I don't own this anime. So what? I don't own a bunch of things, plus I've gotten 12 hours of sleep in the last 4 days. I think you owe me this one shot. and Yeah, it's STILL shameless plugging of websites, but I do it anyway.

Shippo sat angrily on the back of the massive demon flying through the air. "How could Inu-Yasha get us into something so stupid and so dangerous?" he thought to himself. He decided that it was just his ridiculous pride and sense of adventure. Still - this was just asking to die. Oh, if only the group had never been approached by that weird old man, this never would have happened. Defeating Naraku and putting an end to the priestess Midoriko's Jewel of Four Souls was one thing, but this was something completely different entirely. Shippo tried to get Inu-Yasha's attention, but the dog-demon just scoffed and kept looking forward. The old man in front also kept his gaze forward. Miroku was tied up further back, to make sure he couldn't grope anyone. The two girls were discussing their new adventure and everything else possible.

It all began a short while before. In an incredibly vicious and bloody battle, Naraku had been defeated, his incarnations all killed. Sessho-maru and company took off without leaving a sign they were ever there. However, all was not right. During the climactic battle, Kikyo had suffered a mortal wound from which she would never recover. Her sister, Kaede, had volunteered to give up her life to give the priestess time for one last task. As her dying act, Kikyo's soul re-merged with her reincarnation, and settling the love triangle debate forever. Inu-Yasha, however, was still depressed.

Once everyone was finally recovered, they began to make their way back to the well so they could say their last goodbyes. It was not to be, however, as they were approached by a strange old man. He laughed menacingly as he had introduced himself. "Why Inu-Yasha... I never thought we would get a chance to meet, face to face. I've been keeping an eye on you for a long time, and you've proven to me that you're the only one who can handle a very important task. You, and your group here." InuYasha held up the Tetsusaiga, ready to strike, when the old man lifted his hand and stopped him in his tracks. "I... am called Ishirotoko, and am much stronger than I look..."

Inu-Yasha had scoffed then, too. "What do you want with us, geezer?" He spit at the ground. "It better be important. We just finished the battle of the century versus the most evil creature in the known world! Why aren't you speakin' up?"

The man who called himself Ishirotoko just smiled. "Your known world is much different from my world, young man. What you've seen is but a fraction of what's truly out there. The real world encompasses more than most creatures will ever know - but you... you must know. It is your destiny to know. The fate of the"

He was interrupted by a very impatient InuYasha. "Okay, okay! What the hell is it that I need to know? And who are you calling young? I'm 600 plus years old, fool! Now gimme the information about this 'world' that you claim that I don't know and this 'mission' that I have to go on to save it. The rest will come with me. But GET ON WITH IT!" Much spit landed on the old man's face, but he stayed calm and wiped it off.

"You see, arrogant pup, Naraku was a strong demon. The story you heard said he was the fusion of all the demons. What they didn't tell you that he was just the fusion of all the demons from Japan. Nor did they tell you that the Jewel of Four Souls was just one of many scattered throughout the globe." At this, Kagome's jaw had dropped to the ground, but the man continued. "You are the only person who possesses the strength to defeat the other eight evil lords who posses the other jewels. Believe it or not, Naraku was the bottom in this hierarchy. You still have quite a bit of work to do - but I'll help you. If you don't, then another lord will come after you anyway to kill you and take the jewel. So are you in or not?"

InuYasha looked at Ishirotoko and laughed. "Of course I'm in! This just means I get to kill more demons... and the rest of them are in too." Ishirotoko had nodded his head. "Of course - we're going to need all the help we can get for this one... Come, board Shusuryu, my steed, and we shall be off." All of a sudden, a giant white creature had emerged from the ground, and the group had gotten on. The dragon-like being lifted off into the air and the journey had begun.

And that's where they were now. On the back of this weird dragon thing. Everyone was silent until InuYasha spoke up. "So, old man... tell me more of these evil Lords who we're gonna kill... I wanna know as much as possible!"

The old man looked over at him. "You will learn much upon your journeys, but I suppose you can learn some here." Everyone else on the dragon focused their attention on his story. "I'll tell you of the demon you are to fight next. His name is Dochuyaku. He used his jewel to have all the demons of the Austral-arctic regions become his own - then he absorbed them himself. He could have killed Naraku in a single blow if he found it necessary. The one high point is that he can't make any incarnations of himself - as far as we know. However, he does have this thing where he can read your mind. You'll want to watch out for that."

Miroku frowned. "That could get me in trouble if he has any good looking female servants." A resounding slap sounded as the perverted monk fell on his bum. It was going to be a really long ride over to wherever they were headed. The Austral-arctic region? Where was that, anyway?

"Anything else I need to know about this SOB?" asked InuYasha. Ishirotoko frowned. "Nothing that you won't find out in due time - though you may find out more about your family than you ever wanted to know." Then he stood silent and erected a magic barrier around him so he wouldn't be harmed by InuYasha's clawing and screaming of "WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY THAT?!"

Before they realized it, Shusuryu was on the ground. The surroundings were completely different from Feudal Japan. It was like a desert, with massive rocks everywhere, and the occasional oasis. They could see a village in the distance. "When you have finished your task and have retrieved the second jewel, return to this spot. This is as far as I can take you without that demon noticing us. He can probably sense your power from here, my friend."

"Don't you call me friend, you" InuYasha began, but when he turned around to face the old man, he was nowhere to be found. He would think that the giant dragon-thing would be visible, but it wasn't. He scoffed, and turned to the rest of the gang. "So - you guys ready to take on demons?"

Kagome frowned. "So if we don't kill ALL these demon lords, then my world won't exist in the future? This is ridiculous! How can we do this?"

InuYasha just laughed. "Well, obviously we had to have done it, else your world wouldn't exist in the present, now would it? That assuage your fears? Yeah? NOW LET'S GET GOING!" Shippo jumped up, startled. There went InuYasha in his ridiculous prideful mood again. Hopefully he wouldn't get himself killed and force the re-write of history.

The group headed towards the village to find an unfortunately familiar sight. "Well well well. It looks like we never left home... everyone's been slaughtered, and I smell blood." The dog-demon followed the scent until he reached a cave that had been drilled into a rock on the outskirts of town. He warned Kagome and Sango to stay out of the view of whatever was in the cave, and sent Shippo in to check on it. After about 11 and a half seconds, Shippo ran out at full speed, being chased by a massive lion-like demon creature. There was blood in its fur, presumably from the people who were slaughtered in the village. It leaned back in pounce position as InuYasha drew his sword. It wasn't even five minutes on this new continent, and he would get to kill a big demon!

Okay - that was the prologue. Reviews? I'm sure they won't be positive, seeing as how good the rest of the IY fanfics are, but any criticism will be good, I suppose. Have fun with it, and expect the next chapter... uh... sometime!