A Mapped Life...: CH 23:Ookami Shadow Art, Midoriko Ikkeda

I DO NOT OWN Inuyasha or the Crew, Rumiko Takahashi does. But I do own my original characters.

A/N: So it's been awhile, I know, I will not give you an excuse; I will just say a lot has happened since the last chapter in real life. I know there is a story time breach in there somewhere, I just noticed it today that I finished writing this chapter and I was going back checking on the dates. I will leave it like that, and play it by ear, because I like where the story is going now…It would be nice to hear from the people who read my story.

P.S.: If you find some names in here and you want to know their meaning, you may go to the end of the chapter, and find their meaning.

(Back at the Tokugawa Estate, the night Han burned the barn down*)

Su Lynn Li, mother to Phong Li and lady of the season to Han Tokugawa was also a wolf in sheep's clothing; she was bordering her fourth century and was queen to the northeast wolf demon tribe. Her son Phong was prince and his father dead since his last fight with the previous Tai Youkai, reason why the lady hates dogs so much.

Each and every demon that was capable of coherent thought knew that Japan was currently under scandal and confusion every youkai, even the most primitive, knew the Great Dog General had passed away. And since vengeance is best served cold, Su Lynn wanted to strike him where it would hurt the most, making her son proclaim himself Tai Youkai after he was mated and his first child was born; and since she had no knowledge of the filthy dog's son proclaiming himself as the Tai Youkai, things were still out in the open for free taking of course.

The only problem was finding a suitable mate for her son, either they were to tame, to meek, to clever, or to smart for his taste, she also needed to be pure of breed either human or demon, but not in-between, also pure of body and soul, which was also hard to find, either the demoness had no heart, or was not a virgin, or the human was a virgin but had a corrupted mind. Her problem was soon solved; when she met a rich and handsome human in Okinawa one day, he was easy to sweeten up the lad, and soon signed his daughter off to her for a large sum of money.

He was easily convinced and even invited them to physically remove her from his hands, the plan was to arrive at his mansion in the United States, have Phong take her willingly or not, and travel back to Japan to await the birth of the child. Things didn't quite go as planned, first the human man never mentioned she was a miko, and a very powerful one, although her power was untamed, making her extremely dangerous for Phong. Her spiritual aura was so tangible to them it invaded their senses and left them weak after the short dinner, when they were introduced, and became even worst when she became mad at her father once he announced he had given her hand in marriage, it physically wrapped itself around him in such a matter that if he were demon he would have become a pile of ash right at that moment.

The man was so much different than his daughter, a vile and despicable being, leaving only the deceased mother to be the origin of the unharnessed holy powers, if she was listening correctly while the man tried his luck as to courting her, the mothers' family was that of the noble birth - Ikkeda. People who almost completely destroyed her Shadow Art tribe in the warring States Era, Midoriko being the head Priestess, died while trying to purify herself before being swallowed whole by a crossbreed dragon-wolf, legend has it that her heart was expelled from her body before the animal finished swallowing her, taking it's soul along with hers and condemning them into eternal peril inside a jeweled pearl. Its whereabouts still pass by unknown to her people, but the day will come when it resurfaces in time and her kind will again rule Japan and cause wars and death, oh yes, what great times were those, even though she only knows of them by the bedtime stories her father used to tell her.

Su Lynn's meditations were interrupted when she smelled smoke coming from a short distance away to the mansion. If her nose didn't point her in the wrong direction she was pretty sure the human had single handedly managed to burn down the stupid little animal hut his daughter decided to have constructed in his absence, also managing to injure her in the process. That girl decided to relocate to the barn after her father informed her of the engagement, if you like to call it that for decorum's sake. Since mating for wolf demons was fast and gory, especially if the female was virgin, there was no foreplay involved, just sex and submitting by force of will. The only trophy the female bore was a scare produced by the sharp and deadly canines of the male, on the nape of the neck, that later on if there was understanding between them, would turn into something of the fashion humans liked to decorate their body with, tribal tattoos they called them.

Su Lynn felt him before he landed in a crouch outside of the balcony her suite extended into. Her son had removed his concealment spell and was bordering on angry, the little twerp had decided he loved the snotty brat, and acted on honor in her presence, shadowing her movements about the estate, while she rode that horse of hers.

“Mother, the man has committed his final act of betrayal, he will die today!”

“You shut up, and stay where you are, I will take care of this in my own way.”

“But she is locked inside the barn, dying, it is the chance we have been waiting for, and I must claim her as mine now…”

“She is no longer inside the barn my son, the horse managed to remove her from the burning shack somehow.”

“Then I will hunt the animal down, and bring her back,”

“Again I command you! Stay where you are!”

“But why, it is just a horse, nobody will suspect if it looks like wolves ate it in this wild forest, there are all types of predators, the carcass will be unrecognizable by the time other humans find it.”

“Do as I say, and shut your snout whelp, what I tell you is for your own good, remember humans have laws now, if you are not careful she can make it look like you hunted her down burnt her farm and raped her, I will not allow our family name to blemished by a mere mortal in the eyes of humanity, we have strived for excellence to long to have it end this way.”

“Very well, then tell me what will you do?”

Su Lynn removed her red jade concealment ring, and pulled a scroll from atop a bureau that was shipped along with her belongings. An enchantment was whispered from her crimson lips as she traced her claws down the middle of the papyrus, invoking clouds of dark smoke, that formed shapes of snarling wolves, she silently ordered them to follow the girl and the horse and to bring them back alive. The clouds took form of a pack of forty and ran off into the wilderness. Moments later a warning howl was heard, the girl had been found, but by her surprise was not alone, she concentrated on transporting her minds-eye to where the pack was, momentarily joining her mind with the smoke body of one of the wolves to be able to see, the wolves' body was kicked into a tree and she wavered where she stood, that kick caught her completely off guard.

Phong caught her before she feel backwards off the balcony, there was a knock at the door, which signaled the man was here.

“Su Lynn? Su Lynn are you ok? I know you don't like smoke, come out lets go somewhere, I tried saving her I really did, but I got there too late and Izayoi is dead, she was burned dead, what a shame…we will have to celebrate a funeral instead of a wedding.”

Su Lynn growled, after so much planning and coping with the stupid humans manners, he decides to kill her plan.

“That is not true, you killed her, you locked her inside that shack and killed her, you burned her alive!”

“Su what are you saying baby? I did no such thing, open the door least we talk this over, eh?”

“We have nothing to talk about Tokugawa, the authorities will be all over this soon, and I do not want my family name involved, we leave first thing in the morning.”

Phong shook his head furiously, “but mother, what about Izayoi?!”

Su Lynn growled at her son, “She is no good anymore, she is dead! You can't marry a corpse!”

Han moaned from heartbreak behind the door, “Then you used me? You used me in the vilest ways, you hit on me to get to my daughter, and you are just after my fortune! You're such a lousy slut!”

“I didn't hear you complaining last night, and for once Han Tokugawa, the joke is on you.”

Han pounded both of his closed fists on the door, unchaining his fury, he was Han Tokugawa, the rich millionaire, he earned his status, he had to marry that meek, fragile flower of his dead wife, she was no good lay at all, it was a miracle that she had Izayoi before she died. The truth was that the poison that he was slowly administering through her morning tea should have killed her and the unborn child long before, leaving him as sole owner of the fortune she owned, and the estate in Japan. He had the shrine demolished a month after she died. She spent way too much time in there everyday, the only thing he couldn't stop from happening was when monks from neighboring shrines came uninvited and took all of the historical scrolls and wall hangings, all the deity images, and dokkus the previous monks left behind. Everything was taken to some other shrine Han never knew of and there was no amount of money that could buy them.

He sunk down to the floor and rapped on the door with his head a few times, now everything ha turned into a mess, a gory burnt mess. He could hear the sirens approaching the mansion at a fast rate. The sun was peaking out over the mountains, he heard rustling behind the door and the car start in the driveway, they were taking his car, good, he could charge them with assault, battering, and murder, along with stealing his Lincoln, yes that sounded like a good idea, he would blame them for everything and again be free from paying his crimes.

They were long gone before the authorities arrived at the mansion, Phong just drove while his mother looked out the window, extending her youki searching for another demonic aura in the premises of the mansion, she could have sworn she felt one when she transported to where the pack wolves were killed. It was a gory sight, their snouts had been cracked open, and inner things sprayed about the snowed down forest floor, an ugly contrast dark red blood and white snow. Phong had not liked the way they died one bit. He mentioned it was unnatural for a horse that was just used for hurdling championships to know how to defend itself and it's rider, as if he were a warrior horse. Su Lynn just laughed, Midoriko's infamous warrior horse was long dead, horses did not reincarnate, nor did they?

That day the police and firemen arrived at the crime scene, they had forensics and dogs sniffing everything out, Taro and Emi, stood a good distance away not to be sensed by the canes, they were to observe and report anything that happened at the mansion back at the estate to Toga and mama Ren. An official led Izayoi's father handcuffed outside of the house towards a squad car, he had been charged with premeditated murder on first degree, and was to be shipped off towards Massachusetts state jail that same day. The trial would be held in two months time, which gave the investigators enough time to recollect enough evidence.

As they finished telling Toga and Izayoi the happenings at her mansion, Izayoi sighed, finally her father would bear the brunt of all damage caused. Every time that he managed to commit a crime, he always got somebody else involved and they ended up paying for him. She unconsciously felt for her broken ribs and Toga grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it, shaking his head, telling her not to worry.

(End Flashback*)

December 23rd 1978:

Three weeks had passed since Toga had rescued the girl and Izayoi was healing at a quick rate, unnaturally quick for some humans, but not for a priestess, even if she didn't know she was one, during the time mama Ren spent rubbing her abdomen with healing roots and pastes she would fill the room with her youki, and Izayoi's aura unconsciously wrapped itself so tightly around herself that mama Ren would have to pull her youki back into herself and wait until her aura calmed down. She had also noticed when they had to strip her bare and bathe her in hot water to save her from hypothermia that she bore the birthmark of a noble family, a red and gold chrysanthemum Ren told Emi to memorize its shape and form, so they could later find out from which family she was a descendant of.

They took advantage of a day that Izayoi feel asleep and Toga had gone out to town to get into the library, into the dark little nook where the long gone Tai Youkai kept his journals and records. They searched high and low and just when they thought they would not find anything on her descendants, there it was, a sole red leather covered book, like the time sorcerers used to write their enchantments in. The book was large; they had to heft it off the shelf between both of them. A large Sanskrit letter I was engraved on the front cover, followed by lower case letters, k-k-e-d-a.

Mama Ren observed the book for any source of protection, and found it as already open the wax seal on the book had been broken a long time ago, so she nodded towards Togas' desk and they put it down on top of it. Mama Ren asked Emi to leave her alone inside the library, since she didn't know if there would be things to be discovered that would be dangerous.

Emi left, and Ren started reading the old passages, the life of Midoriko, and her children, she was the first miko to marry and kept her holy powers intact. Her daughters: Akemi and Etsuko were born twins. Her sons: Masuyo, Kouki, and Kiyoshi, were all born on different years and seasons.

Their father was said to be a noble by the name of the Ikkeda Katsurou, only male descendant left after a great war, in his family. He feel in love with Midoriko the day he saw her out on a gory battlefield, that day she tried healing his father from a life threatening wound, only to lose him to a band of thieves on their way back to his castle.

Katsurou's family did not like his intentions to marry a priestess, they would never be happy and never have children, holy women could not marry and procreate, and it was not their nature. But neither Midoriko nor Katsurou heard what they had to say, love was too powerful of an emotion to deny, and the next summer their daughters were born. Again Katsurou's mother and sisters began trying to split them apart, saying priestesses would only give birth to girls, which they had enough of, Midoriko proved them wrong baring Katsurou three healthy and strong sons three winters straight.

They had a large family going already and Katsurou's mother feel ill with an unknown disease, Midoriko offered her healing abilities, but the illness was too widespread and the Lady died that same night. His sisters also fell ill, and his grief was too big, he had healers come from the neighboring castles and nothing could cure them, soon they also died in their sleep.

After the last of his sisters died, he sold the castle, and used the wealth left behind by his family to enjoy his life with wife and children. They moved to a small uninhabited village in the woods, about three days away from Midoriko's elderly parents. Their children grew tall and strong, Masuyo, her first son, tended to the chores around their small heaven, watering the livestock and tending the fields. Kouki dedicated his time to the arts, painting and sculpting clay, and sold his masterpieces in the large market that was a week's travel away, trading them also for things they needed at home money could not buy.

Kiyoshi, the youngest and smartest handled the trades when travelers would come along knocking on their doors. His mind was fast for mathematics, he kept track of the heads of cattle, horses, and other animals; he counted the pounds of rice that were produced in the fields, and the vegetables and fruits that were collected in the orchard. They had enough at the end of the year for winters to be the best of seasons for them.

Etsuko spent her time with her mother, in the herb gardens, learning the properties of each root, and leaf, she developed a potent paste to cure poisonous bites and scratches. She also followed her mother into the holy arts; mastering the bow and sword. Akemi was a more docile child, quiet and observant she always carried a journal strapped to her back, her imagination was great and entertained her family with stories she would write sitting out under an orchard tree at dinner time. She shared her passion with her second brother Kouki, she would write her stories and he would illustrate for her. Her journals would sell for a generous amount at the marketplace. They went to nobles and Ladies. She played the Koto at celebrations for nobles when she reached maturity.

Youkai had never disappeared during the time Midoriko decided to stay and watch her family grow, they came to close to killing them all once and she instructed her husband and sons to build a large wall made of pine trees, sharpened at the top. She placed a concealment spell on the barrier and it served to protect her family from being found by lower class demons that feed on human flesh. It only allowed her family to pass by unnoticed, if any other youkai or human decided to wander too close they ended up lost and mad, an easy target to kill if they were too much of a threat. They all started to learn a specific weapon when times grew harsh Akemi and Kouki had to forget about leaving their small village to trade their art, also having to learn the ways of a weapon their mother assigned to them. By the time Kiyoshi turned twenty three, they had all mastered the ways of youkai extermination, just in time for when the war broke, they were called upon to defend castles and nobles, collecting large amounts of money in the process, ensuring their future for a long time.

They became famous for their skill and decided to wear the same clothes, a form fitting black colored battle suit, with a mandarin collar that was trimmed representing their colors. Etsuko trimmed in indigo, Akemi in purple, Masuyo in red, Kouki blue, and Kiyoshi orange. Midoriko wore red and green, and Katsurou wore gold trimming. It was a grand sight to see them all dressed in battle gear.

They collected a lot of youkai bones as trophies to forge new weapons. Their last battle together as a family was when Midoriko faced off with the Shadow art users, She had been separated from Katsurou when a crossbred dragon-wolf knocked her on her back, and whipped him in the air, landing on the other side of the battlefield unconscious, but protected by his sword, Midoriko decided to place a protective barrier on all the weapons and ordered them to use them as a shield if they fell injured. They would remain unharmed by human or youkai if their weapon was in their power.

The crossbred dragon-wolf decided that if he swallowed Midoriko he would inherit her power of mass destruction. Her children had the wolves outnumbered and soon killed them all off, wanting to save their mother. Since their father was lying unconscious under a large tree, they all approached the beast chopping at him with Masuyo's club and axe, Kouki's bokken, and Etsuko's sword. Kiyoshi leapt atop a tree and used his scythe to cut off the dragon-arms that held his mother captive.

She feel into a rolling leap, crouched behind a boulder regenerating her strength, the animal stuck fast and deadly moving behind the boulder swallowing her halfway, she motioned for her children to stay away, and whispered an enchantment Etsuko new very well would kill her in the process, minutes later both the crossbred dragon-wolf and their mother were immortalized in stone, and her heart was expelled from her body in form of a jeweled pearl, that landed in Etsuko's open palm. She held it tight in her fist, and threw herself into her brother's waiting arms, crying inconsolably for a week straight.

They had banished the demons carcasses into hell, and tended to their father until he awoke, they informed him of the happenings and he became a grieving shell of a man. Soon he died of heartbreak.

It is said that Masuyo, Kouki, Kiyoshi, Etsuko and Akemi, all married and had children, to carry on their name, their mother a holy woman, and their father a noble, gave them status after the war was over, they continued to live as a family, in the village their mother created for them, their children were all born with a nobility status birthmark a red and gold chrysanthemum on their left shoulder blade, Etsuko's daughter was the first born with it, she described it as the everlasting love their parents shared for each other, their father gold and their mother red, together behind their hearts.

The mark appeared when Masuyo's twin boys were born also, the same size and shape, behind their heart, on their left shoulder blade. Next to be born with the birthmark were Kouki's baby girl and Akemi's twin girls. Soon there were a total of four girls and two boys, representing Midoriko's grandchildren.

After Kiyoshi married and his wife had triplets two boys and a girl born with the birthmark, they decided to live in secrecy giving their children a calm and generous childhood, their death never was registered in the neighboring villages scrolls, but their family can be traced up to the sixth generation born with the birthmark, Japanese American singer Madelyn Ikkeda married to a small businessman Han Tokugawa, it is rumored that she had a daughter that was also born with the mark before she died mysteriously of early labor pains. Her daughter's name and location still go by untraceable…

The last entry was dated August 10th 1960, and signed by A. Ikkeda.

The meaning to their names:

Etsuko: Joy Child

Akemi: bright and beautiful.

Masuyo: benefit, world

Kouki: Light/happiness, hope, radiance, shine

Kiyoshi: Pure

Katsurou: Victory Son.