Bound by Jesaka Karanaka

Chapter 1 – Blood Betrayal

Chapter 1 – Blood Betrayal

The scent of blood, burning shoji and silk, and the scream of a kappa youkai pierced through the thick veil of invulnerability that Sesshoumaru cloaked himself in. They pulled his thoughts away from his patrol, and he felt his soul burn. Just before his senses had picked up the distress of the Western Palace, he had scented his bastard brother, and had been on his way to escort the hanyou from his territory. He turned, and, with every power he possessed, he flew to his ancestral home.

To his utter horror, the palace was burning to the ground, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Millennia of the Taishou family history were going up in smoke – his mother's kimono and yukata, his father's tapestries and weapons collections, his great grandfather's libraries, everything – gone. He also noted that it looked as if the buildings had been looted prior to his arrival. In front of the ancient gate, he spotted the source of the blood and scream, as well as the scent of rape currently greeting his senses, and the reeking stench of humans. The mangled body of Jaken lay possessively in front of the dying body of his ward, Rin, for whom it was beyond too late. The stubborn kappa had tried, apparently in his last moments, to save his ward from a miserable fate, which after his demise, she fell to anyway. She died in Sesshoumaru's arms.

Sesshoumaru, the last of the great inuyoukai generals, fell to his knees in despair, feeling totally helpless in the face of a complete loss. His now emotive eyes turned, with his face, to the sky, and he loosed a roar that deafened in its misery. He vowed silently to himself as he roared his agony that whoever had led the human looters to his home would pay. They would pay dearly for his pain.

After he collected himself, he buried the bodies of his retainer and ward, marking their final places with two of the few remaining statues left on the estate. They were too heavy for a human to carry, and thusly would withstand time, marking the places where he buried his most loyal subjects, who represented the best in him, and also were his heart.

Finally, as the new day dawned, and his chore of honor was done, Sesshoumaru turned in the direction he had scented earlier. He knew InuYasha had known of the palace. He also knew that InuYasha kept humans in his company, and that the group as a whole encouraged humans from the neighboring territories to wander, against his laws, into his lands. He reasoned that, knowing of his brother's whereabouts, the humans may have felt safer wandering into the Western Lands, and this would have given the looters a chance to pillage his home and destroy the innocence of his Rin.

A plan formed in Sesshoumaru's grief-crazed mind, and he knew that he would be unable to complete his plan on his own. He would require the help of his father's witch, Saiyuri, for the spells that would be needed, and he would need to access his well spread wealth to buy a few garments and send the right messengers to the North. Lord Hatoka, the raven youkai, needed to be aware of the implications of what had occurred, as well as be aware that, by treaty, he would be required to provide shelter to Sesshoumaru until his palace could be rebuilt. A few well sent missives, once Sesshoumaru was housed, and a council could be called, the traitors tracked down, and all would be well again in the Western Lands.

And, as an added bonus, he would be able to deprive InuYasha of what he valued most, and what he valued best, for repayment of his trespassing. He would need the bargaining chip it would present.

All in all, though insane in concept, it was a well managed plan.