InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten ❯ A Wicked Setup ( Prologue )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anyone from the hit anime/manga series. Rumiko Takahashi does. I do own all OC's in this story.

 

200 years Before the Search for the Jewel Shards

 

Prologue: A Wicked Setup

 

The young warlord sat on the edge of the engawa lost, confused, and heartbroken. He had been this way for the past eight months. His beloved, the one woman who he cared for in all the world, the one whose beauty surpassed even a goddess, had chosen a demon for a husband. She had forsaken her father's wish, forsaken her betrothed to go with the demon.

 

Takemaru was still stunned by her choice.

 

A young boy approached the distraught warlord, an act of bravery or suicide depending on whom was asked. Takemaru's temper had flared on several occasions and a number of vassals had been wounded. Whenever someone tried to converse with him the subject would inevitably return to the departed princess and he didn't want to discuss her.

 

The child stopped short of him and with the greatest care set the glaive he was carrying down. He strode forward until he was standing next to Takemaru and stared in the direction the young warlord was looking. The child stayed that way for a few minutes before daring to bring up the one thing everyone was avoiding.

 

“Staring at the horizon isn't going to bring her back.”

 

The young warlord jerked in the surprise, having failed to notice the child standing next to him. He was also stunned by the boy's bluntness; no one else had ever been so bold. Furious he turned toward the child.

 

“Why should I care about Princess Izayoi? She gave herself to a demon! She broke her promise, betrayed her father, and ran off with a demon. She is as good as dead to me!” he shouted. He glared at the boy who gazed at him with wide black eyes. Still burning with anger at his impudence, Takemaru felt a chill race along his spine as he stared at the boy. While the boy appeared as wide eyed and innocent as the next child something in his gaze turned the warlord's blood to ice.

 

Takemaru shook the feeling from him as the boy spoke, “My grandfather, the Lord Jounochi, gave you Izayoi for your bride. I know she betrayed him by choosing a demon but why aren't you doing anything about it? The wedding ceremony may not have been performed yet, but since she was your betrothed and she had been sent to your castle, then wouldn't that mean she was already yours?”

 

The warlord turned away from the boy to think. He couldn't fault the child's logic and that in itself caused alarm bells to start ringing. The same chill as before flooded his body. He gazed suspiciously at the child.

 

“What are trying to say?”

 

“I'm not trying to say anything,” replied the boy as he crouched down beside the warlord. He looked down at the ground and said, “I just don't understand why you can't reclaim what is yours. After all, do you want all women to believe they can do as they please when they have a duty to their families? If Izayoi is allowed to remain with the demon when her father told her to marry you, what will the next bride do?”

 

His words banished the warlord's ill feelings about the boy and turned them toward more serious matters. `He's right, if Izayoi isn't punished for her foolishness, other women will think they can disobey their fathers and marry whomever they please, they may even begin disobeying their husbands!' he thought with horror.

 

He needed to tell Lord Jounochi about his daughter since he was the one that she had disobeyed. The young warlord hadn't told the man that his daughter had run off and he didn't want to now. The tenko lord might actually let it pass! But more importantly was the fact that Takemaru's pride was as wounded as his heart.

 

`Besides the child is right, she is mine! She was sent to the castle as my bride, so I must be the one to punish her foolishness!' he thought as he stood, fists clenched in anger.

 

“I will reclaim Izayoi and kill the demon who dared to lure her away!” proclaimed Takemaru.

 

The boy watched as the warlord stormed away shouting for his warriors. When Takemaru had vanished around the building, the boy turned to retrieve his glaive. He smiled as he stared at the eighteen inches of metal. It was not sweet or innocent; it was very dark and sinister.

 

“Earth Tenko, stoic, stubborn, and stupid!” he whispered as he fingered the blade. “Eight months is a long time. I wonder how he'll react when he learns Izayoi is pregnant with a demon child. Well, that matters little to me.” The glaive's blade glowed and runes appeared. “Farewell, Kenhoshi!”

 

_________________________________________________________________ _______

 

 

Engawa: the veranda that wraps around the buildings, outdoor hallway.

 

I don't know the real name of Inu no Taisho so I dubbed him Kenhoshi. For a brief, very brief, time I thought of calling him Inuhoshi but I thought the guy deserved more respect than that. This sets up the prologue in Inuyasha: Movie 3. For those who haven't seen it, don't worry it is coming out in english first week in September, then this prologue will make sense.

 

If you read this story and start to believe I'm getting way out of line for a prequel to the series just stay with me because it will fit into the story without a hitch by the end. Also brace yourself, this is going to be extremely dark. I'm also going to have a hell of a lot of fun with it

 

Now for the rest of you who are all eagerly awaiting updates to my other works, I am so sorry. I got nothing done in the last month and a half. Okay, I practically tore apart my house in a belated spring cleaning as a precursor to remodeling, helped my sister get through her surgery, and visit the cousins. My access to a computer was limited. I'll try to catch up but this is my senior year in college and I need to prepare for May graduation.

 

Enjoy!

 

By the way, I withheld the boy's name on purpose.