The Compass Ball

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Inuyasha or any of the other characters or the original story line. I DO own my characters; they're as obvious as the nose on your face.

Siblings are horrible creatures really, especially when they are all male. She had merely been sitting by the pond reading and dry when suddenly she was in the pond wet! Angry, she did the only thing she thought of doing and that was attacking the closest of the herd, the eldest. Now, this may not have been the wisest of decisions, but it was definitely a rash one that seemed stable and able to be accomplished at the time. Now...now she wasn't so sure of that decision, as she ended back up in the pond without the sibling she was trying to pull in. The five of them stood around her laughing a bit, it was an attempt at a cruel prank on her.

It was horrible having five brothers and being the youngest. So finally, she decided, it was time to play her ace up her sleeve, so to speak. Screaming, crying, and carrying on she ran thru the palace soaking wet as she went to find the one male that would side with her; father.

"What in the four kingdoms is going on out here?" he demanded as he came out to see her running towards his study, soaking wet, leaving a trail, and five brothers behind her with alarmed looks.

"They...they threw...me...me...me...into...the POND!" she sobbed as her father listened to her. Already she could see the look of murder cross her father's face. Obviously so had her brothers for they were all trying to get away before he yelled at them and made them do something they wouldn't like for torturing her again. "I wasn't...doing...anything!" She continued to sob to make it worse for them. Their mother, who had heard everything also, came out to see her crying and her brothers scattering like cockroaches in the light.

"Alright!" she said loudly. "You five wait right there!" The brothers all stopped, defeated by their sister and the one thing she held over their parents, her age. "Nikki, come with me and we'll get you washed up while your father deals with your brothers."

"But...my book..." she said worriedly as she thought of it.

"Did it get wet?" her mother asked.

"I don't know..." she said as she turned. Her mother and her walked to the garden and found the poor book in the center of the pond floating. Nikki whimpered a little at the sight of it.

"It looks like it got ruined." Mai said as she turned Nikki and led her back in towards her room. As Nikki dried and changed Mai went to add that the boys ruined a book Nikki had been reading to their father, which only added more insult to injury as he came up with a few more chores for them to do.

"Well," her mother said as she returned to check on her, "the stables will be the cleanest stables in the history of the world for a good year because of this fiasco." Nikki nodded as she curled up on her bed tiredly. Mai grabbed a brush and sat with her daughter, gently brushing her hair. "Tonight we'll get you bathed so that all the dirt and such from the pond gets out of your hair." Nikki merely nodded tiredly.

"I want my book," she protested weakly. Her mother nodded in understanding, her mate had pulled the book out of the pond but the writing was all gone. It was a story book, so he was going to attempt to replace it for her.

"Your father is looking to replace it," Mai said softly as she finished brushing her hair for her. "Your brothers were sorry about the book; they didn't mean to ruin it. But it's over now." Nikki nodded as she started to fall asleep, crying always did that to her. That's why she hated crying, it wore her out more than it did good sometimes.

Mai put the brush away and left the room so Nikki could sleep peacefully. She found her mate back in his study as the last of the boys trooped out to start their work on the stables. She shook her head as he looked up curiously.