Chapter Text
The sky burned red with blood. Inuyasha could smell bodies burning and could hear the gurgling of demons choking to death on their own blood. His ears echoed with the screams from the dying and the war cries of those still fighting. Fallen demons and humans covered the valley as far as the eye could see. Inuyasha was filled with a need to find someone, but he did not know who. He searched the sea of faces, but only found terror and death everywhere he turned. He began to run aimlessly as the need to find that someone grew stronger. As he ran, a large demon monkey leaped at Inuyasha, smashing his staff over his head, knocking him face first into a pile of corpses. He caught himself staggered back to his feet as he shook himself back to his senses. That’s when he recognized Shippo’s pale, lifeless body, his throat cut, and his haori soaked with blood. Inuyasha felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. He called out to Shippo in vain. “How could this have happened?” he questioned. He is slowly pulled from his grief by a voice calling him. He looks up as the voice gets closer. “Inuyasha! Inuyasha!” He locates the owner of the voice, a ways off ahead of him.
Koga, it's Koga. He is calling for me, he realized. Koga was running in his direction. Inuyasha rises to walk towards him, but before he can reach him a spear pierces Koga through his back and protrudes through his chest. Koga falls to his knees, blood gushing from his wound and mouth. “Inuyasha...” Koga coughs out before slumping to the ground. Inuyasha lets out an animalistic groan of anguish as he races towards his friend.
Just before he can reach him, he is transported to the top of a mountain. As he looks out, Inuyasha feels overwhelming hopelessness as he sees a battle raging leagues in every direction. “The world is burning,” he says in disbelief. His horror is interrupted again by the instinctual need to find someone, but he can’t remember who. Suddenly, he senses that he is not alone and turns to see who else is there. He sees a figure standing in the shadow of the trees. He cannot make out who it is but feels drawn to the figure.
“Who are you?'' He asks. “Why is this all happening?''
The figure does not respond. Inuyasha charges in desperation, “Tell me who you are!” Before he can make out who it is, the earth falls out from under him, sending him falling into the burning abyss below.
Inuyasha awakens in a cold sweat, panting. He looks up and begins to breathe easier as he sees Shippo sleeping peacefully on the branch above him. “It’s just a dream. It's just a dream,” he tells himself before believing it. He had been telling himself that every night for the last several weeks. Inuyasha had been haunted by this same dream every time he closed his eyes. The dreams were so vivid, so real. Inuyasha couldn’t explain the sense of dread ever present within him since the first night he began seeing these images. He did his best to focus on anything else.
Realizing it was nearly dawn, he leapt from the tree to get some fish from the nearby river. He wanted breakfast prepared before Shippo woke up. He was the pack leader after all, so it was his job to provide for them.
So much has happened in the 75 years since Kagome returned to her own time. Sango and Miroku had been dead for more than 15 years now. Their children and grandchildren continue their legacy in the demon slayer village they rebuilt after marrying. It had been just him and Shippo for a long time. In that time, Inuyasha and Shippo had become family. Shippo was his brother and it was his job to protect him and teach him all he needed to know to survive in this world. While Shippo had been alive for longer than most humans by this point, he was not yet of age when it came to fox demon years. Even still he was no longer that little fox cub from when they first met. He stood only a foot shorter than Inuyasha now. His form, while slender, was strong. His clothes remained the same style as before, but now he also donned a sword on his hip. His ponytail styled hair reached just above his shoulders, and his fangs were visible now even with his mouth closed. While he was growing stronger and coming into his own, he still lacked the strength and skill to survive alone in the Northern lands that had been their home for the last several decades.
Inuyasha welcomed the distraction of hunting from the recurring images of Shippo’s lifeless body. He would never let him meet such a fate Inuyasha silently vowed to himself. “It was just a dream,” he told himself again, as he felt his heart rate increase. The distraction did not last long. He quickly got enough fish for their meal and returned to camp. Luckily, Shippo was already awake and tending the fire. “I hope you got enough fish. I’m starving and we have a lot of training I want to do today.”
“So that's how you thank me, ya damn kitsune! Fine, get your own fish. These are mine,” Inuyasha snarked.
“Hold on, Inuyasha, I was only kidding!”
Inuyasha reassured him by ruffling Shippo’s hair as he nudged him farther down the log Shippo was sitting on, to make room for himself. As they ate, Shippo questioned if he had had the dream again. Inuyasha simply nodded. Shippo didn’t continue his line of questioning. He knew how much it weighed on Inuyasha's mind. He had made it his job to distract Inuyasha with extra training practice, which Inuyasha always enjoyed.
Just as they finished eating, three figures approached their camp. Inuyasha immediately recognized the yokai leading them. There was no mistaking Akari’s magenta hair and the midnight black chest plate he wore with the crest of the Inu Clan of the Western lands engraved in the center; Sesshomaru’s domain.
Akari was one of Sesshomaru's generals and was dressed as such. He wore grey and white robes beneath his black armor and donned a katana with a gem encrusted handle, the same bright magenta as his long free flowing hair. Inyuasha had spent some time with Akari while helping Koga with a conflict 10 years ago against a warring clan. Koga had requested assistance from the Inu Clan. Akari, along with some of his men, had been sent by Sesshomaru to assist Koga in the conflict. The other two yokai he did not know, but Inuyasha knew this was no happenstance encounter. Akari and the other two yokai greeted Inuyasha with more courtesy than was expected of yokai when interacting with a Hanyou like him.
“Please excuse our intrusion, but we have been sent to bring you to the Western lands. Your presence is requested urgently,” Akari reported with a light bowing of his head. Inuyasha was taken aback. “What the hell for?” Inuyasha asked, visibly uncomfortable.
“It is not for me to say, but I must bring you with haste.”
“My brother can’t summon me whenever he wants. Who does that bastard think he is? I am not one of his subjects. Tell him if he wants something from me he can come himself. Or better yet, leave me the hell alone.”
Akari paused for a moment before replying, “I was not sent here on Lord Sesshomaru’s orders.” It was clear that troubled him. “The clan council has sent for you,” he continued.
“Well, they are just gonna have to be disappointed then. I won’t go without knowing why people I have never heard of want to talk to me,” Inuyasha scoffed, turning away from them, making it clear he was done talking.
“Have you been having strange dreams?” Akari asked.
Inuyasha quickly turned back to face him. “What do you know about it?” Inuyasha probed.
“That is why the council has sent for you. They will explain everything to you.”
Inuyasha began to feel that sense of dread that came with his dreams return. Nevertheless, if they had answers, he had to find out what he could. “Fine, let’s go,” Inuyasha said coldly.
Akari again bowed his head quickly and led Inuyasha and Shippo towards Sesshomaru’s kingdom in the Western lands. It took them two days before finally arriving. Two more nights of dread. Perhaps if they had answers then maybe the dreams would stop and the dread would leave him. That was worth the trouble, and worth having to spend any amount of time with that condescending bastard brother of his, he decided.
While yes, their relationship was better since Naraku had been defeated and the Tetsaiga and Tenseiga business was resolved, his brother still treated him as a lowly Hanyou and a stain on their father’s reputation. Inuyasha had come to terms with this being all he could expect from his older brother.
After entering the castle, Akari led them through several hallways until they reached the great stone hall. In the center of the room was a long rectangular table with the Inu Clan crest engraved in the center. Large tapestries of Inu yokai hung on the walls, other’s paid homage to great battles fought and won by the clan.
Seated at the table were 12 council members, Inuyasha assumed. Standing before the council was Sesshomaru, who turned with surprise as if he didn't expect anyone else to be entering the room. When their eyes met, Sesshomaru spat, “What are you doing here, Hanyou?”
“That’s what I want to know. It was your fucking council that begged me to come,” Inuyasha retorted with just as much disgust.
Sesshomaru turned to the council in disbelief. “You summoned him to my castle without informing me, without my permission,” he growled.
An old female yokai seated at the table with silver hair, pinned up simply, and dressed in a white kimono spoke. “We knew you would be adamant to exclude Inuyasha from these proceedings, Lord Sesshomaru, but it is imperative that both of you hear what the council has to say.”
“Himari, you may have sat on this council since the time of my grandfather, but I will not allow insubordination,” he maintained his threatening tone.
“But my Lord, this meeting is to fulfill the final order given to me by your father. Would you have me disgrace myself by failing in my duty to your father and predecessor?” she questioned, knowing the answer.
Sesshomaru stood with the stoic look he often held, knowing he could not negate the final order given down by his predecessor. “Continue, Himari.”
Inuyasha chimed in, “I’m only here because Akari said you knew about my dreams, so just tell me what I need to know.'' Sesshomaru lost his composure for a moment and turned again to Inuyasha in surprise, but just as quickly returned to his stoic expression with a slight increase of interest; commanding Himari to continue. Inuyasha decided to leave his questions until he had heard what the old woman had to say.
“5000 years ago, a prophecy was foretold by the kami of wisdom, Omoikane, to Inu Tenro Taisho, your great grandfather, that a calamity would rise and bring the world to its knees, and not even the power of the Inu Daiyokai could stop it. The prophecy foretold that salvation would come when two sons of Taisho souls were made one, resulting in a power strong enough to push back the calamity and bring about a dynasty for the Inu Clan that would never end. The prophecy says the bond will result in a new evolution of Inu Daiyokai that will be evident by their tailed forms: the Omega with one tail and the Alpha with two tails. The prophecy speaks of increased strength and abilities not previously known to Inu Daiyokai. However, as you know Sesshomaru, since that prophecy two sons have not been born to any generation of Taisho until Inuyasha’s birth. This is the first sign in the prophecy’s foretelling,” Himari explained.
“My father only has one true son, Hanyou are not true members of any demon clan,” Sesshomaru fumed.
“Fuck you!” Inuyasha exclaimed.
Sesshomaru ignored Inuyasha and continued. “If any of this was true, why have I not heard about it until now?”
“Your father intended to tell you when you came of age, but he found deficits in both his sons’ character that made you both unworthy of the power foretold in the prophecy. He believed that you both would abuse that power due to Lord Sesshomaru’s deficits in compassion for humans and inability to feel attachments of love for others. Inuyasha proved to crave only the power of a full demon, and had yet to mature into a man that could put others before his own greed. That is why your father left you Tetsaiga and Tenseiga to place you on the paths to overcome these weaknesses in preparation for the day you would need to take up this power. It was left to his trusted servants to observe you and wait until the day both of you learned those lessons. Only then could you bear the weight of the responsibility of your union and the prophecy. The calamity draws near, as shown by the fulfillment of the second sign, your dreams. Both of you have begun to have dreams that have shown you visions of the coming calamity, and what will result if you do not act.”
Inuyasha flinched at the mental pictures of Shippo and Koga from his dreams.
“Once the dreams begin, it marks a year before the coming of the calamity. You will have until then to hone your new abilities and prepare for the battle that only you, as a mated pair, can hope to win.”
Both brothers stood silent absorbing everything they had just heard.
Inuyasha had so many questions but couldn’t form the words to any of them. He was fated to be mated to his brother. He was somehow going to become a full demon. And not just any Inu Daiyokai, but something stronger. For most of his life, all he had wanted was to become a full Demon. Still, he had become content with who he was, and had defeated Naraku with his own strength, even as a Hanyou. Becoming a full demon was no longer a driving desire in his life, but he would not deny that more strength and power was enticing to him.
While he was somewhat ignorant to all the rules and expectations of a mated pair, he knew the basics, and that was an impossible ask. He also knew Inu yokai mated for life, and he could not fathom spending eternity bonded to Sesshomaru. No, he couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t do it.
But then the most important piece of Himari explanation came to his mind. His dreams were visions of the future, of what would happen if the prophecy went unfulfilled. He again saw Shippo’s dead eyes and body soaked with blood in his mind. He heard Koga gurgle out his name before dying right in front of him. He couldn’t let Shippo, the only brother who had ever treated him like real family, die like that. He was the big brother, it was his job to protect Shippo no matter what. He would give his life for him and his friends. He knew the weight of responsibility that comes from protecting the world from a great evil like Naraku, and he couldn’t stand by and watch another evil destroy all he had fought to protect. Would bonding himself to Sesshomaru be the price he had to pay to protect those who needed him?
Sesshomaru's mind wandered through scenario after scenario of how to solve this situation by another means. How could he be fated to be mated to a creature so below him. He couldn’t deny that Inuyasha was strong, but for him to be elevated to be worthy of him was unfathomable. If Himari was to be believed, Inuyasha would become a full demon and a new kind of Daiyokai, as would Sesshomaru. So at least in the eyes of his subjects and other demons, it wouldn’t be seen as Sesshomaru lowering himself, but that he instead would be elevated in status. Inuyasha’s present status would become irrelevant to the clan if Himari’s words were to be believed. At least he would not lose face among those who serve him and those who fear him.
While mated male pairs were not common, it was not unheard of. The practice of mated pairs among siblings was even more common. Besides, Sesshomaru assumed that Inuyasha’s life among the humans and inexperience as a full yokai would make him easier to control when Sesshomaru was Alpha. Inuyasha’s power may be necessary to defeat the calamity, but Sesshomaru could still maintain control. Afterwards, he could keep him somewhere in the castle where he could fulfill the most basic requirements of a mate and ignore Inuyasha otherwise.
Having a mate had never been a priority for Sesshomaru; it would be easy to deny himself later, he determined. It is detestable even in these ideal circumstances, but he could not bear the shame of the Inu Clan falling to ruin while he was their Lord. His kingdom burning and his men lying dead in his dreams could not come to pass. He had built his position and kingdom to great power, and would not allow anything to tear down what he had built. He saw no other way, but to follow Himari’s instruction.
Himari, seeing that both men had calmed their minds and come to some sort of decision, finally spoke, “What say you? Will you proceed with the ritual?”
Inuyasha spoke first, “Hold on, no one has explained the ritual. How is it even possible that I could become a full demon?”
Himari explained, “As a spell caster and magic wielder for 2500 years, it is within my power to perform such a feat. I will perform a ritual that will awaken the soul tie shared between you, which will bind you to one another, awakening your true forms. You will both be new Inu Daiyokai, however, your full powers will not be awakened until after you finalize the bond and become a mated pair.”
“You’d look so cute with a tail Inuyasha. I can't wait to see that!'' Shippo chuckled.
“Shut it, Shippo,” Inuyasha scolded as he pounded down on the top of Shippo's head.
“Owah, just trying to be supportive,” Shippo grumbled.
“Don’t worry, my Lord Sesshomaru, no one would question that you would look mighty and fierce with two tails,” Jaken proclaimed for the room to hear. Sesshomaru shot Jaken a look that made Jaken regret speaking. He fell to the ground before him. “Forgive me, my Lord.”
Himari asked again, “What say you, sons of Taisho? We have no time to waste.”
Inuyasha looked at Shippo for a long moment before stepping forward. “If this is really the only way to keep my dreams from becoming the future, then I’ll do it,” he answered.
Sesshomaru scoffed, “Your altruism would be noble if not so painfully negated by your self-interest of becoming a full demon. Stop pretending to be more than you are, Hanyou.”
“Who the hell do you think you are! I don't need your Daiyokai status. I’ve done just fine against you as I am. Or have you forgotten who took your arm?” Inuyasha snapped back with a smirk on his face. He knew this would take Sesshomaru’s superiority complex down a peg.
Sesshomaru's eyes flashed with anger, and he struggled to maintain his composed voice, “I am and will always be your better. Something that will become quite clear to you when Himari’s ritual is complete, and you take your place beneath me.”
Inuyasha was hot with anger, no longer thinking clearly. “The hell I will! Damn you! This will never work. I was stupid to believe that we could put our differences aside, and work together. You can all burn in hell for all I care. I can take care of what’s mine without your ritual or any help from a bastard like you. Shippo, let's go.” Inuyasha turned, unsure of how everything would work out but unwilling to believe it required being stuck with that asshole for all of eternity. He had beaten evil before and he would do it again.
Sesshomaru turned to the council. “This plan was a farce from the beginning. How could you expect your Lord to take such an inferior mate? I will protect this land with my own power as I always have. I put no stock in your prophecies, Himari.” Inuyasha’s words had angered him more than he realized.
Inuyasha fumed, pulling on the door handle to make his exit, but the door would not open. He pulled again with no answer.
“Unfortunately, as the council, we must insist the ritual take place. We cannot let the Inu Clan fall to ruin. I wanted your consent in this process, but I do not need it,” Himari’s stated as her eyes began to glow bright green and suddenly both Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were immobilized. Both struggled against the magic but were unable to move. Inuyasha yelled for Shippo to run, fearing what would happen next. Fearing for his brother, Shippo moved to attack Himari, but with a wave of her hand the door behind Inuyasha opened and Shippo was thrown from the room and the door sealed shut after him.
Sesshomaru, unable to move, ordered Himari to stop, but she ignored him as she began to chant in a language neither brother understood. Sesshomaru hissed and growled, trying in vain to break free, “Himari! NO!” As the speed of her chanting increased, both men started to lose consciousness and then a burst of light made everything go white.
***********************
Slowly coming to a standing position, Sesshomaru was the first to come to his senses. He immediately noticed a heightened awareness and felt a surge of newfound strength. The rush of his increased strength only lasted a few moments before he felt an ominous presence. The air in the room changed significantly. Sesshomaru senses were more alert than before, alarmed by the weight of the presence. That’s when he remembered Inuyasha was on the other side of the room. He turned quickly, ready for whatever may come, but he was so wrong.
Before he could completely turn around, Inuyasha stood before him, clearing the distance in less than a second. Inuyasha was taller now, his frame slightly broader. His dog ears were gone, replaced with the ears of a full Inu Diayokai, pointed and coming from the side of his head. His eyes remained the bright gold they always were, but the whites of his eyes were now blood red. Sesshomaru took this as a sign Inuyasha’s inner yokai had control. Inuyasha, new to being a full demon, would struggle to control his inner yokai. He had one jagged facial marking under each eye of a deep blue color, reaching from the side of his face to just below the middle of his eye. The markings were much like Sesshomaru’s except for their more jagged form. He also had angular markings coming up his neck following the path of his jugular vein. These markings held the same color as those on his face. Like himself, Inuyasha also had markings streaking across both his wrists. His claws were elongated and razor sharp to match the striking canine fangs visible as he breathed. Sesshomaru went to investigate the rest of him when Inuyasha growled low and purposeful, drawing Sesshomaru’s eyes back to his. The sound sent a shiver through his whole body that Sesshomaru had never felt before. He didn’t fully understand the feeling but was unable to move his eyes from Inuyasha's gaze.
“Meito,” Inuyasha said in a tone different from his regular voice. Before the older yokai could respond, Inuyasha rushed forward grabbing him and pinning him against the castle wall, which had been more than 50 feet behind them.
He protested, telling Inuyasha to keep his distance and step back, but was shocked at the lack of force in his voice. Inuyasha began to nuzzle his face into Sesshomaru's neck, growling softly, sending another unfamiliar shiver through Sesshomaru.
“Fear not, I will not harm you, Meito,” he said as he traced his new claws lightly up Sesshomaru’s chest. And an overwhelming pheromone emitted from him, causing Sesshomaru to swoon.
Suddenly, he heard his own inner yokai purring. “My Meito. Present me to him. ”
“Me, presenting myself to him? I would never...” his inner dialogue came to a screeching halt. The unfamiliar shivers he was experiencing, the effects of Inuyasha's pheromones, and the words of his inner yokai were bringing Sesshomaru to a horrifying conclusion. Then he remembered, the tails! His eyes darted down to confirm his worst fear, behind Inuyasha swished two long blindingly white tails.