The Sacred Trees

OMG Thank you thank you. I am extremely honored, The Sacred Trees, has been nominated by the Inuyasha FanGuild for Best Action/Adventure and Best Yaoi/Yuri for the Third Quarter of 2009. Everyone who reads and reviews share a part of this, and I thank you so much. And please vote if you like.

Merely Truth, DryLok, My_perversities: Glad you had a good laugh, Thanks

Think Pink : Great minds.. and all that. Cicada's yup forgot about that more used to crickets

Cirus74 : Sesshy was sooo getting too big a head, Hanyou took care of it. :) and your question is answered in this chappie

ShadowWolf03 : The BB will match the country he/she is from. *grin No clues this time cause some of the suggestions have got me plot bunnies going nuts. Again you are the only one who had a gut feel that it was te arm.. this is getting a bit spooky.. *grin Any chance you are Aries? lol - I love it, thanks.

jdbbrz : Thanks so much glad you are loving it. I was trying to write funny, but I must say I am surprised at how funny people find it,somehow I got the mix right. Thanks. This chappie is not quite what you may expect but I need to move the story... so I hope you enjoy it anyway.

synergy08 : Did what? did what? come on tellll me *whines what did it dooo. *grin

Affie and Rysha : I do hopw your cats have recovered. I love hearing that you enjoyed yourself. Morning sickness??... Inuyasha?.. you think this Inuyasha is going to have morning sickness?...*EVIL GRIN.. you know any hearbal remedies for "Irrepresible Hanyou-ities" that everyone else is going to be suffering from?? muahahahahaha

Ok thanks again for the nomination and reading. The focus in this chapter is more serious. Princess Sin I do believe I am finally answering a question you posted ages ago.

so as always read, enjoy and review...


Chapter 21 :Understanding

‘The hand’ as it was now reverently know by in the Canine Clan, was placed in a position of honor in one of the deeper display room. Only special guests and Canines who earned promotions were now privileged with a glimpse of ‘The hand’ that had taken on rather mythical proportions. Sesshoumaru was not so sure how he felt about his original hand being on display, but had resigned himself to it when his daughters had banded together and fought him when he wanted to get rid of the blasted thing while his mate was away. His oldest daughter Hakumeihime (the one who had laughed over the burnt moko –moko incident) had gotten all her 5 step-sisters together and made a stand on ‘the hand’. His daughters rarely (actually had never) stood up to him in that manner, and he had been surprised and a little pleased by their reaction so he had given in.

Sesshoumaru realized that ‘the hand’ made him seem less perfect and aloof, it made him more approachable to his daughters, and since he had never been able to breach the gap between himself and them, he was feeling ‘almost’ – but not quite- grateful about the whole mess.

His private talk with his mate had not gotten anywhere, Inuyasha had made it clear. Yes Inuyasha was pregnant and NO it did not mean he was going to do things differently. Inuyasha was very aware that the pups he carried were in good condition and he would do as he pleased without bringing any harm to the pups. The only concession Sesshoumaru had managed to get was that the Hanyou had promised never to leave Canine grounds without either Kouga, Shippo, Dionne or Sesshoumaru with him.

Sesshoumaru now regretted the wording of the concession, because it led to the situation he was in now. He was stuck here in Tokyo coordinating the whole war effort, while his mate was gallivanting in Nagona with Kouga.

The Shogun and Inuyasha had gone to Nagona with Kouga, and it had tuned out to be lucky as they had been met by a small well equipped army that attacked the Canines even before they got to the Monkey's base. The push into the Monkey’s base had been short, brutal and bloody. Kouga and the 3 Lieutenants alone may have had problems facing the army, but with Inuyasha and the Shogun there, it had not been a war, it had been a massacre. And since the Youkai attacked first, there was no question of mercy. All those who had fought them were killed.

Kira Iemura’s mansion was built into a small hill, his mansion-fort was a warren of rooms and levels. With the main resistance broken, the mansion had been captured and secured, but it would take days to properly search the warren. Word came from Tokyo that the Shogun was needed as the cranes had discovered some information and some of the international contacts had begun to bite. Sesshoumaru had to return, and to his surprise his brother had rather cheerfully informed him that he needed to stay in Nagona and help with the search. Sesshoumaru had tried to protest but the blasted Hanyou had reminded him that he promised he could go where he needed to as long as one of the 4 were with him, and Inuyahsa would be with Kouga.

Inuyasha had not argued, whined or pouted about it. He had stated his position bluntly and clearly. There had been a clarity in Inuyasha's eyes that indicated he knew what he was doing and he needed to do it. Sesshoumaru unsure of how to deal with a mature Hanyou, had given in less than graciously, calling both his sub-generals and 2 more Lieutenants to Nagona to guard his mate. His mark at least allowed him to keep track of the general location of his mate and sense his mate was safe, if not for that Sesshoumaru was not sure what he would have done.

So here he was the Shogun, stuck in Tokyo, getting drowned in work and having much too many Youkai around. Everyone seemed to be getting more ‘chummy’ with the Shogun and he could feel his lofty pedestal slowly shrinking. The Canadian Inus, Lady Shiba, Lord Bunza and some of the other Lords seem to pop up everywhere he turned. He could not remember the last time all his 6 daughters visited together and having his all daughters near was a rare pleasure. Even though he rarely saw them he could sense them all in the mansion.

How close had he come to losing touch with his clan? Losing himself? The question was academic, Inuyasha would make sure he was always found. Sesshoumaru admitted it to himself, the moment Inuyasha had stopped him from eliminating the monkeys, he had fallen in love 10 times, a hundred times more then before. And though it worried him to be away from his mate, he could NOT dampen the Hanyou's fire, so he gritted his teeth and forged ahead focusing on what he had to do, pretending to not count the minutes until laughter, joy and love was in his arms once again.

***

The search went slowly, there were many hidden rooms and curious chambers in Iemaru's home. The monkey had been obsessed with keeping things secret, and probably the only one who knew all the secrets of the mansion had been the Lord itself, or the most loyal of followers who had died in the massacre to secure the mansion. Kouga remembered the last time they had done this, they had been devils, killing everything that moved, seeing blood and fire everywhere. Now walking beside the Hanyou it was different, even the monkeys they apprehended were hopeful, the Lord had not been well loved by those that knew him the best. The servants had despised him, but kept their opinions very secret, as the turn over of servants was very high, though no one every quit. Servants with issues tended to just disappear.

There were many places no servant was allowed to even approach. Iemura's personal research labs was one such place.

Inuyasha and Kouga were inspecting the work of trying to discover what the monkey was up to in one of his Labs. The room was big with only a personal computer in the room and a huge amount of books. They had been told the dead Lord spent much time in this Lab, but it seemed to contain nothing interesting, looking more and more as if it was a simple recreational area. Disappointed the two were about to leave when Inuyasha stiffened. Something was not right.

“What's wrong mutt?” Kouga asked when he noticed Inuyasha lagging.

“There is something off... its not a tree, but if we leave – we are going to lose something.” Inuyasha said sniffing the air, trying to 'feel' the subtle connections in the room.

“Lose something? What?” Kouga looked around again and saw nothing.

“I.. I don't know, I'm not sure.. but I can feel it. Something....” Inuyasha trailed off, any other would have stopped for fear of feeling silly, not Inuyasha. He was a Demon dog on the hunt, and looking silly in front of others never stopped him when he had a task to do.

Allowing his feelings to lead him, he walked to the left wall. There seemed to be nothing to indicate it was more then a wall. Maybe a secret passage? He could search for a secret latch or something to activate it, but seriously that was not the Hanyou's style.

Kouga had just enough time to duck the flying debris as the Hanyou Wind-scarred the concrete wall to bits – experiencing the collateral impact of the Wind scar in an enclosed space, was no picnic. The ruffled ookami began shouting at the idiotic mutt when Inuyasha pointed at the now crumbled wall which revealed a dark passage behind it. With effort Kouga pulled back his anger and stalked ahead of the Hanyou into the darkened passage.

Kouga's blood suddenly began to burn, his nose twitched... that scent... that scent.. he hadn't smelled this scent in more then 300 years, but still it burned, burned his blood, burned his mind.

“Hmm I smell wolf.” Inuyasha said, not noticing the change in Kouga.

The General's growl was blood thirsty. “Ayame's tribe! Betrayers!” The words were spat out, eyes blood shot and claws out the Ookami rushed down the tunnel. They would die, finally he had found the hiding place of the betrayers, Kouga would show no mercy.

The tunnel ended in a huge natural cavern deep in the hill. A smattering of huts were placed in the Cavern and fires lite the cavern walls.

None of this registered to Kouga, the scent of Ayame's tribe wiping all thought from the General's head, he latched on the first demon he came across, claws ready for a killing blow. The female Youkai was shoved out of his grasp, and his claws raked her arm instead of her throat. A body slammed into Kouga's middle forcing him back, Inuyasha just catching up, caught Kouga in an unbreakable grip from behind. Kouga growled and struggled to get free, Inuyasha held on. Even in his state the General did not use real force to break the Hanyou's grip on him.

“Kouga! Snap the hell out of it! Look around! LOOK DAMMIT!” Inuyasha yelled. Kouga's struggles finally stopped and he looked, really looked around. All around were female Ookami cowering in fear, collars that stank of dark magic around their throats.

“Prince Kouga, oh no.. its Prince Kouga.” Whispers of fear reached the sensitive canine ears, as the stench of fear rose in the cave. The ookami females feared the prince's retribution.

“No!” Kouga growled at the only male in the Cavern who had knocked him down. The male Ookami wore no collar and had a funny scent to him. He smelled of terror as well but he stood between the two and the women, he slowly dropped to his knees before the two. “No, please I beg you, don't hurt them, don't hurt the women, they have been through enough. If you seek revenge Prince Kouga take it out on me.”

Kouga could not find words to answer, so Inuyasha spoke for him.

“Who are you to make such an offer?”

“I.. I.. am called Iyarashii. My mother was the mate of the Leader of our wolf tribe... but my.. my fa... the one who's seed birthed me was Lord Iemura. So please if you seek vengeance kill me, take it out on me. They are innocent, pawns of the bloody monkey! I beg you! I am the abomination, use me to release your vengeance! ”

Kouga was still frozen, he stared at the captive woman and the Youkai begging before him. His hands trembled in great rage.

Seeing the Lords rage one of the women dressed in ragged skins suddenly came forward, tears in her eyes. “No please, please! Iemura has finally offered us to you to quench your vengeance, but please hear us out, Great Prince. Our tribe did not want to betray you, but what could the men do, all of us were taken captive, our children slaughtered. Iya's mother was raped, and she died saving Iya when her other Pups were put to death before her. He.. he was left alive, for that monster to torment. Ever since he has taken the punishments for us, he has protected us. Please do not kill him, he is not an abomination he cant help his blood. I know Iemura has told you differently but please believe us, Iemaru is the devil, he tailored the attack on your tribe, please!!” the woman sobbed, she was obviously terrified of talking to Prince Kouga but her fear for the male gave her strength.

Inuyasha firmly pushed Kouga who stood stunned to the side, and began to radiate warmth. Much like he did when he was healing the trees, he tapped into the burning, distorted webs of energy in the room, and sent pulses of warmth, of comfort out. “Be at ease woman, we are well aware the true traitor is the monkey, he has been destroyed.”

The was a ripple of shock in the room. Then relief spread through the cavern. The kneeling male Ookami looked up, catching Kouga's still burning eyes, bowed his head lower. The women may be saved but with his lineage the Youkai knew that there was no mercy for him, since he was a pup he had been made well aware of the consequences of his father's demise. He felt like a coward, he did not want to see it, the claws that would kill him, all he hoped for was that they would make his death swift.

A ripple of shock went though him as a warm hand touched his head, cupped his jaw and lifted his face from the ground. Golden eyes, much like the sun he had heard stories about looked at him, the eyes looked straight into his tainted and damaged soul, he could hide nothing from them.

“Iyarashii..hmm the disgusting or repulsive one.” Inuyasha said softly, Inuyasha was trying to hide his shock, the Youkai before him had scars, on his back, on his throat, he was missing 2 fingers on his left hand and half a ear. What the hell did it take to scar a pure Youkai? A hell of a lot of abuse.

Inuyasha touched the torn ear, gently.

“Keh! That name does not suit you. More like Yuusharashii (The one who appears to be a hero). Yes that name suits you better. We are not here to kill you or take vengeance, we are here to free you.” Inuyasha said.

As much as he wanted to believe amazing white haired creature before him, the Ookami's eyes were drawn to the Prince whom he had heard so many stories about. Prince Kouga, was looking at him, really looking.

Kouga's eyes were unreadable, then slowly his claws retracted, he looked around the room at the cowering females, they were as much victims as his tribe had been. Sins of the father was not something Kouga believed in, and in the eyes of the kneeling male, he saw pack loyalty. He saw the strength of the male to sacrifice anything for his pack, he saw the abuse the male had suffered, he saw the best of his long dead mate's pack. And finally he understood, finally he knew why. Finally he could forgive, he could forgive them, and he could forgive himself, his trust had not been truly misplaced.

Words were not enough, he looked at the women in the room. He could feel the warmth Inuyasha was emitting helping them relax, and slowly come forward. He could see the embers of hope light in the almost dead eyes of the females in the Cavern.

The stench of fear and abuse and hopelessness collected for over 300 years hung heavily in the Cavern, no, words were not enough.

Kouga looked at the kneeling Youkai, he gestured for the male to stand. Inuyasha stepped back, letting the two males face each other. Kouga looked at the young Male Ookami, who had for all purposes been the Alpha of the women, protecting them the only way he could. But this... youth... was no Alpha, he had done his best though, and Kouga was impressed. Words were not enough.

“Howl with me.” Was all Kouga said.

There in the depths of a Cavern, which had only know hopelessness and sorrow for over 3 centuries, the pure howl of a strong male wolf rang out. The howl summoned the pack to him, gave each member a place, assured the pack of his strength and protection. In that howl he brought the pack home. Slowly , one by one the females raised their heads and howled with their new Alpha. Memories of 300 years past rushing in, they howled of their sorrow, of their loss, of their fear. And then they howled of a dawning hope, of new joy.

The last to join the howl was the male. He had been afraid too afraid to join, his ears rang with the howls, he was so happy, he was so scared. He could not raise his head. Then he had felt a heavy , strong hand fall on his shoulder. Even as he howled Kouga had reached out to the silent youth, he recognized the youth needed more then the howl, he needed touch to be assured that he was accepted as Ookami. With a look of wonder on the face of the Young Ookami, tears gathering in his eyes, he finally lifted his head and howled alongside his new Alpha.

300 years of abuse, and within the dark Cavern, at least for now the howl was enough. The lost Ookami found their home.

Inuyasha watched the howling wolves, a small smile on his lips.. well this was going to be interesting. Then he lifted his head and joined the howl.

Far away, Sesshoumaru felt it, Canines were howling. It was a howl he had not heard ever. A howl of lost finding a home, a howl of new joy – not war. Somehow the Shogun was not surprised that it was coming from the direction of his mate, his smile mirroring his brother's the Shogun lifted his head.

That day in the midst of preparations for war, the Canines across the land howled. Almost all did not know the details of why the howled, they only knew that they howled because a great healing had occurred, and all Canines stopped their work, to affirm their joy in the pack.

---tbc-

Thanks everyone for voting.

Okay so obviously the Yaoi won out with a clear victory, a lot of voters want a Inuyasha-like character which is hard as he still needs to be unique and have a distinct personality, but its a good challenge so I'll give it a shot. So what do you think of the character and story? Review... and what I wonder do you want to see more of in the next chapter.. do tell hmmm....