#{per request!

There was an old saying that the state of a room often reflected the occupant’s state of mind. In the case of the Dog General, the organized chaos that was his private chamber was quite telling of his strange mind. There were letters and parchment scattered over the writing desk like autumn leaves, while large tapestries depicting hellish scenes and gore filled battlefields shared the same wall space with children’s finger paintings!  Along the floor sat the remains of an armor stand, it’s once sturdy iron wood frame now crumpled and splintered into a heap. A casualty of the heavy bone armor that now lay beside it.

Of course that ruined stand had been sitting on the floor for almost a year now and for the most part the whole castle knew about it. Yet none dared, or in his mate’s case, cared enough to do anything about it. No one except for one.

The chamber door slid stealthily open until a pair of golden eyes could peer in and look nervously about. The room was somewhat dark despite the afternoon sun filtering through the closed shutters, but more importantly it was unoccupied and that was what the little pup was hoping for! With a soft grunt the little body wormed his way through the narrow opening of the door, before landing ungracefully on his behind! Barely five summers old, Sesshoumaru was a little small for his age yet what he lacked in size he made up for in determination!

Bouncing unsteadily back to his feet, he hurriedly pushed the door closed before anyone could notice! The excitement of this little ‘life or death’ mission adding a cheerful glow to his eyes as they swept the dark room once more and settled upon the prize, the pile of armor left on the floor.

There had been many times the pup had seen that armor, however it had always been either on his father’s person or otherwise out of his reach. Always leaving him curious, but he’d never had the opportunity to examine it on his own, until today.

Rubbing his little hands together, he scurried over without delay!

It almost felt natural to the pup to gravitate to the breastplate first, where it sat propped up in the pile. His little hand coming to rest on the center, fingertips exploring along the basket weave of thick black leather drawn so tightly together it was practically rigid. It smelled of blood and ashes yet, somehow, this did not scare the child.

A soft shimmer caught the pups eye and the crimson gem fastened to the center of the chest plate drew his attention next, much like the the sword his father used this crystal also pulsed with power. But unlike the hellblade, Soun’ounga, the gem’s power felt more closer to home. Rising up onto his tiptoes, he pressed his nose against the jewel trying to look inside of it. His gaze caught only the softest ripples here and there, as if there was a liquid churning inside.

By now his courage was building and unsatisfied with just looking at the outside of the armor he grabbed the very top and began to climb his way up! “Nyuuf! Nerrrrp!” Grunting and huffing, he scrabbled his way up and over the brim of the breastplate only to tumble inside head first!

Resting on his shoulders with his feet up in the air, he gave a little whine and rubbed the back of his head. He almost missed the soft chuckle that echoed from the darkness. It was an all too familiar chuckle.

There was a wild little scuffle inside the armor for a brief moment, as the pup struggled to right himself in time and as he slowly peeked up through the neck of the armor.  His eyes met similar golden hues of his father who loomed above and immediately the pup shrunk down with another whine!

A little laugh rose from the youkai, “Mind your head little one!” yet he left the pup where he was and instead settled to a seat on the floor. Propping his chin on the back of a hand, flashing a kindly smile as the pup timidly peeked up over the brim. No doubt his son had snuck from the nursery, it was his naptime after all and only now would the nurse maid not have her eyes on him. As a responsible adult he should be taking little Sesshoumaru back to his bed.

But who was he to dash such a sense of curiosity, one so very much like his own? The nap would simply have to wait.

“Go one little one, explore to your heart’s content.” Reassurance rumbled through his words, saying nothing more and nothing less.