Okay, folks! This story picks up where Cerberus Archives: Canis Minor left off.

Chapter 1:

Inuyasha scanned the night sky, seeing nothing but stars and the lights of an aircraft. Beside him, Jonathan Windrow, also known as the Dragon, checked his watch.

"Soon, Yasha."

The half-demon made a small sound and turned his gaze towards Jonathan's wife, Kirsten. The diminutive blue-haired mutant was checking her luggage and other gear for what seemed like the fiftieth time. Kagome was reading Kirsten's checklist to her in a quiet voice.

"I suppose that's everything, then," Kirsten sighed as Kagome read the last item on the list. She crossed her arms and stared upwards. "Nothing to do now but wait."

"Kirsty… sensei…" Inuyasha laid a clawed hand on her shoulder. "You don't need to go."

She patted his hand. "Don't worry about me with your brother, sweetie. I can handle him."

"Keh! How do you know? You've never met him."

"I've spent hours studying your memories of him, Yasha. I can handle him."

Inuyasha stared hard at the small mutant. She was not bragging, of course. Kirsten never bragged. She didn't need to. Cobra could take on a small army by herself and trash the lot of them without breaking a sweat. One demon lord should be no problem. Right? But she wasn't invulnerable. Inuyasha knew this first hand, for he had been responsible for breaking several of her ribs when he had lost control and transformed to full demon. Cobra had underestimated his strength in that form, but she would never do so again. Nor would she underestimate his brother.

"Sensei…" He wrapped his arms about her and hugged her tightly.

"Oh, stop worrying, puppy." Kirsten rubbed one of his ears. "Aren't you excited about seeing the cyborg-ship?"

"Yeah!" He let Kirsten go and looked up again. "They're taking a long time."

"Not so long. Psiax will scan the area before he deems it safe to come down. He'll make sure that there's no one but us in the area."

Jonathan had explained about the cyborg-ship to the half-demon earlier in the day, and Inuyasha couldn't wait to see it. The concept that the ship had once been a man was hard to grasp. He was also excited to know that his friends would be coming back with Kirsten and his brother – but he was careful not to let Kagome know about that tidbit of news. It would spoil the surprise. He couldn't wait to see Miroku again, and Sango – and damn it! – yeah, even Shippo.

"Here it comes," Jonathan said quietly.

Inuyasha saw an immense darkness blot out the stars, and panicked for a moment, his hand on the Tetsusaiga's blade. His hackles rose and he growled low in his throat.

"Stand down, Inuyasha," Kirsten snapped at him. "This is no enemy."

He removed his hand from his blade and watched as the bulk of the cyborg-ship settled into the huge clearing in the park they were in. He was surprised that an alien ship would dare to land so close to the quiet suburban streets, although to be honest, the nearest houses and apartment buildings were a good kilometer away.

Kirsten embraced Jonathan and kissed him soundly. Kagome threw her arms about her and hugged, wishing her good luck. Inuyasha hugged her and gave her a kiss, grinning as she fondled his ears again and told him to be good.

"And don't wear Kagome out, hear me?"

He gave her a wolfish grin. "I'll try, sensei."

The small mutant settled the weight of her sword between her shoulder blades and lifted one of her bags as the cyborg-ship touched down. She was in full battle gear and had her indigo hair tied back.

A hatchway opened near the bottom of the ship, and light spilled into the clearing. Two figures appeared at the top of the short ramp and made their way down, walking briskly. Inuyasha squinted against the glare and sniffed to catch their scent. He snorted and reared back a little. Their scent wasn't bad, just…subtly different, but there was no way he would ever mistake them for human, despite their outwardly normal appearance.

It seemed that their sense of smell was just as acute as his. The two men stopped at the bottom of the ramp, obviously sniffing the air. The smaller of the two stepped forward. He was dark-haired and blue-eyed, and very handsome. He embraced Jonathan warmly, and then Kirsten.

"Good to see you again, Briareus," Kirsten said. "I have two others with me that you haven't met before. This is Kagome and Inuyasha, both of Japan."

Briareus made a bow to Kagome, then turned to Inuyasha and clasped his hands together in front of him instead of offering to shake hands. "Greetings to you both. Are they travelling with us, Kirsten?"

"No. Just me. But we will be bringing back Inuyasha's brother and a few others."

"I see." Briareus regarded Inuyasha closely. "You are not completely human."

"Inuyasha is a half-demon," Kirsten said. "His brother is full demon. Will that be a problem?"

Briareus gave a feral grin. "Not unless he'd like to make it one. Hormidas, get Kirsten's other bag. Jonathan…"

Jonathan bowed. "I put my female's protection into your hands, Krajan Briareus. Guard her well."

"Be assured that I and my crew shall guard her with our lives. A message will be sent via Cerberus when you may expect us."

"Thank you."

With that, Briareus took Kirsten's arm and led her up the ramp. The other man picked up the rest of Kirsten's luggage and followed. The hatchway closed behind them.

Inuyasha was disappointed: he would have liked to have gone in and explored. But he realized that time had been of the essence, and another opportunity might come his way later.

They watched as the cyborg-ship lifted silently into the air and glided off into the night. Jonathan sighed and put his arm about Kagome's shoulders.

"So now you've seen a real UFO."

Kagome giggled. "They were very strange men."

"You have no idea."

"So what was that bit with Kirsten?"

Jonathan shrugged. "They have a male-dominated society, where females are generally under a male's protection. Basically, I made Briar responsible for Kirsty's safety while she's with them. As well, she will be regarded as his woman for the time being, and off-limits to other males."

Inuyasha paled. "She's not gonna…"

"No. It's a formality, Yasha. Rest assured that Briar won't lay a finger on her. Come on, guys, let's get home. I'm tired, even if you aren't."

Inuyasha glanced at Kagome, and grinned. They had spent the better part of the day in his room, making love and napping in between. Now that they were together, he found it difficult to leave her alone for even a short period of time.

"When she gets back, I'm gonna have a few words with her about leaving me alone with two horny teenagers," Jonathan grumbled under his breath.

"Hey! I have about a hundred and fifty years to make up for!" Inuyasha grinned at him.

"Well, just don't make up for it all in a day, huh?"

OoOoOo

Briareus piloted the hoverdisk down to the shrine grounds and parked it behind some trees where it would not be easily seen.

"Are you sure you want to come?" Kirsten asked him again.

"Of course. Jonathan put your safety into my hands. You know how seriously I take that duty."

"Hmm. I just don't want you freaking out a demon lord, you know? Their sense of smell is very powerful."

Briareus smiled and patted the holster at his side. "I'll stun him if I have to."

They walked towards the Higurashi residence, lighted windows guiding their way in the darkness. Although they had planned to wait until midnight, Kirsten had thought they could risk coming down sooner, since it looked like the neighbourhood had mostly settled in for the night. She knocked at the back door and waited until Sota opened the screen.

"Mom! Cobra's here!"

"Hey, kiddo! What are you doing still up? You should be in bed."

The boy grinned at her. "And miss seeing you? Not likely."

Briareus and Kirsten came just inside the door and stood waiting for the lady of the house to put in an appearance.

"Oh! Come in, come in!" Mrs. Higurashi cried as she came from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. "Mavis is here and I've made something for you to eat."

"Thank you," Kirsten said in Japanese. "This is Briareus, a colleague of mine."

"Welcome. Oh, please do come in."

Kirsten whispered to Briareus to remove his footgear, as she slipped off her boots. He gave her a grin, but followed suit. They followed their hostess into the livingroom and knelt on the floor beside the table that had been set up and laden with dishes.

Mavis came into the room a few moments later. "Kirsty! And Briar too! Gee, it's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Mavis was a colleague of Kirsten's, a member of Psi One, and had been off-world until recently, studying magic and reaching the level of mage. When she had returned to Earth, she had been called by the magic of the now-activated Bone-eater's Well and had come to Japan with Kirsten and Jonathan to locate the node that had called to her so insistently. They had followed Kagome down the Well, and that was how they had met Inuyasha. Mavis had spent the last three months studying the Well, staying with Kagome's family when she was on this side, and staying with Kaede, the village priestess, when she was on the other.

Briareus began to rise so he could greet the pretty Chinese girl properly, but Mavis waved him down again, sinking gracefully to her knees.

"Briar insists upon coming with us," Kirsten said.

"Please," Mrs. Higurashi said. "Help yourself to food. Don't be shy. Here, I brought out some forks as well if you need them."

Briareus showed that he had learned to use chopsticks somewhere along the line. Kirsten raised an eyebrow at him, but he only smiled in return and complimented their hostess on the meal. Kirsten provided translation for him.

Soon enough, Mavis was getting to her feet and apologizing for taking their guests away.

"I'd like to go through the Well now," she said. "Kaede is expecting us, and we'll be able to catch up with any new developments before we see Sesshomaru in the morning."

"We're ready any time," Kirsten replied.

They took their leave of Mrs. Higurashi and went out to the Well house.

"Doesn't look like much, does it?" Briareus commented.

"Nope. Briar, you'll have to hold our hands as we go through."

Kirsten and Mavis linked hands, then each took one of Briareus' hands. Mavis activated the Well, and they leaped together.

OoOoOo

Kirsten watched the demon lord from the relative concealment of the trees. She had spent some time with the solidograph that Cerberus had made, so Sesshomaru's otherness would not bowl her over. But even the solidograph had not completely prepared her for the real thing.

He was taller than his brother, was Sesshomaru, and his hair was much longer, falling to his knees. Although the colour was silver like Inuyasha's, Sesshomaru's hair seemed finer. He did not have perky dog ears either. Two finely pointed ears rested on either side of his head, exactly where human ears would be. Sesshomaru shared molten gold eyes with his half-brother as well, but they had a more almond-shape to them. Sesshomaru bore the mark of his House on his forehead – a blue crescent-moon. His cheeks were striped with the magenta demon markings that Inuyasha lacked. Sesshomaru had a narrower face, and more aristocratic features – in fact, if Christian Akracem's skin had been pale instead of brown, the two men would have looked very similar – except for the ears.

Lord! If Kelly thought Inuyasha was gorgeous – she'll positively freak over his brother! Kirsten smiled at the thought of her two friends. Christian was half-human and half-Tricon, living on Earth to escape the prejudices of his home-world. His wife, Kelly, was a fashion photographer with her own agency now, thanks to Christian's wealth.

She turned her attention back to the demon lord, who had turned in his perambulations about the meadow and was approaching her place of concealment in a very nonchalant manner. Kirsten was not taken in for a moment.

Sesshomaru moved in a completely different manner than his brother. Every movement, every gesture seemed as if he'd thought it out in advance. Sesshomaru would never fidget. In fact, he could remain so completely still, you were in danger of mistaking him for a statue. When he did move, he was so utterly graceful that you would find yourself forgetting to breathe. Grace, power, supreme control – this was Sesshomaru.

The only thing that marred his beauty was the fluttering of his empty left sleeve.

Kirsten gulped, then steeled herself. Forget that he looks like an elf! Remember that he is a cold-blooded killer and may draw the Tokijin on you. Above all – remember what his name means!

The small blue-haired mutant stepped from the trees and began a slow advance on the demon lord. She did not kid herself that he had not known she was there. She approached to within twenty feet of him and bowed, silently praying she was out of reach of his demon sword, if he should turn and lunge.

"So – you have decided to show yourself." His tone was mild, his voice deep and musical. Kirsten could have listened to him speak all day. Too bad he was a man – a demon, rather – of few words.

"My lord, I was told you wished to discuss a new arm."

"Yes. I would like to understand how this will be done. I have had poor luck in the past with replacements." A very small corner of his mouth tipped up for an instant. "Walk with me."

She came up to his side and he turned to look at her fully for the first time.

"You are my brother's sensei?

Kirsten tried to repress a shudder as cold gold eyes examined her completely from head to toe, taking in her indigo hair, her skin covered with the small pearlescent scales that gave her the code name Cobra. His eyes flicked rapidly over her battle gear, examining her visible weapons. He nodded his head slightly, apparently satisfied.

"I am, Lord Sesshomaru."

"Ah. And how does my little brother?"

"Exceedingly well, my lord. You will find him much changed."

His mouth quirked again. "Hmm. You are what Mavis calls a Weaponsmaster?"

"I am, lord."

"And you are also a scientist." He stumbled a little over the unfamiliar word.

"I am."

"You speak our language well. Come. Explain to me how you will make a new arm."

Without further ado, he set off at a slow, measured pace across the meadow, expecting her to keep up with his longer strides. He did not bother to make sure she was following – he expected it of her.

So, for the next hour, Kirsten spoke to him. She explained how a bionic arm would work and what was involved. She explained about the necessity of coming to her place of work and what accommodations she had made for him and his retinue. And she explained what would be expected of him in return.

By the end of the conversation, they were sitting under a tree together – Sesshomaru cross-legged with his hand lying quietly in his lap, Kirsten on her knees before him, palms resting on her knees. His eyes were downcast, as he considered everything she had told him. Then, for the next hour, it was his turn to ask questions.

Finally, he leaned his head back against the tree, seemingly satisfied with Kirsten's answers. His long, clawed fingers tapped his knee for a brief moment, then stilled again.

"My arm," he began slowly. "My arm would have regenerated by now, under normal circumstances. However, I think it has not, because of the properties of the Tetsusaiga. Or perhaps the process has been abnormally slowed. Have you means of determining this?"

Kirsten nodded. "Yes, lord. However, it would not be my own technology that will tell us. I have a colleague – Mykan – whose race has developed machinery that can regenerate limbs. I have seen it work on another colleague of mine who was severely injured. We could check to see if there is any regenerative activity going on. If there is, we might opt for regenerating rather than rebuilding.

"I am sorry, lord. I did not realize that you and your brother had that capability, or I might have suggested the regenerating coils first."

"Inuyasha may not be aware of it. He is, after all, just a half-demon." Sesshomaru gave a delicate shudder. "Let me think on this a while longer, if I may. There is much to consider."

"Certainly, lord."

"I will send Jaken to you when I am ready to give you a decision."

Kirsten bowed her head, then stood and backed from his presence. As she turned to leave, his soft voice halted her.

"Lady Cobra…"

"Lord Sesshomaru?"

"I thank you for your time today."

"It was nothing, my lord. I will await your decision in the village."

Again, there was the slight quirk of his lips. He turned his gaze from her, effectively dismissing her. Although he was not looking at her, Kirsten bowed her head anyway, then headed for the village.