Hello all, and welcome to the (supposedly) long-awaited sister fic to Feral, a story of what happens after. Yes I'm posting it...and no it really isn't where it should be for me to even considor making it available for public consumption. But it is a pretty far along anyway, hopefully far enough that you'll never know the difference. I'm pretty sure Tootsiepop954 is more than ready for something new from me (as she said so when I asked the opinion of certain readers I tried to consult with about posting it. As she was the only one to respond and that answer was a desparate hell yes! I decided to go ahead and post.) Rumiko Takahashi may or may not have ever bowed to the demands of her readership, but I don't need much pressuring to do what I already want to do. Besides I wanted to see what kind of response I would get for this as every other attempt to garner your attention and response has thus far failed.

Now before we begin, there are a few definitions that need to be established. Or you could just skip this terminology and figure out as you go. It's up to you, but I suggest you read the definitions as some of these words are used in a particularly specific and slightly unusual way. I chose to protray certain cannon characters differently than I ever have before or have ever seen... But then, that isn't to say it hasn't happened.

anyway, lets start with the most pertinent definitions.

Let's start with the one of singular importance:

Feral: If you read the prequel to this fic then you already have a working knowledge of this particular word.

Basically it is used in reference to youkai who have/are mentally, emotionally, and physically demaged (read abused) to the point of complete conscious withdrawal. Basically they are like domestic animals that go Feral. They are driven by the instinct to survive and also contain the knowledge of which civilized places have the food. They also see danger from every direction for various reasons.

There are two types of Ferals, those that become Feral at the onset of puberty when raging hormones bring to light inherent mental instability (similar to the way many human mental disorders and the like become apparent at puberty.), and those who are driven Feral by perpetual abuse, etc.

This fic explores the world of such fallen in more detail.

Alpha: I suppose you think you know what this means. in a way you're right, but there are two different kinds of Alphas. There are the trained Alphas and the natural born Alphas.

Trained Alphas, like Inu no Taishou, are youkai, typically male, trained to lead a pack. Many youkai live in loosely organized packs based on species, clan, etc. The Alpha of a pack is responsible for the welfare of the pack members. This entails anything from actual health (providing food, living space, etc) to political safety from other packs. Usually the pack Alpha is not intimately responsible for inidividual needs beyond those of his immediate family (mate and offspring). Trained Alphas, despite their training can sometimes fail to do what's best for the pack, due to personal greed or misjudgment that could have been prevented by better instinctual guidance.

Natural Alphas do not have this problem. These are Alphas born to be Alphas. They are instinctively driven to look after the pack. They sacrifice and defend and do for the benefit of the pack. They cannot help themselves. They do not necessarily have to be the head of a pack, for there can be more than one Alpha in a pack, but they do not do well following a trained Alpha. The problem with Natural Alphas is their inability to draw the line for themselves. They will sacrifice for the good of the pack to their own personal detriment. The stronger the Alpha the more crippling this problem tends to be.

Which brings us to our last new word of the day:

Betas. Natural Betas (for there are no other kind) Do not lead, do not want to be in charge, and seldom willingly make decisions for themselves, let alone for others. these type of youkai are rare and few survive to adulthood for a Beta requires a natural Alpha to survive. They sort of will themselves to death without them.

This is not to say that Betas are weak. They are not. They simply have pecualiar character traits that differ from most other Youkai. only a Natural Alpha can definitively identify a Beta. only an Alpha can provide for a Beta's emotional needs and mental well-being. But the Alpha, especially a strong one at the head of a large pack, fairly requires a beta. Betas make one choice willingly and without prompting. A beta decides which Alpha he/she will follow. Typically they only choose one and once the choice is made they stick to that Alpha like glue, protecting the Alpha from over-sacrifice, stress, and burn out. Betas can be ferocious in the defense of their chosen Alpha.

I think I'll end it there for now. Enjoy this little bit and all that follows.

Stasis

Sesshoumaru stared unerringly into the same trees he had stared into without ceasing for far longer than the Inu no Taishou cared for. Not that it was much of a surprise; the Taishou had been tired of his statue still son's occupation from the very first day. "You have to stop this," he growled at his heir. "She is gone. You need to get back to being the heir. She isn't coming back."

"Shut up Taishou," Kagome grumbled. "We brought some more food and another blanket," the little miko told the immobile youkai gently. "It's been awful cold up by Cloudshead according to the news, so I figured it had to be here as well."

"He wouldn't still be doing this if you didn't keep coddling him like this," Inu Taishou growled petulantly.

"You're right dad," Inuyasha snorted. "He'd be dead instead."

"Nonsense," Taishou scoffed.

"So says the biggest fool known to the current world," Morenda sniffed.

"He's stronger than this," Inu no Taishou insisted with half a snarl. He knew better than to make any real threatening moves towards the kuroneko. Even if Kagome wasn't constantly willing to singe any youkai to attempt it, the feline youkai had become a formidable fighter in the years since she was set free.

"Stronger than what, Taishou?" Kagome's miko phantom, Kikyou demanded. "Stronger than he was born to be? You turned him into a cold, violent, bloodlessly ruthless lord-in-training."

"A tower of strength," the old inu insisted. "No one dared challenge him."

"That isn't strength stupid!" Morenda yelled. Time had been kind to the kuroneko, but time spent around Kagome would force volume from anybody, damaged or not. "How many friends did he have? How many people asked him for help because of his strength? Or did no one dare?" she scoffed at him. "We did not dare beg our teachers for mercy, did that make them strong?"

"In a way-"

"Taishou, Shut up," Kagome growled at the fool darkly. "You never understood Sesshoumaru did you? What was he like as a child? Did he really freeze people out from birth? Or was he lost after his mother's death, shy and alone? Was he ever suited to be alpha? Or did you force it on him because of your need for an heir?"

"What would you know?" Inu no Taishou dismissed her and her words.

Kagome's eyes flashed fire at him, the insult noted down and added onto his term of penance. "I know what I see," she gestured to the inu youkai steadfastly staring into the woods and completely ignoring the verbal battle being waged over him. "He let you turn him into your heir, Denied the part of him that needed and was affectionate with pack for so long most inu would run mad with the loneliness of it. I would call that strength. He hid away the parts of him you'd hinted marked weakness, never allowing the shame that he harbored such supposed weakness show. I call that strength. In the end, he only broke because the one thing, the one person –" her voice wavered and tears fell. "The one person he was allowed to care about broke and abandoned him. Because of you, you rotten bully!"

"Kagome," Inuyasha murmured as he cradled his emotional mate. Their lives were still affected by the discovery made that day so many years prior. It would never go away, not with the evidence still lingering in their world day after day, waiting to finally be healed. And it would continue to be that way. Kagome was but one miko and those females from the school in the North trusted no other as they did her. And she would not abandon them.

It was just while she was in this condition she felt the stress of it more distinctly.

"It wouldn't have happened if I'd been more forceful," Kagome sighed. "If I'd just been a little more demanding, she would be here now and Sesshoumaru –"

"Shh," Inuyasha soothed her gently.

"I could have saved her and so many more," Kagome hiccupped.

"You shouldn't get so upset," Inuyasha tapped her on the nose with one gentle claw. "It's not your fault."

"You're the solution Kagome," Morenda added. "Morons like the Taishou are the problem. Trying to turn a Beta into an alpha," she sniffed.

"My son is not a Beta," Taishou growled.

"Well, he's certainly not an alpha," Morenda retorted. "Akemi was the alpha in the relationship, fool. She could never be forced to submit, no alpha could as proved by that damn school. You may beat them, abuse them, keep them in a cage, but they'll never submit by force."

"Preposterous," the Taishou shook his head. "No inu female is alpha in a mating or anything else for that matter."

"Maybe not in or of your clan," Kikyou shrugged.

"What are you insinuating?" the Inu no Taishou demanded.

"Akemi wasn't of your clan, remember," the miko phantom answered. "You went to a mate matcher to find a betrothed for your heir."

"Obviously their arcane ways understood him better than you did," Morenda observed. "They supplied him and you with the alpha you needed. And you ruined it."

"Be quiet," Inu no Taishou scowled.

"So there he sits pining for his master, his female, his alpha, like a dog for his owner," Morenda pointed to Sesshoumaru. "A situation of your own creation from willful denial of his true nature and hers."

"You know nothing," Taishou declared.

Morenda stared at him in disbelief. "Tell me that looks like an alpha to you and I'll call you a hundred different kinds of fool. And a cruel one at that."

"I will not stand for any more of this," inu Taishou thundered in frustrated anger. Being called a fool steadily over the past years had never once made him wonder if it were true. What did outsiders know? Kagome and Inuyasha were children, with memories of children of the situation. Kikyou had not even been present until the end. And Morenda was borderline Feral, her views about everything were skewed. It was time for it all to stop. Refusing to let go of the past and move on wasn't good for anyone involved, Taishou was certain of it. "This nonsense will end now," he moved to physically drag Sesshoumaru from his endless wait.

He managed to lay one hand on his son before he landed on the other side of the clearing with a bone-jarring thud. Morenda wasn't about to let him hurt Akemi's male with his stupidity ever again. She wanted to do at least that much for the inu female that was lost to them all now.

Time had been good to her and taught her how to properly thrash fool youkai. "You leave him be," Morenda glared at him from a ready crouch Sango had taught her. "You've done enough to them both. You do not know how painful it is to be told to be other than what you are. To be remade to into a mold you were never meant to fit. And you have done it more than once. It is a wonder your hanyou son did not suffer similar treatment."

"He did," Kagome declared shortly.

"I was just too stubborn to let anything come of it," Inuyasha smirked.

Kikyou shook her head, "You were lucky. The Taishou was already so focused on his plans for Sesshoumaru and Akemi. He didn't focus on you until you were older. He started in on Sesshoumaru at a very young age, Akemi from age six. He didn't turn all his attention to you until Sesshoumaru was through his age of maturity. By then you were fifteen."

"All Inuyasha suffered was a mild neglect until then, which my family generally made up for," Kagome agreed.

"Hey, I'm right here," Inuyasha protested. His mate smiled warmly up at him. "Keh!"

"I am a good father," Inu no Taishou growled.

Morenda looked him over, weighing his worth with her eyes. "Perhaps," she allowed, "for an alpha male born in the position of eldest." Inu no Taishou snarled wordlessly. "But we've not yet been presented with such a situation to make a fair judgment. You've proven lousy with every other chance. A beta male, alpha female and alpha male as a younger son."

"And I suppose a good father would just let his son pine eternally for a bitch that might already be dead," Inu no Taishou snarled.

Morenda sent him sailing once again. "How dare you! How dare you say such a thing! You've signed his death certificate, you-you"

"Knock-kneed, short-haired Yorkshire terrier on amphetamines!" Kagome yelled. She was mad enough to spit, but it would have been hardly worth the effort, as the Taishou wouldn't have noticed face down in the dirt as he was with Inuyasha on top of him. The miko shook her head and turned to the youkai the others fought over.

Sesshoumaru didn't seem to notice them. He sat in the same place, his golden eyes boring into the same tress. To anyone else he appeared unchanged after his father's words, but Kagome could see the added stiffness of reaction, of pain. He'd heard, he'd comprehended, and it was the worst thing to see.

Kagome had meant what she'd said; he was strong. He always had been, but strength couldn't last indefinitely. He'd held out for hope with Akemi. Now Taishou had dashed that fragile hope with words statistically likely, but not necessarily true.

She approached the inu slowly, carefully stepping over the rough ground before wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders from behind in a sisterly hug, her pregnancy making the gesture somewhat awkward. She bussed his cheek and leaned her head against his for a time.

Sesshoumaru said nothing, but the moisture on his cheek said it all. This would probably be the last time she would see him here. Not because he would leave to wander, nor because she wouldn't come back, but because he had given up now, only death could follow. Kagome's tears joined his in a sorrowful good bye. For the first time in months he reached up and acknowledged her presence with a squeeze of her hand.

She stayed like that until Inuyasha and the Taishou had worn themselves out and it was time to leave. Then Kagome kissed Sesshoumaru cheek a last time and left him in his chosen grave, waiting for Akemi.