What was life like when Inuyasha lived in the palace with his mother? Did he have any friends at the time he was forced to part from and never saw again?
Inu-Yasha was very very young when he was with his mother, probably around ~4 or 5 in human years. With her, life felt wonderful, like he was invincible. Inu-Yasha was her pride and joy, especially when his father passed away. His mother would always tell him that he looked just like him and was going to be just as powerful one day.
She would run her fingers through his hair when he was anxious and hum while doing her sewing. He can still hum the same melody as though he’s humming with her.
During the spring, his mother loved to go around the gardens to see the first blooms. She always smelled of sweet peonies and seemed to fit in with the rest of the garden. Carrying him in her arms, Inu-Yasha would watch the flowers appear and disappear from over his mother’s shoulder which was always comfortable with the layers of kimono she wore. Eventually his eyes would close and he’d awake in her lap on the inner porch of the private quarters, overlooking the white-sand gardens. His mother would look down and smile at him and he’d smile back sleepily while she buried her nose in his messy silver mop top and kiss the base of his ears. He’d laugh and laugh and laugh until he wore himself out into another sleep.
There was one girl on the palace grounds that he was friends with. He was really excited to play with her because he’d never had a friend, and each time he saw her, Inu-Yasha would flash a fanged smile at her and she never seemed bothered. Things were good for a while.
And then she stopped coming. Inu-Yasha wondered where she had gone and began to worry about his friend when he didn’t see her anywhere. A few days passed and he heard the servants talking that the young daughter of a palace guard had fallen deathly ill and had passed. Though despite the obvious sickness, the presence of the half-breed was most likely to blame.
Things got worse. He’d come back inside with cuts and scrapes despite not having any children to play with. His mother would kiss them and make them better, her smile never faltering in front of him. But he knew. Inu-Yasha could hear her at night when the servants would decide to unknot their tongues and lash out. His mother was always so strong until the stomping of feet grew more distant, and then he would hear her cry. Low, long sobs that wracked his little frame to the bone. Inu-Yasha would close his amber eyes and tears would streak down his cheeks until he fell asleep.
It was dark, too dark for him to be awake. A sharp scream had awoken him from his sleep. His heart pounded and a cold sweat tickled his body, a horrific scent hitting his nose. It smelled metallic, so strong he could almost taste it. He had to bite back a gag as he ran to his mother’s room for comfort.
Inu-Yasha found the door open, a dying lantern’s light shining off the dark black substance staining the wooden floorboards. He choked back a scream, a hot and searing one that threatened to tear him apart and make this too real. His mother’s eyes dull despite seeing him, her lips no longer turned into the smile he was used to. Her color had gone as her life had, slowly seeping out of her as the puddle of blood grew larger.
Inu-Yasha crawled to her, crying and hiccuping for breath, picking her arm up and curling against her side. She was no longer warm and her cold blood soaked through his clothes. He gripped her kimono in his tight fists and cried long and hard. He sounded like a wounded animal, cries high pitched and hurt…
His heart had been torn in two, his mother, his world had been taken from him. The only person to ever hold him and care for him, whose words never stung but took that sting away. They had taken her from him. And it wasn’t until he heard footsteps coming towards him that he stirred. The assailants had returned, and this time intended to kill him as well.
He ran. He ran farther than he’d ever been. Farther than he’d ever been allowed. Covering his mouth with tiny clawed hands, he sobbed against them, relaxing only once the footsteps had turned around in defeat. He cried until he saw the first rays of morning when his little body gave out from exhaustion.
The next night, he’d snuck back to the palace to retrieve her body. They had left her right where he had, though the heavy scent of death hung in the air. Covering his nose, Inu-Yasha did his best to drag her body away, back into the woods, back to where it was safe.
His tears mixed with the soil as he dug her a grave, rocks breaking his claws and scraping his tiny knuckles. When he buried her, he took a long look at her face, the way it curved as his did, the nose that was similar to his in shape. He took a deep breath and pushed the soil the rest of the way over her, patting it down. He stared at the soil for a long time, a very long time. Once he pulled himself away from it, he began to walk. He wasn’t sure where he was going or if there was anything for him in the unreachable distance.
His home was gone; the home she had given him. And now he was all alone. He knew he had an older brother, however he’d made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with the half-breed. Sniffling once more, Inu-Yasha caught the smell of peonies lingering on his dirty hands-
from the few peonies he’d managed to leave on her grave.
