"It's almost time, you know."
As if in response to the youth's statement, the chilling air of the mountain range picked up and tore at the thick, long black braid of his father, as if it too was prompting the canine youkai. For a long moment, the tall war ridden frame didn't move. The glittering surface at their feet yawned open to the soft light of the moon, as though reflecting the younger's impatience. Despite the atmosphere being cold enough to paint every surface of rock, bush, and tree a gleaming white, neither father nor son seemed bothered by it. A carefully groomed black tail flicked impatiently by the younger. And then finally, the older youkai stretched, both arms reaching towards the twinkling expanse above them both.
"I suppose it is, Kuru. What should I bring Nodoka? It's been so long since we have talked, I am nervous," Yuto turned to his son with a smile. The aptly named Kuru turned cold, sea blue eyes towards his father, unamused.
"Of all the things, that is the first thing you are worried about?"
The silk of Yuto's simple blue haori gave a soft sound as the movements of the wearer pulled it against the traditional spiked armor of their clan. "Of course-she is my lo-
"Not your daughter? Or the fact if we don't reach her before the seal breaks there's a good chance the two sides of her blood will simply burn her alive?" Kuru's tone cut like shattered glass. His father sheepishly put a hand on the back of his head in an attempt at an appeasing gesture, which looked odd for a clan leader that had moments ago seemed every inch the battle hardened warrior he was.
"Right. That."
"We should have never let them return. My younger sister should have grown up within the protection of the clan and learned how to be the hanyou she is."
Yuto laid a hand on his son's shoulder. Kuru immediately knocked it away, practically snarling.
"Our clan wasn't ready at that time to accept her. It was safer for her and the human side of our family to go."
"And now you wait until the seal is nearly broken to start to get ready to travel. Not when word first reached us that she had first come in reach of home months ago. You should have given me leave to go then if you refused to go get her."
Yuto sighed. Rarely did Kuru ever work himself up into a frenzy like this. Granted, Kuru had expressed since pup-hood his desire for a sibling. A hundred and fifty years later, Nodoka gave birth and Kuru had been elated...until Nodoka and Yuto had decided to do what was best for hanyou toddler a half decade later. Yea, he supposed this reaction was long coming from the young by his kind's standards canine prince.
"Son, you know there are a lot of moving parts within the council of the clan pack. Many ends to tie up to make sure we don't offend and-
Already ignoring his father, Kuru had become a towering, black wolf like dog demon-and was already half a mile down the mountainside by the time the pack leader paused.
"-ruin everything we built to change the lives of humans and youkai in our territory." Yuto could almost hear Kuru's eye roll from a good mile and a half away now. Sighing, Yuto forced his way through the snarling young prince's pack mental link.
Do not reveal yourself fully unless it's absolutely necessary...until I get there.
Red anger drew the connection painfully taught. Yuto winced. His full blooded child was getting strong. The reply came with every bit of hot lightning like rage their clan was known for.
If you even arrive before your human mate's bones rot in the ground, father!
Yuto sighed as he watched the moonlight reflect off the sleek, powerful dog demon form of his son steadily disappearing out of view. Yes, for a hundred and sixty years now Kuru had served faithfully under his father with little to no complaint-he could have gone gallivanting off several decades ago playing with the females of the pack or traveling the countryside alone-and sometimes Yuto almost wished his son had. Instead Kuru had dedicated himself quietly to learning the pack politics and built up his strength in battle until he was nearly as formidable as his father-Kuru had stepped into the role as heir of the pack with only one request.
Yes, Kuru's response was a fair one. Many years ago, when the topic had first arisen, Yuto had asked his son why-though from watching the boy grow it was obvious. The times Yuto had attempted to get Kuru to play with the other 'pups' in the pack at the time, Kuru had always ended up playing alone for some reason or another. More often than not, it was because Kuru was Yuto's son...and even though Kuru didn't say it, the pack members that did stick around him tended to hang out with him even at a young age for gain...and Kuru was able to see it even then. Yuto wanted a playmate, a life friend that would bond with and treat him normally. With the canine prince's status, not even a mate had a likeliness of properly offering that.
And when Yuto's daughter was born, Kuru and her had immediately hit it off. His hanyou daughter, black haired with adorable little dog ears sticking up out of her head in her natural form, followed Kuru around even at the crawling stage exactly like a lost puppy, eating what he ate, copying the then teenage-ish boy word for word and action for action. It was just about the only time Yuto had seen his serious son laugh and 'lighten up' so to speak.
There had been two-well, perhaps three-very large problems.
One-his daughter had been born with two tails. In the black dog demon clan of the north, two tailed ones were traditionally pack leaders or close to-and females were never born with them to begin with. The presence of both tails would have been enough to cause discord within the tribe if they hadn't kept the pup close and out of sight. His daughter being a hanyou conceived out of love didn't help her case. Kuru, while loved by Yuto, had been a contractual offspring-specifically bred to bring peace between the northern and southern dog clans.
Two-his daughter wasn't just hanyou. His daughter had been born with both youkai and miko abilities...and when her miko abilities surfaced the first time, it nearly killed the pup. While having miko blood would have been a challenge, it had been considered originally to let the pup and her mother stay-as long as the female pup could keep her miko powers hidden-after all it wouldn't have been taken very well to a demon tribe to have a pup with demon slaying powers. But it had soon been realized that the pup's miko powers rivaled her youkai blood's abilities-and as such both sides were constantly warring, making the pup sick and hurting her and any that tried to touch her...and the soonest option they could find to save the pup was a Miko who could seal her youkai side, not the miko side.
Having a human for a daughter would not have bothered Yuto, but it hadn't been realistically safe for her to grow up in a youkai pack as a pack leader's daughter. Many would have tried to kill her at a young age out of insult, and despite Kuru's frantic please and promises at the time to protect her-Yuto hadn't wanted to put Kuru or the his human mate's family at risk. And part of the worst of it had been the hanyou pup's insistence to go along with Kuru's side-even sick and dying the pup had been stubborn-, both of them crying and yowling at the idea of separation as though life depended on it. And while Nodoka and Yuto had felt the same about separating, adults understood the idea of a temporary separation while the child grew up as a human...until the seal broke. As everything was temporary, while the hanyou and his mate would go through the portal his mate had originally come through, Yuto and Kuru would dedicate themselves to finding an answer for his female pup when the time came to stop the warring sides of her blood from killing her, and build a proper home and community for them all.
But the two children didn't understand it. At that time every time Yuto would turn around Kuru would be found running back to the portal as fast as his little full pup youkai form could scurry, and every time Nodoka would turn around the pup she had would be doing the same on her side. It wasn't safe, and had attracted lesser demons to the portal, and would have eventually led to stronger demons finding it as well. So the unthinkable was also done. An old friend had been commissioned for a favor-to lock away the hanyou's memories of being anything but human, a tale being woven that both her father and brother had passed unexpectedly, while Yuto had put up a barrier with his own essence around the northern portal that repelled Kuru from entering it. God help him if Yuto ever realized there was a portal in the western territory of their old friend, Toga Inutaisho.
Kuru hadn't spoken to his father for nearly a year after that. The teenage pup barely got up in the morning for months, and when he did get up, he would hunt wildlife with a visciousness that bespoke of the anger in his heart being turned onto another outlet.
Inhuman, jewel like violet eyes followed Kuru's black bounding form until it was completely out of sight. Yes, the youkai clan leader decided, it was time to go.
A/N: Please review! This idea has been circling around in my brain for a few years-an actual viable hanyou fic for Kagome. Thanks in advance!