The Path Not Chosen by Kayelyn

Prologue: The End of An Era

A/N: This fic was written for my dear friend Jenineji, the amazing authoress of Primero,Kakuchuu, and many others which is why you will see the names of some of her OC's in here. I hope you enjoy it, love, and thank you for sharing your immense talent with us all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor do I make any profit from the writing of this bit of whimsy.

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The woods of the west were wide and dark, except for quiet pants and fleeting steps, a suppressing silence filled the air. A silver blur to all that saw her, the Lady of the West, flitted through the trees, her golden eyes searching for the presence that called her so far from home.

Trepidation filled her, as she quickened her pace. This place was not a place she wished to linger. This place was not for her. Hadn’t she been told that often enough? Only one inu-youkai had the right to walk the Forests of Setsuna. A piercing wail broke through the cloak of silence, and she sprinted deeper into the wood, locking away her unease.

The cries became louder and louder until she reached a clearing with well residing in the middle of it, and the cries suddenly ceased.  Confused, she looked around trying to find what led her here to this place. “This place,” she thought.

A whimper brought her attention to the base of the well. Golden eyes bulged as she took in the sight of the tiny infant, a human infant. Sniffing delicately, she inhaled the scents of lavender with a touch of jasmine that bespoke of power, heady and thick. A Miko? She flared her aura, surprised when a strong pulse from the babe answered her. Strong, unnaturally strong. Strengthening her aura, she found another source of power laying dormant deep within the girl. Curious… such mystery here.

A sharp cry brought the Lady back to her senses. Afraid that she would harm the babe, she reeled her aura back in.

“Just who and what are you, little one?” she asked quietly.

A swift change in the winds was all the warning that she was given that she was no longer alone. Clutching the babe to her chest, she looked up.

A shiver of unease went down her spine as she gazed upon the silver haired male that stood before her. His face, one she knew as well as her own, was wiped of all emotions, but his eyes, his eyes burned with anger.

“Kogane, what are you doing here?” His deep voice sharp, demanding an answer.

She kept her silence.

Within a flash he was before her, deadly claws wrapped tightly around her throat.

“You were told never to enter here, never. My Lady, you may be, but even you shall not defy me.”

Kogane’s eyes flashed with a fire she thought long dead. “Your Lady, Toga?” she cackled, “Since when? This one has not seen you since you declared this land under your protection for the safety of your mistress. Tell me, my lord, does our son suffer your neglect as well?”

A fierce snarl answered her, as her mate’s claws dug into her flesh.

A sharp wail came from the bundled infant in her arms followed by a large pulse of her reiki. Toga tore his hand away from her neck and glanced down, a glare on his face.

“What is that, Kogane?”

“The babe is mine,” she growled possessively. Mine? The thought did not disturb her as much as she thought it should.

“Yours? I think not,” Toga replied, “I refuse to let such filth reside in the Western Palace.”

Kogane chuckled. Her laughter becoming louder and louder, from mirth, from release, and it was a balm to her weary soul. “It amuses this one that you speak of an innocent child being filth, and yet you deign to lie with a woman less in stature than this babe.”

A sneer bloomed across her face as her mate stood there in silence. Her fury, her heartbreak, filled her, desiring nothing more than to be released.

“Nothing to say, my lord?” she taunted. “You have your human, and now I have mine.”

Toga snarled, “They are not the same. Izayoi is-“

“Weak?” Kogane sneered. “Yes, quite unlike this babe, so full of power-such power.”

Silence, thick and heavy, filled the clearing as the two mates glared at one another.

“Return to your hime, mate," Kogane bit out, enjoying the small flinch Toga gave at her words, “This one shall return to Western Lands.”

As she turned to leave, Toga’s voice reached her, hard and unyielding, “If you bring that thing into the West, I shall cast you out. I will not subject Izayoi and the pup she carries to such a threat.”

She halted mid step, her breath caught in her throat and an agonizing pain bloomed in her chest. Pup?

“You would dare to bring that woman into our home along with the bastard pup she carries? Have you truly no shame, Toga?” she whispered. “This one can promise you that Sesshoumaru poses more of a threat to your…family…than this babe ever would.”

“My heir shall obey, as will you, Kogane. That is, of course, if you wish to continue to reside in the West.”

She hesitated for a moment, only for a moment. There was nothing left for her here; no battles to fight, no mate to love and be loved in return, even her son no longer needed her. But this child… the child needed her, would provide her a chance to begin anew. Perhaps that is why fate brought them together.

“So be it. This one hopes, for the sake of Sesshoumaru, that this does not lead to your end.”

With one last glance at the mate that she had loved for centuries, she tightened her grip on the child and launched herself into the air.

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