Welcome to the world of the demons...

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and the other characters, obviously, aren't mine.

Note: The "prelude" moves kinda slowly. That's just a warning. Please don't let it throw you off!

Chapter One: The Arena

Prelude

A huge cheer arose in the distance. A huge cloud of black birds, like an omen of evil, were scared out of the surrounding trees and poured cackling into the sky. The forest stood dark and silent; but at its very center such a raucous and rowdy noise spouted that the forest around seemed even darker in contrast.

At the center of the forest, where all the noise was coming from, was a huge stadium of rock. It towered over the trees by a good hundred meters, sheer and solid. Architecture stolen from an era long ago had served to make seats after row of seats that carved their way down into a central, sandy arena. At the very top of the stadium was a magnificent ledge that protruded right out over the edge of the bowl.

These seats were covered in hordes of demons, all milling and shouting and snarling. At the very bottom, in pens, were a hundred low demons, which frothed and wriggled and cast their ugly bodies around on the stone ground. Just beyond them, on the hot sands, stood several people. Several important people.

The first was a demonic man with long, black hair. It blew wildly around him, sinister and shadowy. His pale skin and deep, dark eyes were set in a humanlike face; but his body was strong and large and armored, a human body gone awry, like a nightmare. He was nearly eight feet tall, and the point was made with the huge, arching iron spines that curved up behind his head like fangs.

Standing somewhat near him was a demon woman in a kimono. She too was humanlike, except for pointed ears and strangely red eyes, which were all that were showing above the fan in front of her face. Revolted by the squirming low-demon hordes penned near her, she glanced about disdainfully– but she never got too close to the black-haired man.

And in a small group behind them, in the center of the sandy arena, were two goblinlike demons restraining one final character. They each had knotted muscles under tough skin, but that last figure was strong enough that the three heaved around on the sand. The third figure was a blur of red, but as the two goblins stepped backward, he was forced into stillness.

It was a boy, a boy in red fire rat clothing. Now that he'd stopped moving, it was easy to see that ropes, held by the large goblin handlers, bound his arms and legs. He stood panting and snarling on the hot sand. One goblin pressed a button on his utility belt, at a nod from the black-haired demon leader. The boy twitched, and arched back for a minute, with a wild cry– the button sent a strong charge through his body. When it ended a split second later he stood rock-still, his tawny eyes glared at the mass of demons in the stands all around him, but he remained motionless.

The black-haired demon raised a pale hand into the air, and the stands hushed immediately. Even the penned demons became still.

"Demons," said his cold voice, "I have once again brought you back here for the Festival of Battle. Today you will see good fighting and good bloodshed, and you will be sated so that you may pay me homage tomorrow. Those of you in the Upper Caste, feel free to enjoy the sight. I have no fear for your self-control. Lower caste, you will stay in the stands. If you lose yourself to bloodlust and come into the arena you will be fed to the low breed" –here he indicated the penned demons– "without so much as a fight. And of course, you all will see the human events– by far the best." He half-smiled, a look so evil and cruel that even the Upper Caste raised their eyebrows. With great sarcasm he said, "And here to greet you is my best fighter, the champion of the bloodbath. Inuyasha, say hello to your audience."

The demon nodded again at the guard, and the goblin pressed the button. The boy's head jerked to the side. A shudder ran through him, and then Inuyasha snarled and roared and lunged, and the crowd broke into jeers and applause. The pale demon smiled even more, and shushed the audience as Inuyasha was dragged away and out of a huge stone gateway at the arena's back. "Now we begin the tournament. I give you– the Festival of Battle!"

Again the shouts and roars of the audience, a huge roar that turned into the chant "Nara-ku! Nara-ku!" To this deafening chant, a large floating feather lifted black-haired Naraku with the demon lady into the central viewing spot above the arena. A swarm of poison bees, Saimyosho, buzzed furiously into the crowd, ready to maintain order once the festival was underway, but the demons stamped and roared and cheered for a full three minutes before a shape burst out of the large stone gateway at the back of the arena… the 'performer's' entrance.

"Demons! Welcome!" cried the new demon. "I am Koujun, your host for today, and it is I who will give you the goods on today's most awesome and amazing fighting! Now, at Naraku-dono's command, we begin!"

• • • • •

Chapter One

Kagome usually didn't spare the demon 'performers' a glance. She was frightened of them. They were exiles, or demon prisoners, or low breed demons. Even those low-breeds were scary. They were ugly and nonhuman and full of fangs. She shuddered. At least the humanlike demons could talk, and were intelligent. They were always the more powerful ones, the human-looking ones. Once, she'd mentioned that to Kaede, her division leader, and the woman had slapped her.

"Never call them human-looking," she had snapped. "It may seem that way to us, but they are demons. To connect them with humans at all is a great insult. Insult them and lose your life. Understand?"

Kagome had bowed her head, and returned to her chores. The demons were scary, human-like or not… But she would never show it. No matter how terrifying the demons were, as she fed them or bandaged them or gave them their weapons, in some cases, she tried to act unafraid. This, too, got her in trouble, especially with the demon superiors– but if she acted afraid, how would that make her any better?

"Kagome!" someone yelled. She spun around in the stone hallway, her bare feet used to the rough and dirty rock floor. " Get going! Sedate E-4 right now!"

She ran to do as bidden. Her dirty black hair shook behind her. It had been long once, but Kaede had cut it short to keep her healthy. Keade may be cranky, she reminded herself, but she's smart. So many humans who worked in the shadows of the Festival died from disease– but the humans who had Kaede as their division leader lived longer. Maybe a few years longer.

The goblins were still in E-4 with its inmate, trying to restrain him so Kagome could give him a sedative shot. The goblins couldn't manage anything so precise; they were useless when it came to anything besides brute force. She hated them, and they leered at her, but gave her enough room to give the shot.

E-4 was still snarling and struggling against the ropes, spread-eagled against the wall. Kagome trembled as she moved in right up close, her fingers fumbling for the collar code she knew well. Her nimble fingers could do what demon fingers couldn't, and the collar came off in her hand.

This was always the most dangerous moment. Without the restraining collar, the demon could easily break free of his ropes and kill her with those dangerous claws. The demon snarled and shook himself powerfully, like a dog shaking out water droplets. He clenched his fists. Nervously Kagome raised a hand for help, as she'd been taught to do if the warning signs came, and the one of the goblin guards appeared to jam an electric prod up against E-4's chest while the other shoved the struggling demon against the cell wall.

Kagome, biting her lip, rubbed alcohol from a little bottle on the inmate's neck where a line from the collar was visible. Two tiny puncture marks lay along the line– for in the collar were two small shots administered by a button pushed on the collar itself. She reset the collar from its inside, refilled the buttons, and then placed it back on the demon's neck.

"Easy, boy," she said. "You're getting a little shot now. Easy." She made her voice sound soothing. Amazingly, some demons responded to it. Human battlers did, too– when their nerves were so shot that they couldn't tell human from demon, she had to constantly soothe. "Easy, easy…" She took out of her utility belt a syringe and a bottle of liquid. He relaxed just a little, and she held the needle up to his arm, pushing up the fire-rat cloth. It was a short-lasting sedative, because he'd be fighting in two hour or so. She found a vein and slid the needle in. Within a minute, E-4 was acquiescent and calm. He was still awake, though, and looked at her with his gold-eyed gaze for a minute before his head dropped to his chest.

Kagome walked past the guards, putting away her syringe and sedative. For some reason she couldn't fathom, E-4 didn't scare her, not at all. Maybe it was the way that when the anger-rousing drugs wore off, he had a sort of intelligent look to him. Or how whenever she gave him a sedative shot, and he calmed down, he seemed to search her soul just for a second.

"Kagome! Come here and tend to E-17, he's on in five minutes!"

She took off at a run down the corridor, but her thoughts lingered with E-4 for as long as they could.

• • • • • •

One hour later, Kagome was called back to E-4. He was awake again, and tugging at the ropes weakly. The sedative was still in effect, and the collar was on. The goblins were waiting outside the barred door for her to finish up.

She knelt down and filled the trough with water from a pump. A grown man should be working the water pumps, but Kagome liked to do it for E-4, so he wouldn't have to wait for the waterman to come around. Water spilled into the trough, and the demon watched it thirstily. Kagome only allowed a small amount of water to fill the bowl, as ordered, and he bent his head to it and drank it all in one gulp.

The demon watched her as she stood up and came over to his side to ready the drugs in his collar, and give him a shot that would take its effect in time for his battle. She was disgusted at herself, as the syringe emptied itself of the drug. With all the human-looking demons, it was hard to do things like this. But with this demon it was even more wounding, and he couldn't even talk like the higher-order demons could.

He jerked and stiffened as the drug entered his body. The powerful claws flexed in and out, and then a spasm shook him, and a little cry escaped from between clenched fangs. Kagome's eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away. The drug she'd given him was mysterious, and she only knew that rabid anger was a side effect. Luckily it took time to set in. E-4 calmed, and Kagome gave a wave to the guards. They came in and she went out, but stayed to watch through the door as the red-garbed figure was untied and lifted down from the wall. They would exercise him next, getting him in gear, and all the while his anger and adrenaline would build. He would become a raging, screaming killer– that's what she'd heard. He had won all the battles he'd ever fought in a tournament.

She started to leave; there was no more use for her here. But something stopped her, just as the demon was led away from behind the guards.

"Kikyo," he said, stopping outside his door, and looking directly at Kagome. "Kikyo."

His voice sounded so sad, and so human, that she didn't even recognize whose voice it was. She spun around and stared at the demon prisoner.

And then the goblins tugged him down the corridor, hurrying while the sedative and new drug lasted. Kagome stood rock-still. From outside came a roar and screams and shouts and cheering, but she only heard the word 'Kikyo.'

She had been right. That demon was no low-breed. He could talk. And he had talked to her. He had said a name, a human-type name. Thoughts whirling, she turned and walked in the opposite direction, toward her next assignment.

• • • • •

Next chapter is up! Keep going:D And, er...if you would review...that would make someone's day very very happy...