InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Worthy ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

Jaken was getting nervous. It had been a week since Lord Sesshoumaru and Rin left for Inuyasha's forest and since then the intruders had not moved. They had taken shelter inside a large cave and by the looks of things, had claimed that as their new home.

Jaken was watching them now, hidden by the leaves of a large tree as he watched the youkai work. There were many of them, at least fifteen, though most of them were adolescents. Jaken couldn't tell. Every time he saw them there seemed to be new faces and several missing. Most of the adults and adolescents were working in the cave while the children played outside under the watchful eyes of the old. One young female lay in the shelter of a tree, nursing the pup she had given birth to just days ago. The other pregnant females rested around her, all nearly due.

When Jaken had first realized that they were staying he had thought it would only be until the female recovered enough strength to continue following but as much dirt and rock they were removing from the cave, it was clear that they were staying much longer.

More youkai began to emerge from the cave and took shelter under the shade. They weren't finished. The pattern was new but predictable, they would work from dawn to dusk with short breaks. This was their second break and was right on schedule. Jaken gulped and prayed the wind wouldn't change.

When the youkai first appeared, neither Jaken nor Sesshoumaru could smell the youkai blood in them but instead smelt water and magic. They had suspected them to be a new breed but a few days ago, the magic disappeared and few more characteristics appeared. They were wolf youkai, a type Jaken had never seen before but wolf none the less. Their tails appeared right after the magic vanished. Markings also appeared. Jaken was never able to get close enough to see them but he could see the coloring on their arms and sometimes their neck. Only one had the facial stripes that reflected Sesshoumaru's but he was an elder and wasn't related to any of the others.

Their claws and fangs didn't lengthen as Jaken would have thought and nor did their hair change to the traditional silver or black. Instead, the colors remained the intense red and mellow yellow with tails to match. There were black among them but yellow was the dominant.

One of the males began to speak. This one Jaken had learned to be the leader but he seemed to share the role with two other younger males that were clearly his brothers. It was uncommon for a male to share that role but it was not unheard of, especially if the pack was large. The male was still using the strange language. Jaken considered himself to be well educated but he had never heard this language before. It bothered him but he ignored that do to the melodious voices each of them carried. Jaken had caught himself several times with his eyes closed, just listening to the sound.

The others stopped what they were doing, except the pups, and listened to him. Whatever he said, it was what they wanted to hear for smiles began to appear on their faces and three of the youkai disappeared into the cave.

Jaken leaned dangerously over his hiding spot to catch what was going on but was thrown back from the intense heat wave that came from the cave. He managed to suppress the instinctive squawk and managed to keep from falling out of the tree but his eyes were watering as he tried to see what was happening. His eyes were nothing but narrow slits and they were full of water but he was able to see the red glow within the cave. Fire users. Those three had been fire users. That was rare. Jaken only knew one wolf youkai that used fire and not even she could create a fire that radiated even a fraction of this heat.

The three reappeared, their skin glowing from the heat and they were covered in ash. They brushed their hands off their clothes and signaled to their leader. He then signaled two others, a male and female, to enter the cave.

The two ran inside and Jaken prepared himself but all that came was cold. Intense cold. Jaken preferred the heat. After all, he is a toad. Jaken watched as the two reappeared, their skin paler and their hair frozen but they didn't seem uncomfortable but sat in the shade as cheers rang out around them. Jaken narrowed his eyes. The fire users and water users. Both were rare yet there were six of them in the pack. Did the rest of them have that power or were they the only ones? If so, what power did the others have?

The youkai began working again and Jaken decided that he had seen enough and carefully made his way out of the area. The youkai were still making no move to overrun Sesshoumaru but with this new discovery, they were more of a threat. Jaken crossed his arms as he walked casually to the castle. He wished Sesshoumaru would hurry up and get back; he had much to tell him.

~

Kallan sat casually as he watched his pack finish the last touches on their new home. There wasn't much left to be done but he secretly wanted to join them but he was still weak from the journey and the fight before that. His strength was returning but he was past his prime and it would take a few more days until he felt like his old self.

Around him, the children played, daring to go as far as they could from watchful eyes before being called back again. One of them was his own grandchild who tested the boundary every chance he got. Kallan smiled as the boy once again got called back from his mother who stayed watchful as she rested in the shade with the nursing mother. Looking at her, Kallan's eyes softened and slowly began to fill with tears.

Kallan's pack had been one of the largest in Ireland, with a mixture of all the element users within it. It was unheard of but they had ruled most of the land for centuries, until times change. Priests were common in Ireland but they had all been either weak or more interested in profit than helping others but over the past twenty years, they had gotten stronger. The magic, which only used to hurt, could now kill them and the priest had gone after demons with a vengeance. Kallan's pack had once lived in relative peace with the humans nestled within their land but with encouragement from priests they raged war. Without the priest, the demons would have won but the could not with holy magic tearing into their skin and setting them aflame with just a touch. They would keep the war going for several more years, but at what gain? Eventually, the priests would win.

Kallan's pack knew the full effects of the war. Kallan himself had lost a son and his eldest daughter had left to follow the war along with three other members. And the pack had lost several members to the hands of priests; most of them had been young. All that was left now was three of his children and only grandchild, his two brothers and their families. Sure there were other members but they weren't blood but the original members of the pack before he and his brothers came and took it over centuries before. He cared for them and protected them but they weren't kin and he could never feel for them as he did for his kin.

Kallan forced the tears out of his eyes and sighed. They had lost much but they were still many, and they were still strong. Plus, they were in a new land that was still ruled by demons and the holy humans were either weak or weren't interested in a fight. Kallan and his pack could live peacefully here for several centuries, maybe less if peace returned to Ireland.

"What are you thinking about, Da?"

Kallan looked up and saw his youngest daughter Morgan standing before him. Kallan couldn't help but smile. She and her twin brother were his youngest children and to the female he loved most. Alva had died giving birth to them. Maybe she would have survived if Alban had been the only child she delivered that day but where Alban's birth had exhausted her, Morgan's had killed her.

Alban was a fire user and it suited him well. True he couldn't summon up the flames of hell like his half sister Briana could but his flame was intense and could destroy anything. His specialty was his rain of fire. All of their fire users could do it but Alban had made an art of it and only he could guide every falling missile to an unfortunate target. Kallan looked around his daughter and saw his son getting a drink of water. His tunic was off and hanging in the tree above his head and the boy was covered in dirt. His untamed, auburn, shoulder length tresses flowed freely around his face. He cleaned it often but it was never brushed despite his aunts' dismays. He was strange though. Alban was a fire user but he didn't have the short tempter that the others had. It could be because of the different blood in him. His grandfather had been a wind user, they were known for their patience and his grandmother on his mother's side had the power of earth and they were known for their calmness. Still, neither element would have suited his carefree nature and neither would have aloud him to entertain the pups with lighted displays of dancing fires.

Kallan looked back to his daughter who was watching him curiously. It amazed him how his twins could be so different from each other.

Morgan had the power water and she had little control over it and it was focused on certain abilities. All of the other water users had the ability of ice and lightning. Morgan only had lightning and she couldn't guide it, not on her own. True, she could do a single beam out of her hand well enough but those could only stun not kill and her strongest attack was to call the white fire from the sky and strike her enemy. Usually, she hit a tree and one time, barely missed herself.

Kallan almost smirked. Fire and water and they were born from the same mother at the same time. Something must have gotten mixed up in there as well for it was Morgan who had the short tempter and lack of patience. She was more patient than her sister and thought things through a little better but when angered, there was no reasoning with her. Water users were supposed to be the cool ones that didn't allow anything to affect them.

"Da?" Morgan's voice drew him out of his thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

Kallan smiled and reached for her hand. She willingly gave it to him and followed his offer to sit next to him.

"I was thinking of you, and your brother, Alban," he answered.

Morgan smiled and leaned against him.

"Anything in particular?"

"You're differences mostly, that's all."

"Good," Morgan playfully nudged him with her shoulder and chuckled. "I was afraid that you discovered about the fight we gotten into earlier."

"I did but if I spent all my time keeping you two from fighting, my grandchildren would have grandchildren before I knew it."

Morgan chuckled and looked back to the cave.

"It's a good home."

Kallan stopped smiling and slowly nodded.

"It's not Ireland but it'll do. I just wish your sister would have given it a chance."

Morgan sighed and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"She'll return to us," she promised. "She just needs to find herself again. Give it time, she'll find us."

Kallan looked down at his daughter. She didn't believe that. He could see it in her eyes. The pain in them reflected his pain. She was just giving him comfort, letting him hear the words he wanted to hear and unknowingly, giving herself the false comfort. Tears filled Kallan's eyes once more.

It dawned on him then that his baby girl was no longer a baby anymore but a grown woman. After all, it was when the children started caring for the patent that announced the arrival of adulthood. Briana had done the same thing and so have his sons but he never expected Morgan to grow up so quickly. She was beautiful too with her long auburn hair that she kept in a braid and her sparkling green eyes and her facial structure was elegant and her creamy skin and pointed nose spoke nobility. It was not something Kallan wanted to notice just now. Morgan was his youngest and he had always expected her to remain a pup with endless energy and heartbreaking innocence. He did not want to see a woman.

Biting his lip, Kallan wrapped his arm around his daughter and pulled her close. Now was not the time to think about his growing pup but a time to focus on a new beginning in their new home in this strange land. With the little amount of trouble they had claiming this spot, it looked like they had finally found peace.

~

Sesshoumaru gently laid Rin on her bed. She had fallen asleep hours ago, just as he had suspected she would but she had refused his order to rest and anxious to get home, he had relented. It was not difficult carrying her a few more miles since she was still so small and light but if he had been attacked he would have had a disadvantage. Not that it was much of a worry since he was in his land at the time where he and his ward were safe.

Sesshoumaru removed Rin's sandals so she would be more comfortable then covered her with a blanket. Almost instantly, she grabbed the corner and rolled, wrapping herself in it and curling into her favorite position. Sesshoumaru couldn't help but crack a smile. She was almost a woman but still very much a child. It was something he didn't want to change.

Sighing at his weakness for this girl, Sesshoumaru rose and left the room, making sure to close it behind him and went in search of Jaken who was most likely waiting his return.

He found him in the study. Sitting near the hearth drawing random designs in the ash with the tip of his staff. His face had a frown but it was more from concern and thoughtfulness then distress. Sesshoumaru slid the screen closed behind him and stepped forward to his servant.

Jaken hadn't heard him come in but he sensed his presence and quickly threw himself at his master's feet.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," his squawked, looking up from his degrading position in the ash, "you have returned. Is your family well?"

Sesshoumaru looked away from Jaken and walked to the window to look upon his land but he didn't see it but saw instead, Kaori. The pup was well and it seemed that he would remain that way but he was so small and weak. If the pup didn't survive, Sesshoumaru wouldn't be surprised but it troubled him greatly. The pup may be more human than youkai but it was still his nephew, born from the first human female he had ever respected. How would it affect her to lose her first born? How would it affect Inuyasha? Sesshoumaru wished he could help but he new nothing about newborns. He hadn't paid any attention to Inuyasha's mother when she gave birth and had avoided the hanyou most of the time and Rin may had been a small child when she found him but she had already been on her own for a couple of years.

"Lady Kagome had given birth to a son," Sesshoumaru answered.

"A son?" Jaken slowly stood. "My congratulations milord but isn't the pup early?"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes but did not attack his servant as the toad feared but instead went to his desk.

"What of the intruders?"

Jaken grew excited at the change of subject and barely managed to refrain jumping about as he often did when excited and he approached the desk so he could look into his master's face.

"Milord, it is more than we expected," Jaken explained. "The youkai have disguised themselves as humans as they traveled but shortly after your departure, the magic left them. They are wolf youkai."

"Wolf youkai. You are excited about this? I already have two small packs in my land."

"No, sire, there is more. Within this pack are two water users and three fire users. Common in cats but in wolves sir, it is rare indeed."

Sesshoumaru straightened and his eyes showed interest. He had heard of such creatures but had never seen them but he had heard that they were quite formidable opponents therefore something to worry about.

"Are the others the same?"

"I don't know milord. The others didn't reveal any abilities they may have."

Sesshoumaru stood and went to the window. Smoke was rising in the forest. The wolves were still active. More than ever, Sesshoumaru wondered what they were doing in his land.

"Have they moved at all since my departure?"

"No, sir. Once they found a cave they stayed. They've worked in it. It is my belief they intend to stay."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits and his hand subconsciously landed on Tokijin. It was time to find out who these intruders were and why they were on his land.

AN: I know, it's been awhile and I can blame it on school or work or even a writers block. But the truth is. I just didn't feel like writing. I finally got in the mood and I'll use it to my advantage. I'll need lots of coffee and Oreos (weird combination, I know) cause I don't plan on stopping. I'll don't know exactly how long it'll take me to get the next chapter up but I'll put next Sunday as the due date. Pray there's not another earthquake that just might damage my computer. Thank god it survived the big one. We're still getting them and some are strong enough to rattle the window and knock knick knacks off the wall but the town is still standing and looks like it will remain that way. Any way, thanks for the reviews and I hope to make this story as popular as "Courtship" but I'll settle for just half the popularity.

Next chapter: Sesshoumaru meets the wolves from Ireland.

Also, this will not have a Sesshoumaru/Rin pairing. I don't think it would work since I think Sesshoumaru would think of Rin more as a daughter. I have read stories that have them as a couple and I love them. "The Hot Springs" by Kuronekosama is my favorite but I just can't write them like that. Sorry for all those who were hoping for that pairing.