From that day on things didn't seem right for Catriona & Rin; both having strong feelings that their loved ones were still alive out there. But with each day that passed, their hopes grew smaller & smaller; & Miroku could see this, but he offered no words of comfort, only promises of taking care of them now, being everything they needed. None of this was enough for them, because all they really wanted was Isamu & Sesshoumaru; their strong protector & the young son.
Miroku noticed that Catriona was becoming more & more distant, staring out the large windows for hours on end, as if she were watching for her lover, friend, & son to return to her. He could practically see her soul dying inside her as she began to waste away; no longer eating or drinking, trying to kill herself by giving up. He wanted to help her, but he knew all of this was his fault & his alone.
*~*~*~*~*
"You had better be telling the truth," Sesshomaru spoke as he held Kagura by her kimono collar. "What reason do I have to believe what you're saying?"
"What I speak is the truth Lord Sesshomaru," Kagura replied. "The hanyou escaped a few days ago & Naraku has not been able to find him, or any sign of him. I saw him myself, but I didn't say anything to Naraku."
"Where is he?"
"I'll only tell you if you allow me to tell you a rumor I heard about your brother's monk friend," she said as she gripped his wrist."
"What did you hear about Miroku?" Inu Yasha demanded, interrupting his brother from speaking again.
"That this is all his doing... It's not really a rumor you see, because I heard every word of it. Everything the two agreed on in order for the human girl, Catriona."
Sesshomaru let her go & Inu Yasha stared at her. "What do you mean?"
"Your so-called friend made a deal with Naraku to arrange all of this, just so he could have the girl." she replied as she fixed her collar, looking at Sesshomaru before she looked at Inu Yasha. "The deal was, if Naraku would help him get Catriona, he would help him capture Isamu & kill you & your brother."
"Why would he want my son?" Seshoumaru asked.
"You know Naraku is sick, I'm sure even a village idiot could figure it out," she replied. "He's been using him for his pleasures, forcing him to do things & have things done to him; only as long as it all gave him pleasure."
"Where is he now? Where is Naraku?"
*~*~*~*~*
Ismau ran his clawed fingers over the scratches he had on his face from Naraku slapping him one time. And for some reason or another, the scratches hadn't healed yet, leaving little scratch mark scars. It had been a few days now & he was certain he was lost, but he had the feeling he knew one scent in the area, but he wasn't sure if it was the one he was looking for. He was certain he knew the scent, but it was still so far off to his nose that he couldn't get the full power of it.
He followed the scent, until he came across a fire that had only recently been put out; telling by the small whiff of smoke that was still rising from the ashes of burnt wood & leaves. His ears picked up the very faint sound of breathing & when he turned around, he had to act quick to block the blow that still knocked him to the ground. When he opened his eyes, there was a woman standing above him, staring at him with an almost cold expression.
"Who are you?" She demanded as she stood over him, putting her foot on his chest to hold him down; but with little enough pressure to allow him to breath.
"Tell me who you are first," he replied, wrapping his hand around her ankle, his Dokkasou prepared.
The woman above him applied more pressure with her foot to his chest. "I do believe I asked your name first, little one. So tell me what your name is before I destroy you." She looked down when she felt a pain in her ankle of his poison eating away at it. "Oh, you intend to wound me there so I'll be forced to let you go? Sorry to dissapoint you sweety, but I'm already healing," she smirked.
Isamu looked at her ankle to see that it was indeed healing. He let go & looked up at her. "My name is Isamu," he said, watching the slight shock that sweeped through the woman's amber eyes.
"Why are you alone in these areas?" She asked as she removed her foot from his chest.
"I was kidnapped from my home a while ago; I don't know exactly how long, but I managed to escape & now I'm trying to find my way back home to my mother & father."
The woman's eyebrow rose & she leaned down, helping him to his feet since he was still on the ground. She walked to the bushes & leaned over them, grabbing the pack that she carried with her. "You can come with me until you see familiar land, but you are to fend for yourself on the way."
"Where are you headed?"
"I'm heading to the Western Lands to see if someone I once knew still resides there," she answered & began walking; he followed after. "If not, then I will take the lands as my own."
"Who did you use to know?" He asked, not looking up at her.
"My son, Sesshomaru. I want to see if he has kept rule over the Western Lands. If not, then whoever has them, claiming them as their own, will be destroyed & I will take back what once belonged to my late mate."
"Lord Sesshomaru is your son?" He asked, looking up at her. I thought my grandmother was dead... No, father said she disappeared & no one knew what happened to her, he thought, looking ahead.
The youkai woman nodded. "Yes. When his father, Lord Isamu died, I left knowing it was best for Sesshomaru to know how the world was without me there to protect him from the cruelty."
"He still rules the Western Lands..." A moment of silence passed between the two before he looked up at her & spoke again. "You never told me your name."
"My name is Lady Suki. Before I joined with the late Lord Isamu as his mate, I was ruler of the Eastern Lands."
"Lady Suki... Lord Sesshomaru is my father." He stopped walking when she did so. "Is something wrong?"
"My son took a human as his mate & had a hanyou?" She asked, her eyes glowing red.
"No. They are not mates, he just took bed with her." When he said this, he saw her eyes stopped glowing. "And, I wasn't tried for. I came from a trist."
"Does my son currently have a mate?" She asked as she began walking again.
"No," he answered, following her. "Lady Suki, why are you making this journey instead of calling for him at night?"
"I did not know he still ruled the Lands. And if someone else was, I did not wish for them to be ready for an attack."
"Oh."
*~*~*~*~*
~2 weeks later~
"Catriona, please come to bed," Miroku said as he looked at the woman sitting in the window seat, staring out across the lands. "You need your rest."
Catriona closed her eyes, allowing the tears that had been welling up there to fall down her cheeks. She looked down & sniffled. "Miroku, I can't sleep; not now."
Miroku sighed, getting irritated with her sadness. "Catriona, Sesshomaru is dead, so is Isamu. I know you're sad & that you miss them, but you need to move on & start your new life. At least Rin is trying to be happy by going in the gardens to play in the flowers."
Catriona looked at Miroku, more tears falling as she blinked then stared at him with a cold glare. "And she ends up crying!" She rose from her seat in the window seat & walked to the doors. At the doors, she turned to face him. "I end up comforting her & she comforts me when I end up crying because I start to miss my love & my son also. You claim that you are going to take care of us, be what we need, but you're not doing a very good job!"
"Catriona I am trying my hardest to comfort you, but it's getting old! Get over him already because he's not coming back. Neither is Isamu. And neither is Inu Yasha."
"Yea some freind you are to him! You know you could get him back from Naraku, yet you're not even going to try anything."
Miroku got up from the bed & walked over to her, grabbing her arms roughly. "Catriona, listen to me. If Naraku brought down Sesshomaru, as powerful of a youkai as he is, then what do you think he would do to me?" He saw the tears that were gathering in her eyes as she stared at him & he pulled her against him, holding her with a loving touch as she collapsed in his arms, crying into his chest. "I'm sorry Catriona," he whispered, rubbing her back as he held her. "I'm just tired of seeing you sad & knowing there's nothing I can do for you. They've been gone for a full month now & I'm sorry but you should know they're not coming back."
"I know they're not, but my heart still wants them to be," she said through her sobs.
Miroku ran his fingers through her hair, holding her close. "Things will be okay Catriona; we can be happy together with time," he whispered.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Suki looked across the burning fire at the young hanyou that slept soundly in his vulnerable human form. She was slowly studying his appearance, flaws & perfections, & thinking about the marks that set him aside from other hanyous whose markings only showed when their youkai blood took over. But his markings that he inherited from Sesshomaru showed, but very lightly when he was in his hanyou form. Sesshomaru's blood must have been stronger than the human's blood that he took bed with, she thought as she studied the red hair that showed just how pale his young skin was. He will be scarred by this for the rest of his life... What Naraku did to him had nearly broken his weak soul, but he refuses to let it show that he's afraid of Naraku searching him out.
Isamu, feeling eyes burning into him, awoke & looked at the youkai woman that stared at him; no expression was on her face. "Why are you staring at me?" He asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he sat up.
"Thinking about how much you look like your father through your face even when you're not in your hanyou form," she answered. Her head turned to the side, looking in the forest where she could smell the scent of someone approaching; she noticed from the corner of her eye that he was staring in the same direction of her. He must be able to hear the noisy footsteps, she thought as she rose to her feet.
"Who is it?" Isamu asked, standing up as well.
With one swing of her arm she had cut down the trees covering the part of the forest she was hearing the footsteps from. When the trees had fallen, there stood a young man, seeming to be just out of his adolescent years, with his arms over his head to protect him from anything hitting his head. "State your name."
"My name is Gouka, please don't kill me," he whimpered, trembling.
Suki sneered, smelling the scent that radiated from him. "You must think me a fool to not see that you are not the human you mascarade as," she hissed through her teeth as she stared at the "human."