She couldn't remember in all her life had she been moving so fast, but all her beings kept screaming at her, this is not fast enough, she is not fast enough, to reach him. The landscape surrounding her was all blurry even to one of her own kind. She could smell in the air something salty was leaking out from her eyes but she paid no mind. There is no time…

Tougaou…

Fire.

This was all he could see.

One movement from behind alerted him, but he needed not to turn his back. Setsuna no Takemaru. This man was going to pay. Had it not been Tenseiga, he would have lost both Izayoi and Inuyasha.

Inuyasha…

Unsheathing the sword on his back, he gave an indignity snort in his mind, never thought one day this sword would be so much needed in his life. He would not let this man's soul rest in peace. He would not let this man's soul pass the gate to the next world. This man was going to suffer, even after death.

Soun'ga would make sure of it.

He could feel the pull of the underworld's power radiating from Soun'ga trying to invade his mind. But even in the weakest state of his life, possibly now, the mind game between him and it was still ended up with him as the winner. The ancient black dragon's soul sealed deep inside the sword kept screeching in rage. There was nothing it could do but to obey his command.

Kokuryuha.

Goodbye, human. You will never reach her again.

Izayoi. Live. Live and be happy, together with Inuyasha.

White. Was the last thing he could see before everything turned black.

"… Touga…"

What is it?

"Tougaou…"

Who's there?

"Tougaou."

Who are…

He knew that voice. No, more than knew. But his mind was in too much chaos to even start focus on gaining back consciousness. He knew he must. But Gods helped him, he felt like hell, his eyelids had never been so heavy, breathing had never been this hard. Had whoever been calling out for him was covering his eyes and choking his windpipe?

"Tougaou."

"I can hear you."

"So your ears are still usable after all.", was that amusement he heard in her tone? More important why was she here?

"Have you come to witness my last breath?", he asked her nonchalantly.

"More or less.", she replied.

Silent fell upon them. He was still relying on his demonic healing to work its magic, and it was failing. But he needed it in anyway possible. Even just for a bit more moments… His left hand moved to the swords were resting at his side, one small tug he had them free from his sash and held them in front of her.

"Take Tenseiga and make me a grave in the final resting place. Then…"

He tried and failed to inhale a deeper breath. One as his own would never choked in his words, even he was dying.

"Give it to Sesshoumaru."

He saw the corner of her mouth twitched. If it had been any other day, he would have barked a laughter at her current expression, now, he was just too tired. His entire body was failing him. Darkness was covering his vision. He blinked.

"And Tetsusaiga... Keep Tetsusaiga sealed with my remaining until the day it is awaken."

Another hard intake of breath.

"And give the black pearl to Inuyasha. But keep it a secret from h-"

"Inuyasha.", she cut him off abruptly, rolled the name on her tongue, "Was that a bit to girly of a name for a boy?"

"A... boy?", he asked incredibly.

"Yes, my dearest one. Your ningen mistress gave birth to a hanyou boy. Certainly you were not near dead enough to be unable to sniff his gender out?". If when she spoke those two words with venom and hatred in it, it never showed. And he was in too much tiredness to even try to dwell in another pointless argument with her. Not anymore.

But he did choke out a laughter.

He looked at her, more closely to see her face. She was sitting on her knees in front of him, mindless of the dirtiness of the after battlefield surrounding them. Despite all that, she was as beautiful as he could remember. She was sitting there, staring at him, showing not whatever feelings she was feeling, he knew she could feel, by the intense burning on his left shoulder. The aching heat from it maybe was what keeping him from falling even deeper into his coming abyss.

He smiled at her. Let this imagine of her was burn deep into his mind. His mate.

While closing his eyes.

"I'm glad I left the Meidoseki with you."

Had he still kept his eyes open he would have seen her eyes widened at his smile, and a bit wider at next his words. Her hand grabbed on the hilt of Tenseiga harden. Her eyes focused on his dying body, his torn lung, his dimming amber eyes. He was failing. He was leaving.

She felt the pulse from Tenseiga.

She saw the little beings of the afterlife started surrounding him.

They couldn't touch him as long he still drew breath, but it was just the matter of time before he lost it.

She was going to slay them all.

She would slay them all.

Her eyes narrowed on them.

"Don't."

His voice broke through her being as if someone had stabbed her from behind. Her eyes widen. But she would not sway. She would not show him how much betrayal she felt from just one word of his denial to this one life time chance to save himself. He decided to give it up.

"I'd like to be able to see them in the next world." And you.

He couldn't see anything anymore. Darkness had won and claimed him in its embrace. He could feel her there, but she was getting further from his reach.

His time was running out.

"If Sesshoumaru comes… use the Meidoseki… if something happened to him… don't be sad… or worry…"

She reached out to him. By the Gods... why the physical distance between them suddenly was so great she felt it took forever just to touch him. The coldness in the smooth surface of his cheek leeching to her warm. He opened his eyes, which spoke so many things, contrary to her own, yet the brightness of them had already lost. She lower her head, brought her lips ghostly above his.

"My own."

The last contact they had shared marked his last breath in the living world.

The Inu no Taisho had passed away.

He knew, from the moment his father turned his back to him to run to the human's side, he'd lost him, forever. Why? Had his mother not enough? Had he, Sesshoumaru, heir of the Western lands, not enough? Why had his father chosen another? Why had he pupped her? And ended his life saving them.

He heard her agonizing howl somewhere deep within his head.

Mother. Why have you come?

Their mating was incompleted. She would not die together with his father. Yet, why did her howl tear his soul apart as it hers?

He felt something, something he had never felt since he was just a pup. He wanted to come to her. But he quickly dismissed it. He had not been made for comfort. He was the perfect killing machine. That was what he was and the sole purpose of his birth.

From here on, he was the new Lord of the Western lands.

"Chichiue..."

He turned his vision to the sky, which was already at dawn, a blood red dawn he'd ever seen. Whirlwinds surrounding him. He felt his youki raising within him. His eyes bled red as his golden pupils turned blue. The smoothly youkai marking stripes all over his body turned jagged. He shifted to his true form. Paws digging to the earth beneath, a rumble tore from his chest, he released an earth shaking howl to the heaven. As if it was the very reason he lost his father. As if it was the very reason his mother was in so much distress. As if it was the very reason for all the feelings running chaos within him. As if it was the only thing would give him the answer for everything yet nothing.

He loathed the woman whom his father had left his mother for.

He loathed her hanyou offspring whose blood had soiled his royal bloodline.

The child would die. By the hatred of humans who thought it was the oni no ko. By the disgusted of youkai who thought it was a filthy being for having human blood.

And if it managed to live through, he, Sesshoumaru, would take mercy on that pathetic being and end its life for its own sake.

It was stirring.

That much it could tell from the darkness surrounding them. But why? That being had been in deep slumber for as long as it could remember. It had made sure it would be too weak to even as much lift a finger.

It was waking.

How?

So many unanswered questions were roaming about its head. That being could not be awaken. It was not supposed to. Had it miscalculated? That was not possible… unless…

It looked up just to have its expected unexpected thing unfold right before its eyes.

Blood red eyes bored into its soul.

But this was a surprise. This was not the expected blood red eyes in its memory. This… what was this…

It was a scared eyes.

It was a clueless eyes.

It was what an infant supposed to be eyes.

It felt something bubbled up within its own being.

A ruthless sound erupted through the darkness. It happened so fast it could not identify what was that sound at first, and then it felt it, its own muzzle were stretching, and the sound kept escaping from the hollow of its throat.

It was laughing.

At the being in front of it.

At the fearful look said being was giving it.

At the attempt to pull at the shackles around all its pitiful paws of said being to get away from it.

Finally.

Finally the time has come.

"Yo, little one."

Such awful voice. It mentally winced. Probably from being unused for so long.

It heard a whimper from that being as it tried scooting further from its cage. The shackles moved heavily around it. Surely those things were too big for such a small thing to carry around, couldn't that thing even realize it was not even move an inch from where it was and only writhing in the same place still now?

Oh well…

It would grow given time.

It was a very patient being. It had been waiting for this time to come since forever. Now, just a bit more.

Yes, time.

Until then, it would very much enjoy breaking this thing for all its worth.

Yes, this would be a very interesting waiting.

That same sound broke through darkness again, with more intensify than the previous one, and seemingly surrounding the tiny being in the middle of endless shackles glued into its body. Its small whimpers were swallowed by that deafen sound.

It inquired…

Why?...

Disclaimer

Inuyasha (C) Rumiko Takahashi

Author's Note

Greetings to all who have read my first attempt at fanfiction.

Firstly I would like to thank you all for reading this story. Honestly I enjoy writing stuff, but sometimes it's just so hard to convert what you thought into words. I had tried many times to correct this first chapter but in the end, it came close to my liking this way, because I couldn't think of another way to put the flow of this story. So, this chapter was the result of my youngster writing style.

The second thing I would like to address is... I am very bad at English (my score in English class was not high at all), so if you happened to spot some misspellings or grammars, please bear with me. -.-"

Third thing, is about this story. As this chapter title gave away, it's a prologue, yes. This was not really a beginning at all, with some certain parts you may find very familiar from Inuyasha Movie 3 with some twisted details from the original manga. To tell the truth, there was something in the manga/anime I don't like at all, and it's part of the reason why I crafted this fanfiction (together with abit of my guilty pleasure may or may not be writen in later chapters).

And last but not really last thing is, the story rating. I would like to keep it at T for now, because you see, so far there was nothing to be caution about... yet. I will change it at the later time if things happen to go out of hands, and some of us may hope or hope not, for it to happen.

Thank you for bearing with my ranting.

'Till next time.

Asuka K.