped, all his masks swept aside by that simple statement. He had, indeed, forgotten - or rather, because he himself bore no desire for it, he had forgotten how much it sparkled in the avaricious eyes of others.

I shouldn't have. Even Togusa - even the Bear asked after it -

Kinawai caught at Sesshomaru's expression, at what it revealed, and reached out to hold his arm tightly.

"I have never seen you doubt yourself before, Sesshomaru! Is this something your miko has done to you?"

Sesshomaru turned away, his thoughts thick. The chances were good that Kinawai read the mood of the Council well – it was why he held the Calling Tone, why he was so seldom Challenged. His own concern over Kagome had distracted him so thoroughly that he had not stopped to think about the burden she carried, or what it might mean to the others. Many, many disturbing thoughts flickered in his head. His enemies would not sleep easy as long as that power was near his hands, but they knew nothing if they thought he could influence its use.

Kagome is my mate, but I do not control her...or her power.

And to go back on his own words – to deny what he had already told his assembled kin and councilors-

Kinawai's voice continued to assault him.

"You cannot escape this, Sesshomaru. You are lord of the House of Blades; the Inu no Taisho was your father! You Chased your mate, and that is valid by tradition, but you do not know how little tradition means to some of those who watch you with dark eyes."

Sesshomaru growled, and the sound was deep and harsh, but Kinawai was not through.

"If you do not do it – if she is not strong enough to prove her power - they will Challenge her. They will Challenge her, and her right to mate into a High House...and she will have to fight, or she will die, and there will be nothing you can do about it."

For a long, quiet moment, Sesshomaru stood with his back turned, contemplating this, immersed in his own thoughts. The Rite itself was of no concern to him, just as he knew it would be of no concern to those who tried to force his hand. To trouble his mate would cost them in blood, and they would know it, despite the fact that he gained nothing by killing so many.

But to mark her under the Ink was to bind them irrevocably, and he could not shake himself of a troublesome worry. It was for Kagome, who did not yet even understand what it meant to be mate. And to do this...could he make that decision for her, his lighthearted miko? Could he make her, not light, but touched by darkness? Could he taint her forever with the soul of a killer that he knew he possessed?

Can I – not?

He swallowed thickly, so caught up in his thoughts that he did not see the uncomfortable expression on Kinawai's face. The Tiger lord did not understand what he could be thinking about, what could have led to this display of vulnerable emotions. Sesshomaru closed his eyes, and tried to disregard the irritation of his feelings.

Kagome - will you forgive me?

"Then Kagome will be marked with the burning Ink, according to the Rite. It was always my intention."

He paused, took a deep breath.

"I will find some females of my own kin to sit with her through the marking...perhaps Akira's daughters, or his mate."

He paused, and then smiled glitteringly. He had not thought about telling anyone his most secret intentions – he had not thought it wise. But now - he couldn't think of anything that would aggravate Kinawai more than to be let in on this particular secret.

"But there is...one other thing, Kinawai. When Kagome is marked, so, too, will be Rin; she is human, and she need not be marked with the Ink, but she is strong - she will survive it. I will give her a name, and hearth-rights; I will make her one of the House of Blades."

Kinawai stared at him, horrified.

"It is dangerous even to have her here; are you mad? You how little respect most youkai have for humans! The Council will say you profane a rite of the Blood – or they will laugh and ask if you have brought back the ritual sacrifice, as well as the Chase. If you try - "

Sesshomaru's face narrowed with anger and dismissive distaste.

"The sacrifice was a custom of the Dragonlord, not of my House! I will draw the sting from those who have used her as an excuse to strike at me, and I think that if they are gathered in one place to watch, the death of one might cleanse the Challenge from the thoughts of many others – if there is even one who dares."

Kinawai smiled, but wariness remained pressed into the corners of his eyes.

"Now, the hunter speaks. But you must not forget, Sesshomaru, that while you think to take this sting and cast it aside, your enemies carry a powerful venom."

Sesshomaru's eyes shone like new-struck steel, carried a flinty spark that waited for only the most casual breath to blow it into flame. In his mind's eye, it illuminated the shape of his father's bones, the ivory outline against a dead horizon.

"I? I must not forget? I will never forget. But you are lord of the House of Fire; you hold the chain that binds the fangs of the Dragon dens. You are closer to the source of peril than I am..."

The malevolence that had brought his father's death was engraved in his memory as if by fire, a memory made not by witnessing events but by their endless repetition in story and witless taunts. He could almost see it - the woman and his infant brother, the scent of fire, a black cloud and the red-spurting darkness rearing its head into the night...and the cause of it all, the shadow of in the sky, Dragon shadows cast over the entire scene of ruin, carved into every wound on his father's body.

Kinawai reached forward, regretting his own barbed words, and held Sesshomaru's shoulder.

"Sesshomaru, do not forget – your father was my friend. It was I who gave you the vengeance you wanted, the deaths you sought in payment for his death."

Sesshomaru looked askance at him; there was a flicker of amusement in his gaze.

"You gave me my vengeance? No, Kinawai, you gave me permission. The deaths, I took for myself...the deaths, I would have taken either way. But, Kinawai -"

A sudden darkness had risen like the night in him, all-consuming, overwhelming. The thought of his father's death brought it on, or perhaps just the focus on the Dragon threat, perpetual, long silent...but awakening now, he could feel it. Feeling it, he was abruptly still, awakened by his own words to a possibility he had not yet considered.

Closer to the source of peril than I am – Kinawai!

Sesshomaru followed his thoughts backwards, toward a time when he had trodden on the edge of madness, the time before Kagome had been his, but after she had awakened.

What was it? Peril! Peril is...

There had been a day – the day he had brought Kagome into the library -

The day Kinawai came! I brought Kagome to the library – I showed her the demon in her eyes – that day, I - I

"Kinawai -"

That day, I - !

"Kinawai! The day you came to me – the very first day, the day you met Kagome. Kasuka was with you...that day."

Kinawai seemed to close in on himself; his expression became instantly, enormously wary.

"Yes..."

Peril is Kasuka!

Sesshomaru took three steps forward.

"What did she see, Kinawai? Did she see Kagome – did she see the human that she was?"

Kinawai shrugged, but it was far from an easy gesture. His movements, his features, had become tight with caution.

"I don't – I don't think..."

And then suddenly that tightness become complete laxity.

"Yes. She – yes, because...you..."

The scene flashed across Kinawai's thoughts with detail and accuracy – Sesshomaru, red-eyed, wild, bloodlust incarnate...and behind him, after a few, quiet moments, the movement of Kagome, soft and pretty, fragile...and human.

"Because you were mad with desire, Sesshomaru, and Kasuka wanted to know why. And then...and then came Kagome – I said to her, look, perhaps there is the reason. Sesshomaru -"

There was a flicker of anxiety on Kinawai's face, but it abated almost immediately; Sesshomaru's reaction was the last thing he expected.

Laughter?

"Sesshomaru..."

"And you did not believe she was my enemy...ah, but how could you? When you are such a good friend..."

Sesshomaru held up a hand, only smiling now, but Kinawai found himself with feelings of concern centered around that smile. It couldn't mean anything good.

"Kinawai, now I know that it was not you who carried the first word of rumor outwards – it was her.

"I do not like - "

"The insinuation? Then tell me, Kinawai, who it was? My servants, the scentless, the invisible, the inaudible? Rin? Kagome, herself? Or are you going to tell me, after all, that it was you – that now, I can have no trust in you..."

And he fixed Kinawai with glowing golden eyes.

"That this very moment, you must die?"

Slowly, very slowly, Kinawai took a single step backward, did not release eye contact. His voice was low, but not placating; he had too much dignity for that.

"I will not tell you that; if I did, you would know it was a lie."

The threat that had shone so brightly in Sesshomaru's face for a moment winked out like starlight under the sun.

"You know, Sesshomaru, that I am bound to answer any threat, any dishonor done to my mate. Now especially, I know that you understand this!"

Sesshomaru was silent; Kinawai spoke with cold pride.

"If she truly has done this - "

Sesshomaru shook his head.

"I am warning you, not berating you, Kinawai. If she has done this – she has done this, on her own initiative."

Like other things.

"You are my friend, Kinawai. My warning is so that you are not near her when there is backlash because her rumor seems to be a lie; what do you think they will do to her, the ones who she first spoke to – the ones who know the origin of it all?"

I am looking forward to it, Kinawai. I will cherish every wound that they inflict!

But this time, he restrained his smile. Kinawai's face was stiff and still, his features utterly blank, a fragile mask. He could say nothing, not a denial or an angry word...because he knew in his bones that Sesshomaru spoke the truth. It did not bother him that his mate had acted without his knowledge; as long as she presented no direct threat to him she remained useful... so very useful. Through her, he could usually measure the pulse of danger that was the heartbeat of the Dragon clans, although lately she had not been nearby for him to observe.

And the rumors from the north...they are disturbing.

It was a scowl that finally broke through the mask over his features. Sesshomaru watched this with interest, but Kinawai was intent on his own thoughts.

Kasuka! Is it you, stirring up trouble? Why would that be - why now? Because Sesshomaru has taken a mate, because you cannot let go of your grievance? Is it Kagome's place you wish to stand in, still, after so many years? I should be insulted.

"Sesshomaru, it is time I am gone; I have work to do, and there are only a few days before I have to return here."

Sesshomaru eyed him carefully, but nodded, and accompanied him to the gate. Halfway there, Kinawai had recovered enough to continue his questions, but they were less volatile; he sounded much chastened.

"Your kin are coming -"

"The day before the new moon; the full Council should be here by nightfall the next day."

Just as Kinawai was running through the Gate, Sesshomaru heard his voice come back at him.

"Give your mother my greetings, Sesshomaru...if you see her!"

"Kinawai!"

As he stood at the gate, watching the Tiger lord disappear, he could have sworn he heard laughter, riding back on the wind to taunt him.

A/N: Mwaha! I told you there was not much left til the next chapter was done...but I owe you guys for being slow with the last chapter. Blame it on spring break...I intended to write some, but then I slept instead. I really, really like sleep. It's...the eighth? most awesome thing ever! So – we are now at T minus 6 days until Kagome's presentation – in the next chapter, we will finally have Miroku, Sango, and Sesshomaru's mother – any ideas for a name for her are welcome, guys, because every one I've thought of so far has been lame – (WHY doesn't anyone's parent get a name in Inuyasha, holy demons!)! We may also squeeze in some more Rin and Shippou...because all those lovely pictures have to be delivered! And Sesshomaru, with his bonding crisis, may actually decide to TELL KAGOME SOMETHING...or not. Hehe. Anyway, me = ridiculous evil plots, you = PLEASE REVIEW! I mean, seriously...is it that hard? Many, many people are reading, but so few review!

Would it help if I threatened to name Sesshomaru's mother Ignatius? :D Anyway...for those who did review, much thanks!

Clara954: Ahh Kouga...poor Kouga. I don't think he'll be evil, that wouldn't be fair...but man does he need a kick in the head! As far as Tenseiga goes...we'll see. Hehe. That silly little sword is going to save Sesshomaru's ass one of these days, mark my words...

Doll-Face.19: Much thanks! Hopefully you will continue to enjoy! :D

Time on my hands: much thanks for your hearty compliments! I try to make things canon as much as possible, because otherwise...well, it wouldn't be fanfiction, right? No point in using the characters if they aren't believable; I'm actually really hoping that this chapter in particular doesn't go too far outside the box - I have a love affair with creating a mythic history that's more than just a single name! I mean, seriously...Inu no Taisho - Great Dog General...of what? Since when? And how come? :D Loving it...

AMUTOLOVER09: So does this mean that if Kouga dies, I have to move to a bunker? I suppose as long as it has electricity...ha! I'm actually having a great deal of fun with the Saga Of Kouga Who Must Grow A Brain. He would have been a way more likable character if he had been more intelligent, but then I suppose he would have actually won Kagome and the name of the show would've had to be changed...poor Inuyasha.

Okay! So...onward to Ignatius! (just kidding! but seriously...names! Ahh!)

Final Revisions...Complete! Holy monkeys, I need a sandwich. Sandwiches are...awesome. :D R&R!