The Second Heir

1348 early-Muromachi Period, Summer

The Inu no Taishou crouched atop the ravine, mapping out its jagged edges and hidden alcoves in preparation for his upcoming battle. He didn't want to contend with this dragon creature whose power rivaled his own, but he knew that it would, if left as it was, only continue to ravage the countryside. How many more had to suffer? How many needed to die? No, he could not allow this to go on.

His driving mission these past countless years had been, and remained, the stability and relative peace of the region he called home. This Ryuukotsusei had always been a direct threat to all the general had toiled to accomplish, not to mention that his precious Izayoi resided in the direct path of destruction the creature would take next, and she was now pregnant. It was a battle he could no longer avoid.

The thought of his unborn child, though, of the family he would soon have, cheered him and filled him with the conviction he would need face this foe. Certainly, he could just revive all the souls Ryuukotsusei managed to kill with his trusted Tenseiga, but it was only a one-time reprieve, and life was not so trivial a thing to toy with. The powers of Tenseiga were for the tragedies that could not be prevented; this one could be.

He completed his survey and departed in stealth, covering his tracks as he went. Safe near the heart of his own territory, he was pleased to be greeted by his long-time counsel, allowing the tiny creature to feed from him without complaint.

"What news do you bring me, Myouga?"

The flea demon sat plump and content before his master.

"Nothing new at the moment, sire. Sesshoumaru is still struggling in his campaign against the demons on the coastline, all is well at the fortress, and your Princess Izayoi is safe and healthy."

"What of the hanyou?"

"There is still no word of the half-demon Kuroihi, however, the traveling woman Kintsuke continues to appear across the countryside. She has proven difficult to track."

"But you are able to, yes?"

"Oh, yes, of course, she's just always on the move."

The general nodded.

"I feel it is time to approach her, my friend. Could I bother you to be the one?"

"Of course, sire."

The general was certain this was simply the hanyou's human form seeking safety in numbers during its time of weakness, and it wasn't a bad strategy. He thanked the engorged flee again and allowed his mind to wander back to the valley he'd been scoping out, considering the impending battle he would soon initiate.

"Myouga, my friend…" he smiled gently to himself.

The flea didn't like the tone of his master's voice and groaned.

"Oh, please, no, my lord, what insanity are you planning this time?"

"I must subdue Ryuukotsusei."

"Master!"

Myouga flailed his stubby arms.

"You can't be serious! Even you cannot stand up to that thing! Please, please, reconsider, I beg of you! Think of your lands, think of your child!"

"I am, which is why I must. Perhaps it is a good time to begin the other preparations as well, just in case."

The flea flustered again for a moment, continuing to argue, but he knew it was in vain. There was no changing the general's mind once it was made up. He sighed and crossed his arms, focusing instead on how best to fulfill his master's wishes.

"As you wish, my lord. I shall speak with Totosai and Housenki before I go."

***

Kuroihi plucked the bridle from the ashes she'd left behind. How many horses had she been through? How long had it even been now; three years, almost four? It felt like so much longer to her, always on the move, always looking over her shoulder. Sesshoumaru's final words still haunted her, and sometimes she swore she saw his outline in the distance, watching her. It was always gone when she looked again, though, nothing more than a figment of her paranoia leaving a chilly hollow in her belly where it had once been so warm.

You gotta get a better grip than this, she kept telling herself, but that was easier said than done. She was doing well, she thought, ensuring no one knew who or what she was, but, it had involved a lot of killing. She hadn't wanted to roast this gathering of ogres, but it was her or them, and she'd be damned if she had survived the likes of Sesshoumaru only to fall to such pests.

Kuroihi shouldered the bridle and made her way toward the human village she knew was up ahead, already feeling her powers on the precipice of decline again. She hastened her pace while she still had the speed and energy to spare so as not to be caught in the open when she changed several hours from now.

She employed her usual tactics as she covered her tracks and watched over her shoulder, glad to have another day behind her as she slipped into her new set of clothes, a demon once more. She never wore the same one for too long; it was too easy to track someone that way and she didn't fancy being discovered so soon.

Something bit her neck and she smacked it away, flinching as whatever it was grunted from the impact. She drew her hand away, bewildered to find the little flea demon squished against her palm in a smear of her blood.

"Lord. Myouga?"

He popped himself back into shape and shook his head clear it before waving up at her.

"You're a hard woman to find, you know."

"Yeah, I kinda like it that way."

Her paranoia gripped her again, and she scrutinized the landscape for anything that was not tree, root, or stone.

"What are you doing here?"

"I come on behalf of the Inu no Taishou, to make a request. I ask that you hear me out."

She hesitated a moment, but folded herself to the floor of her cave, setting the creature on a raised knee so he was at eye level.

"Go on."

"Well, as you know, the master chose to take a human wife, and as to be expected, she is pregnant."

Kuroihi bit her tongue and just shook her head in resigned disbelief. She wasn't going to give Myouga the same speech she'd given the general about her kind.

"And?"

"The master was hoping you'd be willing, in the very unlikely event something should happen to him, to watch over the child until it can care for itself."

She blinked at the flea with bemusement.

"You want me in the event of the general's death to babysit his hanyou child, Lord Sesshoumaru's younger half-sibling, whom he will most certainly come to either kill or torment, knowing full well that he already wants my own head."

"No, no, no," the flee waved his arms, "Just to keep an eye on it, check in on it now and again after its mother passes away in a few decades. So long as she is alive, there's nothing you need to do, however she is only human, and the child will be far from self-sufficient when she does eventually pass."

"I see."

She tilted her head at the tiny thing perched on her knee.

"Lord Myouga, why does the general anticipate his death in the first place?"

If something else was going to come after her for doing this, she wanted to know. Myouga crossed his arms and looked away, hesitating.

"Well, you see, the fact is… The master can be a bit…determined once he puts his mind to something, no matter the odds, and there are still many significant enemies left for him to defeat."

'You think he's met his match, don't you, little demon?'

She chuckled.

"Why me, though; why not the War Master or some other loyal vassal more fit?"

"Because you are the only one he knows that truly understands what the child will have to endure and all the struggles it will face."

She tilted her head again, pondering for a short time before sighing and turning her hand over to offer her vein to the tiny demon, which he gladly took.

"I'll…think about it."