The Beast and the Jewel by zodiak023

prelude

Once upon a time in the Sengoku period there lived a young prince with his mother and father. They all lived in the west on a Cliffside in a beautiful castle. This prince was a demon, a dog demon to be exact. His mother, father, and himself were the only dog demon family and extended family that were left. The prince’s name was Prince Sesshomaru. He was of the coming age to take a mate and for him to take his rightful duties of lord and let his father step down.

The Great Lord Inu No Taisho had trained his son well as did his mother, Inukimi, but when the time came for Sesshomaru to take a mate he was enraged. His father had arranged for him to mate a cousin since she was a full blooded inuyoukai. Lord Inu No Taisho wanted to bring back their kind instead of having Sesshomaru mate for political reasons but Prince Sesshomaru would not even consider it. So his father found the witch he was allies with and had his son cursed, Sesshomaru would stay in his beast form (huge dog) and until he could find some female to love him in this state he would forever be cursed to be this huge dog.

Lady Inukimi, Sesshomaru’s mother, in turn left his father for the injustice done to her son, she left for her own castle in the sky. As for Inu No Taisho, after some time, found love in a human woman and pupped her, naming the half pup, half human Inuyasha, they all lived in the other part of the castle, away from his son Sesshomaru. As Sesshomaru did not take the intended mate his father had arranged for him, he, Lord Inu No Taisho would still rule the west. As time went on, Sesshomaru grew with such hate for humans because his father had taken one and dishonored their whole family name. His beast grew so lonely, never associating with his father and his mother had moved back into her childhood home in the sky and never returned to the western castle.

Off in the western forest a human man lived with his three daughters. He had lost his wife in child birth with their youngest daughter, Azami. Kikyou was 17 years old, Kagome was the middle child at 16 years old, and Azami 14. Kagome’s father Akio, would make weird weapons, shields, and armor and sell them in town. Kagome’s family didn’t have much at all, but her sisters were greedy and her father would always try and bring them a little gift back on rare occasions.

Akio would always beg Kagome to let him get something for her but she never wanted anything, all she wanted was to help her father and to have his love. She had an herb garden and a small vegetable garden as well, which she would use the herbs to keep infections out of any cuts they may have and help them when they were sick, whatever she had left over she would take to town and sell herself, just like the food she grew.